Getty Images have always been a cut above. But so were the prices.
I wrote recently about how I still regularly use stock libraries, but I rarely had the budget to indulge in Getty. So the news that Getty Images plans to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection prompted me to look back at how much buying imagery has changed.
Getty is restructuring, with up to $533 million in new investment committed and plans to return to private ownership. The business is continuing to operate. Still, quite a moment for a name that’s been part of the creative industry for decades.
Budget stock libraries opened up possibilities for projects that could never stretch to commissioned or premium photography. iStock emerged in 2000, with Shutterstock following in 2003. Affordable imagery became an everyday creative resource.
Getty bought iStock for $50 million in 2006. The “iStock by Getty Images” rebrand followed in 2013. They’d spotted the budget opportunity early.
Then Adobe bought Fotolia and launched Adobe Stock in 2015, putting stock inside the software many of us already used. Subscription pricing helped, as did the convenience of finding, trying and licensing an image within the workflow. Now generative AI is changing things again.
Getty launched its own generator with NVIDIA in September 2023, followed by an iStock version in January 2024. It also pursued a merger with Shutterstock, abandoning it this July after deciding against the sale of Shutterstock’s editorial business required for UK clearance.
So a simple “they failed to adapt” verdict doesn’t hold up. They bought into budget stock, partnered on AI and attempted further consolidation. Their financial pressures include debt, interest costs and substantial legal liabilities, alongside weaker demand in parts of the stock business.
There’s more going on here than AI. But it does make me wonder what comes next for established image libraries.
Stock libraries still have a place in my creative process, I still value the references, ideas and unexpected connections that browsing gives me. Whether enough of us will keep paying for them is another question.
Could Getty’s restructuring be a sign of what’s ahead for other established libraries?
Or will they find a more valuable role as AI-generated imagery becomes commonplace?
Four takes. One email.
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