It's another 'captive' distributor. I would see them doing the same thing that Google does - raising their own products to the top of lists such as search responses, 'more like this' lists, etc.
But look on the bright side. At least it wasn't Microsoft that bought it!
Sorry, I meant that the offering seems to have shrunk. At least regarding Monotype's own typefaces (which now still aren't sold by MyFonts even in Adobe's versions).
Yes, better Monotype than Microsoft, but
that's not fair to the largest company that
actually cares about typography. Really,
it has been the 90s for a while now.
BTW, FWIW, I recently had an exchange with Monotype
concerning some ancient Linotype royalties, and they
handled my request with extreme grace and kindness.
Riccardo, Linotype and Monotype fonts were pulled from MyFonts about a year ago (I don't remember exactly), apparently because MyFonts was doing so well that more Lino/Mono fonts were being sold there than on the Lino/Mono sites, with MyFonts taking a cut. Now that they are one company, they are back, as one would expect.
I wonder how soon I will lose my top spot on the MyFonts best sellers page now that Helvetica is back.
I have noticed a drop in sales since the Monotype buyout. It appears that the number of times my fonts appear on the front page is off significantly. I used to randomly see my fonts on the front page about as often as anyone else. Now, I have not seen them there at all. I am not saying anything is amiss, perhaps there have been so many new people that the odds are far less. I do see some fonts there more frequently than the odds would seem right.
Wow, there really was no Helvetica on MyFonts for a while?!
How cool is that.
BTW, this maneuvering seems quite revealing. If Mono/Lino
did indeed pull out of MyFonts because they thought they were
losing too much to MF's cut (maybe they assumed people buy
their fonts "with intent", as opposed to "running into" them on
places like MyFonts; or maybe they underestimated people's
comfort with shopping at MF) but then they came around to
buy MF, they must have noticed a marked drop is sales in the
interim. Which means MF really works. I guess $50M sort of
indicates that too...
20 Mar 2012 — 8:17am
It's another 'captive' distributor. I would see them doing the same thing that Google does - raising their own products to the top of lists such as search responses, 'more like this' lists, etc.
But look on the bright side. At least it wasn't Microsoft that bought it!
- Herb
20 Mar 2012 — 8:22am
Craig, we already had this discussion:
http://typophile.com/node/77045#comment-483579
20 Mar 2012 — 8:25am
For my part, I've seen fewer fonts sold at MyFonts and a decline in performance in their WhatTheFont server.
20 Mar 2012 — 8:46am
Oh yeah, I thought this all seemed familiar!
20 Mar 2012 — 8:53am
Riccardo, do you sell a lot of fonts there? I haven't noticed anything like that.
20 Mar 2012 — 9:05am
Sorry, I meant that the offering seems to have shrunk. At least regarding Monotype's own typefaces (which now still aren't sold by MyFonts even in Adobe's versions).
20 Mar 2012 — 9:13am
Yes, better Monotype than Microsoft, but
that's not fair to the largest company that
actually cares about typography. Really,
it has been the 90s for a while now.
hhp
20 Mar 2012 — 9:14am
@riccard0 I think they've just been added back, actually.
20 Mar 2012 — 9:41am
Yes, it looks that some of them have been added back (still no Helvetica Neue, for example). We will see how it turns out, I suppose.
20 Mar 2012 — 9:46am
Maybe there's not Helvetica Neue, but there is Neue Helvetica!
20 Mar 2012 — 9:59am
A couple more acquisitions, and we will have Unica too! ;-)
20 Mar 2012 — 10:03am
I noticed today that Mono's shares are trading about 3 bucks above their '07 IPO value (?)
And they achieved that without a Obama bailout / handout :)
Whether or not Monotype's strategy is good or bad for the average bezier bandit I don't know, but I hope it is.
Bezier Bandit, lol.
20 Mar 2012 — 10:29am
BTW, FWIW, I recently had an exchange with Monotype
concerning some ancient Linotype royalties, and they
handled my request with extreme grace and kindness.
hhp
20 Mar 2012 — 11:27am
Riccardo, Linotype and Monotype fonts were pulled from MyFonts about a year ago (I don't remember exactly), apparently because MyFonts was doing so well that more Lino/Mono fonts were being sold there than on the Lino/Mono sites, with MyFonts taking a cut. Now that they are one company, they are back, as one would expect.
I wonder how soon I will lose my top spot on the MyFonts best sellers page now that Helvetica is back.
20 Mar 2012 — 11:45am
Dude, you would still be top of the indie charts, man.
Way more cred.
Uh, if they had one...
20 Mar 2012 — 11:46am
I have noticed a drop in sales since the Monotype buyout. It appears that the number of times my fonts appear on the front page is off significantly. I used to randomly see my fonts on the front page about as often as anyone else. Now, I have not seen them there at all. I am not saying anything is amiss, perhaps there have been so many new people that the odds are far less. I do see some fonts there more frequently than the odds would seem right.
20 Mar 2012 — 12:05pm
Wow, there really was no Helvetica on MyFonts for a while?!
How cool is that.
BTW, this maneuvering seems quite revealing. If Mono/Lino
did indeed pull out of MyFonts because they thought they were
losing too much to MF's cut (maybe they assumed people buy
their fonts "with intent", as opposed to "running into" them on
places like MyFonts; or maybe they underestimated people's
comfort with shopping at MF) but then they came around to
buy MF, they must have noticed a marked drop is sales in the
interim. Which means MF really works. I guess $50M sort of
indicates that too...
hhp
20 Mar 2012 — 12:30pm
That 5oM is a sure sign ;-)