Quote from: angelacat on August 14, 2025, 16:58
alexandersr  Yes I have heard a little about the situation in Venezuala.  Didn't know inflation was that bad though.  Your government sound like a bunch of incompetent fools, hope you find a way of booting them out soon.

It's a socialist leftist government!

Quote from: alexandersr on August 14, 2025, 16:55

Quote from: angelacat on August 14, 2025, 13:48
Microvet:  Sorry sounds like a mess.  I'm in England similar problems here, I voted to Leave the EU for sovereignty and to remove the smoke screen of the EU to make our politicians more accountable.  Way too much bureaucracy for my liking. 

Our country is going downhill too house prices, rents, food, heating, water rates all going up, wages not keeping up - you have my sympathy.

Microvet:  I'm sorry, but my intention wasn't to question your comment. It's just that the reality of Venezuela, where more than 9 million people have left as immigrants, seemed very familiar to me compared to what you described in your story. The Venezuelan government is socialist, for those who don't know much about it. The official minimum wage is less than one US dollar. However, people on average earn approximately 150 US dollars working independently or through job bonuses. However, this amount is very little considering the high cost of living in Venezuela, where the average food basket for a family costs 500 US dollars. I imagine you've heard something about it.

I didn't thought you questioned me, I just didn't reply correctly.

In Portugal, we've never experienced anything like what's happening now—street executions, decapitations, and other violent crimes becoming disturbingly common. While we've always had crime, these types of crimes were rare and scattered, not this frequent or close together.

When people began voicing concerns, the main political parties downplayed it, claiming it was all just "perception," even censoring dissent. Official crime reports (RASI) conveniently stopped including certain data, making the stats look better. But everyday life tells a different story—people see the rise in crime and know who's committing it.

Our National Health Service is collapsing. Hospitals designed for far fewer people are now treating many times their capacity, with locals who funded the system often deprioritized. Many newcomers arrive with untreated conditions, jumping ahead in the queue, which delays care for everyone else. Overworked doctors—once highly respected—are now leaving in droves due to verbal abuse, threats, and even physical attacks.

These issues have fueled the far-right's rise, as many fear speaking openly about the problems—except for CHEGA's leader, who does so without fear of the backlash and profiting from it.

Quote from: angelacat on August 14, 2025, 13:48
Microvet:  Sorry sounds like a mess.  I'm in England similar problems here, I voted to Leave the EU for sovereignty and to remove the smoke screen of the EU to make our politicians more accountable.  Way too much bureaucracy for my liking. 

Our country is going downhill too house prices, rents, food, heating, water rates all going up, wages not keeping up - you have my sympathy.

I am in UK too, and I can confirm is not doing good lately, inflation is hight, cost for housing is really high and what you get? Poor quality houses unmaintained and the asking price is huge. I actually considering moving out of this country, I see no future for my little one. Before, use to have some photography gigs, now is dead, creativity is not really valuable here in UK now.

Quote from: f8 on August 13, 2025, 19:49

Quote from: Adobe Stock Contributor Relations on August 13, 2025, 14:30
Our Contributor community is foundational to Adobe Stock's success, and we are committed to supporting you with transparent communication.

Yes, the contributor community is foundational to Adobe Stock's success. The other part about "we are committed to supporting you with transparent communication."
is perhaps the funniest thing I have heard all year. The fact is Adobe does not communicate. Has Adobe noticed there are pages and pages on this forum alone questioning the whole inspection process, for month now. Nobody has a clue why suddenly all the roulette rejections.
It has also been noted that Adobe conveniently did not mention how we will be paid for this. Excellent communication, keep the contributor community in the dark.

The statement would have been true 5 years ago where it had excellent, direct, person to person communication between AS and contributors.
Now its simply untrue.  Theres nothing like that.

Quote from: MicroVet on August 14, 2025, 18:08

Quote from: alexandersr on August 14, 2025, 16:55

Quote from: angelacat on August 14, 2025, 13:48
Microvet:  Sorry sounds like a mess.  I'm in England similar problems here, I voted to Leave the EU for sovereignty and to remove the smoke screen of the EU to make our politicians more accountable.  Way too much bureaucracy for my liking. 

Our country is going downhill too house prices, rents, food, heating, water rates all going up, wages not keeping up - you have my sympathy.

