By SARAH WOODWARD
Publicly traded visual content firm Getty Images has made a minority investment in San Francisco-based LicenseMusic.com, an online database of original music available for licensing over the Internet. As part of the arrangement, Seattle-headquartered Getty Images will market audio content from LicenseMusic.com to its customers worldwide, and LicenseMusic. com will promote Getty Images’ visual content collections—including still photography and stock footage—via its Web site.
LicenseMusic.com president/CEO Gerd Leonhard called the alliance a natural progression. "We estimate that about twenty to thirty percent of Getty customers could be our customers," he said. "People who are creating content are creating [multimedia content], both audio and visual. They are parallel businesses. Essentially, [the alliance gives us] access to a lot of customers."
Likewise, Getty Images cofounder and CEO Jonathan Klein said in a released statement: "Music and imagery are rapidly converging through the Internet, and this is why we saw such potential in this relationship with LicenseMusic.com. As part of our strategy to increase the range of products and services that we supply to our customers, the addition of audio content from LicenseMusic.com makes it easier for customers to source complementary audio and visual content."
LicenseMusic.com is a division of Online Music Company, which was formed by Leonhard and two venture capital firms: New York-based Tannen Media Ventures, and Artsalliance, London and New York. The LicenseMusic.com site was launched in Jan. ’99. Recent clients in the commercialmaking arena include Machine Head, Venice, Calif., which licensed music for a Stamps.com ad via Santa Monica agency Direct Partners. The ad, "Fan," was directed by Tenney Fairchild of bicoastal M-80. Leonhard said they’ve seen "a huge amount of inquiries" from the ad industry. They are also looking to form alliances with commercial music houses, and will announce the first such deal in the coming weeks. Additional LicenseMusic.com clients include the Whitney Museum’s Web site and Compaq computers.
The alliance with Getty will eventually lead to package deals for both audio and visual content, according to Leonhard: "Some of the transactions will be fully interactive; so after you buy a video, we’ll [suggest several pieces of] music that fit the video, so you don’t have to search. But that will take some time and technology to develop." Much sooner, visitors to either company’s site will see links and other cross-promotional efforts.
Getty Images’ visual inventory includes over 30 million photographs and more than 15,000 hours of film. The company maintains four visual content brands for different markets: Creative professional includes Tony Stone Images, Energy Film Library, PhotoDisc and EyeWire. Editorial and press consists of Hulton Getty, Allsport, Liaison Agency, Online USA and the recently acquired Newsmakers. Business user consists of EyeWire. And the consumer brand consists of Art.com.
In September, Getty entered into an agreement to purchase the Dallas-based Image Bank from the Eastman Kodak Company for $183 million. The deal, expected to close in December, will double Getty’s imagery inventory to 60 million-plus still archival photos and more than 30,000 hours of footage (SHOOT, 10/1, p. 1).
Both Getty Images and LicenseMusic.com use high-end Web technology to allow customers to quickly and easily access and purchase or license their respective wares. LicenseMusic. com has 875,000 musical works in its catalogue, about 16,000 of which are currently online. Leonhard said 500 tracks are being added to the site each day. "Our goal is to get to a quarter of a million tracks online very quickly." A patent on the site’s search engine technology is pending.
Leonhard added that Getty Images plans to launch a large, updated site next year. In the first six months of ’99, Getty Images reported worldwide e-commerce sales of $24.1 million, or 22.5 percent of total sales. When the company’s acquisition of The Image Bank officially comes to pass, Getty will have nearly 1.2 million digitized images available on its Web sites.
Microsoft Report Says Efforts By Russia, Iran and China To Sway U.S. Voters May Escalate
Foreign adversaries have shown continued determination to influence the U.S. election –- and there are signs their activity will intensify as Election Day nears, Microsoft said in a report Wednesday.
Russian operatives are doubling down on fake videos to smear Vice President Kamala Harris' campaign, while Chinese-linked social media campaigns are maligning down-ballot Republicans who are critical of China, the company's threat intelligence arm said Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Iranian actors who allegedly sent emails aimed at intimidating U.S. voters in 2020 have been surveying election-related websites and major media outlets, raising concerns they could be preparing for another scheme this year, the tech giant said.
The report serves as a warning – building on others from U.S. intelligence officials – that as the nation enters this critical final stretch and begins counting ballots, the worst influence efforts may be yet to come. U.S. officials say they remain confident that election infrastructure is secure enough to withstand any attacks from American adversaries. Still, in a tight election, foreign efforts to influence voters are raising concern.
Microsoft noted that some of the disinformation campaigns it tracks received little authentic engagement from U.S. audiences, but others have been amplified by unwitting Americans, exposing thousands to foreign propaganda in the final weeks of voting.
Russia, China and Iran have all rejected claims that they are seeking to meddle with the U.S. election.
"The presidential elections are the United States' domestic affairs. China has no intention and will not interfere in the US election," the Chinese Embassy said in a statement.
"Having already unequivocally and... Read More