Flickr, unlike sites like deviantArt or SmugMug, does not offer its members the option to sell prints of their photos outright. Flickr, just like most of its direct photo sharing competitors, only offers its users the option to order prints for themselves.

Clearly, Flickr and Getty are going after more casual photographers here, who would not normally submit their work to Getty's own iStockphoto or its competitors. Given the outstanding work that a lot of photographers post to Flickr, this relationship will probably be beneficial to both Flickr, as it can promote this opportunity to its members, and to Getty, which gets easier access to more photos.

This announcement is not going to make much of a difference to professional photographers, who would probably not want to rely on serendipity to have their photos found, but it would give casual photographers a reason to put their pictures up on Flickr instead of a competitor's site.

As Thomas Hawk notes, it is interesting that Getty will put the Flickr images into a special "Flickr Collection" on its site. Getty's own profession photographers are most likely not too happy to have amateurs compete with them on the same level, which would explain this firewall between the regular Getty collection and the Flickr collection.

In an interview with pdnonline, Flickr's general managers Kakul Srivastava mentions that Flickr and Getty have a business relationship that goes beyond this deal, but declined to comment about the details. It will be interesting to see how this partnership develops over time.

If you see a picture or hear some music you like, you can add it to your "moodboard" and get additional information on purchasing it from Getty's library. That's a smart move that ties some brand and product marketing into an otherwise fun mashup.

Sheila Lennon of the Providence Journal writes that Moodstream might be "even better if you can port it to your big TV." She might not be far off the type of use case that the app's creators had it mind. From Rick Webb, of the Barbarian Group, who created Moodstream for Getty:

What is Moodstream? It's a concepting tool. The modern version of the fireplace. An interactive art piece. TV for the future. It's a website we created for and with Getty Images to showcase all of their offerings - still, video and sound - and inspire interactive creatives. And it's really, really fun to use.

He's certainly right about the last part. I've had Moodstream running in the background all morning as I've been reading blogs and catching up with last night's news, and I keep finding myself switching back to it to check what sort of visual and auditory treats it has for me. It is easy to see how designers could find inspiration while staring at Moodstream's interactive slideshow.