Category: Superstock
News
Superstock Six Months Down the Road: Thriving and Hiring!
The consortium of RF producers who purchased Superstock in a bankruptcy sale in January of this year has kept their promise to keep the business running. Not only is the company, which was put in Chapter 11 bankruptcy under its previous management at A21, still going but according to CEO Lanny Ziering, is profitable and company seeks to fill a couple of key positions.
News
SuperStock/RGB Ventures taps PicScout to track copyright infringements
SuperStock, a stock photography business that was recently purchased by a consortium of RF suppliers called RGB Ventures hasrecently signed an agreement with PicScout to track and enforce copyright infringements. “We are pleased to renew our relationship with PicScout,” said Lanny Ziering, CEO, SuperStock. “We chose PicScout because of their technology leadership in image tracking. PicScout will help us, as a stock agency, promote the value of copyright ownership for the artists we represent.”
News
RGB Ventures, a consortium of RF supplier, buys Superstock-USA
A consortium of small RF supplier companies called RGB Ventures and including rubberball productions, Glow Images and other members of the RF production group, Blend Images, have purchased the assets of a21/Superstock, the Jacksonville, Florida, based stock photo company that filed for bankruptcy in November of 2008. The group paid $2,825,000 for the company. The new owners plan to keep the company going with Lanny Ziering, heretofore Director of Business Development at Blend, will assume the position of CEO.
News
a21 the parent company of SuperStock and ArtSelect files for bankruptcy
a21 Inc. (ATWOE) has filed for bankruptcy court protection yesterday on behalf of both its subsidiaries, the on-line wall art business, ArtSelect, and the stock photo division, SuperStock. Under the proposed terms of the filing, Masterfile Corporation will purchase the assets of SuperStock, excluding cash and accounts receivable, for US$1.5MM. Another company, Metaverse, will purchase ArtSelect for US$700K.
News
a21 integrates MediaMagnet micro-payment stock photo collection on SuperStock website
Jacksonville Florida based, a21(ATWO), the parent company of SuperStock, and ArtSelect, has announced that it will be folding its MediaMagnet website into SuperStock its flagship stock photography brand. The integration, expected to take effect immediately, combines traditional rights-managed (RM), and royalty-free (RF) stock photography along with a collection of user-generated micro-stock/mid-stock images on the SuperStock site. John Ferguson, Chief Executive Officer of a21, said, “With MediaMagnet, we are building a strong reputation as a leading mid-stock brand that strongly complements our larger and more established SuperStock collection”.
News
News Brief: A21/Superstock releases ’07 results
A21 Group, which owns the stock image licensing business, Superstock and the consumer wall-art business, ArtSelect, released its results for the full year ended 2007 showing improved operating performance in the face of flat revenue. Gross revenue remained relatively flat on an annualized basis for 2007, but gross and operating margins improved, thanks to restructuring initiatives taken in 2007. Despite these efforts, however, the company remains in the red, though losses have declined.
News
Albert Pleus resigns from A21/Superstock board of directors
Co-founder and former CEO of A21/Superstock Albert Pleus has resigned from the company’s board of directors. The move follows a series of management and board shuffles over the past year. During that time, the company’s stock price has declined steadily from a peak of $0.80 per share in May of 2006 to yesterday’s close at $0.07 per share.
News
Superstock enters mobile market with MyNuMo
Superstock has announced a partnership with MyNuMo, a seller of content for mobile devices, to offer stock photos to MyNuMo's customers for use as wallpaper on mobile phones. MyNuMo's web-site serves as a marketplace for user-generated content. Visitors to the site can use it to publish and sell music, images and video for use on mobile phones. MyNuMo customers will now also have access to a collection of professional stock images from Superstock. MyNuMo charges $2.00 per wallpaper image.
News
A21/Superstock posts widening loss for 2006
The A21 Group’s 2006 results showed growing revenue due to acquisitions, but widening losses to go along with them. Revenue from the stock image licensing division of the company grew 25% from $9.6MM to $12MM from 2005 to 2006. Surprisingly, despite the company’s October ’05 acquisition of Ingram Publishing, its gross margin in the image licensing sector remained flat at about 68% year over year. Apparently, Ingram’s lower-priced CD and subscription product line had no impact on gross margins. The gross profit margin at the newly acquired consumer art business, ArtSelect, came in at only 55% giving the company a lower gross profit margin over-all of 62% in 2006 vs. 68% the previous year.
