"HTML Graphics - a Marketplace by SPX is a place for broadcasters, production teams and HTML developers to exchange ideas and do business together."
Bringing that sentence to life has required considerable efforts, making choices and dealing with those unknow-unknows as well, but I'm so proud to finally be able to say it out loud. This sentence is a bold statement and it can mean a lot for this small industry of ours.
Let's break it down.
"HTML Graphics"
If your job somehow touches HTML graphics, you are already a member of the community. We strive to be as open and as vendor-independent as we can. Many companies using web technologies work in the open, whereas many have chosen the proprietary path and it may be a big ask to have everybody on board. Time will tell.
The marketplace has categories for products. We will adjust the categories to meet the needs of the community and when partnering with other vendors. At launch we have CasparCG, LiveOS and SPX listed.
Oh yes, SPX! Read on.
"a Marketplace by SPX"
See, by SPX, not for SPX.
Small difference written, conceptually a major one.
Yes, we are SPX Graphics, and yes, we own and operate the platform. Not to solely promote our own products, but to promote the bigger idea. Not to grow our slice, but to grow the whole pie -as they say. When the whole category grows it enables everybody to blossom and do what they set out to do. We set out to do SPX Graphics Controller and related software and services. Other people and businesses are doing their own thing and are welcome to join the party if they can see the value of being part building a wider community.
Not to grow our slice, but to grow the whole pie.
And that's the Marketplace part. We welcome you to sign up and start looking for products to buy or products to sell. There is even a section on the platform for submitting product requests or ideas. If you have a project coming up and you would like to get it done somehow, or create an assets pack or a utility application, just submit the idea and see if some clever developer somewhere gets to it.
A marketplace is a complex and costly thing to run. That's why we take a cut, that's 30%. We use this to keep the platform running, operating and verifying product submissions and to keep it safe and organized for everybody. And no, AI cannot do it, actual professionals are needed and they will need to get paid for their work.
"for broadcasters, production teams and HTML developers"
Hopefully that is inclusive enough 🙂
If you are a graphic designer, we like to consider you belonging to the HTML developers -category. Yes, not as sexy as a Motion Graphics Designer, but will do in this context, right? As the HTML graphics category is developing the implementions often requires a developer mindset, even when doing visual design.
Not all are broadcasters, yet not all relevant people are necessarily part of the production team either... How about individual content creators? We are focusing on professional teams and to have a team, you need more than an individual person. Nitpicking, I know, but one needs guiding principles. So, our core target are not solo streamers, yet we welcome them also if they find our products and workflows meaningful.
Broadcasters are a special case. They have large teams and very streamlined processes when it comes to the use of production graphics. Off-the-shelf solutions are rarely used as integration with other production gear is essential as are highly customized and extremely well defined branded designs.
"exchange ideas and do business together."
The hardest part.
Sounds simple but how can you do it in a meaningful way? In a way that supports your own goals and also supports the users of your platform? One of the biggest hurdles in launching a "marketplace" is the notorious chicken and the egg -problem. If you don't have products, you cannot have customers. If you don't have customers, its hard to find sellers. This is where most marketplaces fail. So, I need to use the same phrase here again: time will tell.
An escrow account is a banking device used by some websites handling transactions between a customer and a supplier. According to our governing, Finnish law this constitutes a bank. And to be able to open a "bank" you will need to get approval from the Finance Controller Authorities... That said, we are not a bank. And thats why we don't have an escrow workflow. But we try to facilitate a communication between buyers and sellers. We have operators. They acs as producers, helping both parties to get the work done right, technically, financially and on time. This part of the Marketplace will evolve later in the year.
v1.0
We are releasing HTML Graphics Marketplace on the opening week of IBC 2024 tradeshow. In the middle of the biggest PR extravaganza of our field. All of us are being bombarded with messages and announcements, and I find it truly amusing and exciting you are even reading this far. Well done, us both!
The Marketplace is technically v1.0. How many software can you name wearing version number 1.0? Yeah... That means by definition it's broken someplace. We haven't discovered it yet, but I can assure we, or you, will. There will be issues. But we will fix those. It will improve and evolve. There are also missing features. Like subscription payments. It will come. Developer documentation and tutorials, will come. And many other new features and improvements. And since we are not doing this for us per se, we expect feedback from you, our valued community member!
But all being said, I'm pretty damn proud of it already!
And if you want to discuss this at IBC2024, you will find me and our team in Hall 3, booth 3.A23, wearing HTML Graphics Marketplace T-shirts. See you there!
Now, check out html.graphics
Writer Tuomo Kulomaa is the founder and CTO of SPX Graphics
