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NEWS > BUSINESS > IMDB CONSIDERS FEES FOR CELEBRITY PROFILES
IMDB CONSIDERS FEES FOR CELEBRITY PROFILES
September 28 2009
Seattle, WA – There are few success stories in the web world quite as compelling as that of Jeff Bezos and Amazon. Launched in the earliest days of the web the online retailer has weathered every storm in the medium, storms that have sunk thousands
of other companies, and only grown larger and larger every year. Among the many places Amazon has succeeded where others have failed is in the mergers and acquisitions field. Unlike many sibling companies Amazon’s offshoots have had remarkable success across the board with one standout in particular, the IMDB.
Starting its life before the web even began, the Internet Movie Database is one of the longest lasting and most popular sites to ever inhabit the medium. With millions of monthly visitors and a database that encompasses virtually every movie and television show ever produced, the IMDB has stayed the most relevant movie website and one of the most compelling representatives of the medium. That power has allowed the site to stay afloat in tough times but it has also extended to the medium and people that it covers. Now the site is considering implementation of a fee that would charge celebrities who would like to continue using their profile on the site in an effort to bring fresh dollars to enterprise.
“Let’s be one hundred per cent clear here. We are not interested in exploiting celebrities or trying to compromise our relationship with them. We feel that our site is significant and important enough that it acts not only as a resume but also as a calling card for celebrities and we want to ensure that we have the most accurate and honest representation of them,” said Col Needham, founder and general manager of the site. “We believe that our contribution to the careers of many celebrities now outweighs their contribution to us and we want our new model to reflect that. Only celebrities that can afford to pay the fee will be forced to do so. Lesser known actors and actresses little earning power either for themselves or us will be giving a base profile.”
The company has not made it clear at what level of celebrity the cut-off will be has made it clear that any performers matching the criteria that are unwilling to pay will have their profiles removed entirely. 
“It’s going to be a change for a lot of people to be sure but I think in the long term this will be a great success for the company. More and more film people have been relying on the IMDB as their almost exclusive source if information and that has basically meant a free ride for many actors and actresses who have used it to further their career,” said Scrape TV Business analyst Ken Green. “Some people won’t be willing to pay but younger people realize the power of being on the web and will do whatever it takes to ensure that they are still on the site. They realize that if you aren’t on the IMDB than you might as well not be working at all.”
Outside profiles the IMDB has a number of polls and a ratings system that allow users to contribute to the careers of their most and least favourite performers which is seen as a major part of the success of profiled performers.
“They haven’t said anything about behind the scenes people but I’d imagine that with the exception of a few high-profile directors very few of those people would meet the financial criteria that would allow them to maintain their full profile. Of course the only people who care about the lighting crew on the latest Tyler Perry movie are the people themselves so losing those profiles wouldn’t mean much,” continued Green. “The IMDB is really in the position of power here and can make a lot of demands. True they will lose a lot of the older performers from their system but those people don’t work as much as they once did and likely won’t be around a whole lot longer. The generation that has grown up with the IMDB know its power and will pay through the nose to stay on it, which means a lot of dollars for the company.”
Deceased performers will receive a base profile which will offer no biographical material, no trivia, no quotes, and no measurements from Celebrity Sleuth magazine.
William Ashford, Business Correspondent
NEWS > BUSINESS > IMDB CONSIDERS FEES FOR CELEBRITY PROFILES
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