News
Ellen Boughn has left a21/SuperStock
As of December 31, Ellen Boughn will leave her post as VP, Content Strategy and Product Manager of Rights Managed Content at SuperStock, a job she started in March of this year. Ms. Boughn's departure is the most recent of a string of high-level employees to leave A21/SuperStock, including, among others, Haim Ariav, Chief Creative Officer of a21 and the President and Chief Creative Officer of SuperStock, in June, 2006, Tom Butta, the President of a21 and the Chief Executive Officer of SuperStock, also in June, and Candace Crough, VP of Sales, in October.
News
Haim Ariav departs Superstock
Haim Ariav, Chief Creative Officer of a21 and the President and Chief Creative Officer of SuperStock, has left the organization. According to an agreement between Ariav and the company included in an 8-K form filed by A21 on June 12, 2006, Mr. Ariav's employment with the Company terminated as of May 25, 2006. He also resigned from its Board of Directors. Pursuant to the Agreement, Mr. Ariav will receive severance package including continuation of his salary for one year and accelerated vesting of shares and stock options. Referring to Ariav's resignation from the company and the board, the 8-K form states, "The foregoing did not result from a disagreement with the Company on any matter relating to the Company's operations, policies or practices."
News
A21 SuperStock Posts $4.7MM Loss for 2005
A21 Group, owner of SuperStock, PureStock, and Ingram Publishing, reported its 2005 full-year results, posting a net loss of $4.8MM on revenue of $9.6MM. Compared to adjusted(*) figures for 2004, this represents a 7% increase in the company’s gross sales and a near doubling of its net loss. The company’s gross profit margin decreased from 70% to 68% as its cost of revenue rose at a faster rate than revenue. Management attributes this relative increase in the cost of revenue to the normal fluctuations in the proportions of higher vs. lower commission imagery it licenses. Conversely, Selling General and Administrative expenses dropped as a percentage of revenue leading to a relatively flat negative EBITDA of $928K in 2005 vs. an adjusted $834K in 2004.
News
A21/Superstock taps industry veterans to help guide company
A21/Superstock has hired several high-level employees recently with direct experience in the stock photo industry in an effort to round out its management team with seasoned players.
Stock industry veteran Ellen Boughn has joined A21 SuperStock as its VP, Content Strategy and Product Manager of Rights-Managed Content. Ms. Boughn, who founded AfterImage in 1976 and later sold that company to Tony Stone in 1992, most recently served as VP at Uppercut Images, the RM division of PunchStock. She has worked for other major stock photo companies, including Corbis, and served as an industry consultant. Ms. Boughn’s responsibilities will include recruiting new photographers and producing new imagery for both the RF and RM collections at Superstock.
News
SuperStock opens New York City office
Superstock/a21 has just announced that it has opened a sales office in New York City. The new office will allow sales people to better meet the needs of our current clients and support superstock’s growing business. "We're very excited about our new office in New York City, and the opportunity it affords us to deepen relationships with our clients," said Candice Crough, Vice President, Sales of SuperStock, who will be based in New York and manage the office. "It is very important for us to satisfy our clients by maintaining strong relationships with them, especially in the key New York advertising and publishing market," noted Thomas Butta, CEO of SuperStock. SuperStock is headquartered in Jacksonville, FL and, through its UK subsidiary, has two offices in the United Kingdom. Click here for the original press release.
SuperStock Promotions (Dec 2006)
- Rewards Points Doubled in December. Get twice the rewards points through December 31st in the SuperStock rewards program. [Click here for details]
- Sony MP3 Player. Spend $999 or more on Jupiter Images RF products form SuperStock and get a free Sony MP3 Player. [Click here for details]
- Photography Book. Spend $350 on Mike Watson Images on SuperStock and receive CENTURY – an award winning book featuring a history of the 20th Century told in photographs. [Click here for details]
- iTunes Voucher of Spa Gift Certificate. Spend over $389 on PhotoAlto imagery from SuperStock and get a $40 iTunes Voucher. Spend $1,000 or more and get a $100 Spafinder.com Gift Certificate. [Click here for details]
News
SuperStock focusing on UK expansion
SuperStock/a21 has announced the launch of a new version of its website for UK customers located at www.superstock.co.uk. The launch of this new site is the latest in a series of aggressive moves designed to reach customers in the United Kingdom. Last month SuperStock acquired UK based Ingram Publishing and last week announced the appointment of Candace Crough to lead its sales team and establish itself as a powerhouse in the UK market. A successful expansion into the UK will likely fuel more opportunities to expand in other European markets.
Click here to review the original press release.
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