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Website Builder Wix Acquires Art Community DeviantArt For $36 Million (techcrunch.com)
An anonymous reader quotes a report from TechCrunch: Wix.com has made another acquisition to build out the tools that it provides to users to build and administer websites: it has acquired DeviantArt, an online community for artists, designers and art/design enthusiasts with some 325 million individual pieces of original art and more than 40 million registered members, for $36 million in cash, including $3 million of assumed liabilities. Wix said that it will continue to operate DeviantArt as a standalone site, but it will also use it to boost its own business in a couple of ways. First, DeviantArt users will get access to Wix's web design tools to build out more dynamic online presences. These tools do not only cover design, but commerce and other features for running businesses online. Second, Wix will open up DeviantArt's repository of art and creative community to the Wix platform, giving Wix's users access to that work to use in their own site building. The deal will also include putting further investment into developing DeviantArt's desktop and mobile apps. (Today, that desktop experience is based on a very simple, pared-down interface that is reminiscent of the 2000 birthdate of the startup itself.)
It might be a good idea to change art hosting providers then... I'm sure every artist has given deviantArt a (non-exclusive0 icense to commercially display and use the artwork shown on the site, which means Wix can use that. And chances are, they'll let customers use some of that artwork on their website, both as a hook and a retainer (because the art can only be used on Wix hosted websites without obtaining a license).
And only Wix has access to unique artwork that only Wix customers can use, so it's more attractive to join Wix.
Meanwhile, everyone who posted art on the site sees their work ripped off and used on customer's web sites.
40 million users for $36 million? It has been quite the long time since I've been a site sell for well below a dollar per user. dA really sold themselves really fucking short on this one.