Microvet:  I'm sorry, but my intention wasn't to question your comment. It's just that the reality of Venezuela, where more than 9 million people have left as immigrants, seemed very familiar to me compared to what you described in your story. The Venezuelan government is socialist, for those who don't know much about it. The official minimum wage is less than one US dollar. However, people on average earn approximately 150 US dollars working independently or through job bonuses. However, this amount is very little considering the high cost of living in Venezuela, where the average food basket for a family costs 500 US dollars. I imagine you've heard something about it.

I didn't thought you questioned me, I just didn't reply correctly.

In Portugal, we've never experienced anything like what's happening now—street executions, decapitations, and other violent crimes becoming disturbingly common. While we've always had crime, these types of crimes were rare and scattered, not this frequent or close together.

When people began voicing concerns, the main political parties downplayed it, claiming it was all just "perception," even censoring dissent. Official crime reports (RASI) conveniently stopped including certain data, making the stats look better. But everyday life tells a different story—people see the rise in crime and know who's committing it.

Our National Health Service is collapsing. Hospitals designed for far fewer people are now treating many times their capacity, with locals who funded the system often deprioritized. Many newcomers arrive with untreated conditions, jumping ahead in the queue, which delays care for everyone else. Overworked doctors—once highly respected—are now leaving in droves due to verbal abuse, threats, and even physical attacks.

These issues have fueled the far-right's rise, as many fear speaking openly about the problems—except for CHEGA's leader, who does so without fear of the backlash and profiting from it.

Same thing here in the so called lucky country Australia. The numbers of fatal shooting and stabbing crimes I read on an almost daily basis is really disturbing. We too have had a history of serial killers and even mass shootings but it is now so much more random and commonplace, even in daylight public theaters. And the crimes are gruesome. Here is one in June where a former Beauty and the Geek reality TV contestant is accused of a murder and the victim's head had gone missing https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-06-27/former-tv-contestant-tamika-chesser-accused-of-murder/105468446 and a homeless man's double murder of a pregnant woman and her partner just this past week or so with the partner having been decapitated and his head reportedly mounted on a spike https://www.news.com.au/national/victoria/crime/clean-the-blood-alleged-murderers-chilling-bottle-shop-act-after-couple-killed-in-melbourne/news-story/f9ffc30e8f74274a2970248674b91fb6 . These kinds of horrific crimes and daylight shootings have just become far too common now in this country.

Australia too now has very high energy and property prices that are just becoming ridiculous in recent couple of years. I'll never own a home now and at 54 will likely rent for life. Fortunately I do have a secure job in the public service with a generous superannuation scheme (employer contributions to retirement fund) but it is increasingly difficult to live and if not for stock photography / videography supplementing my income it would be more difficult. Hence why I do this and now YouTube with a monetized channel since April.   

In Memoriam: The Microstock Industry

It is with bittersweet keystrokes that we announce the passing of the Microstock industry, aged 25, after a prolonged battle with corporate greed, subscription fatigue, and artificial intelligence.

Born in the early 2000s, Microstock was once a revolutionary force - democratizing access to stock imagery and empowering photographers and videographers around the globe to monetize their creativity. It thrived on the promise that even a humble snapshot could earn a few dollars and find its way into a billboard, blog, or brochure. For a time, it worked. Contributors built portfolios, climbed commission tiers, and found pride in their passive income streams.

But in 2020, the industry suffered a major stroke when Shutterstock slashed contributor commissions to a mere $0.10 per download. The ladder to higher earnings was pulled up, leaving many talented artists stranded on the lowest rung. That same year, video subscriptions were introduced, gutting the value of motion content and sending shockwaves through the creator community. Adobe Stock soon followed suit, and the race to the bottom began.

As commissions dwindled and pricing plummeted, seasoned contributors packed up their gear and walked away. The ecosystem that once nurtured artistry became a wasteland of generic uploads and algorithm-choked visibility. Then came AI - fast, cheap, and eerily competent. The machines didn't ask for royalties. They didn't complain. They just flooded the market with infinite variations of everything.

Sales on Shutterstock declined steadily, like a slow leak in a once-buoyant vessel. In 2025, the final blow was dealt: unlimited download plans. First Shutterstock, then Adobe Stock. The value of a single image or video was reduced to less than a penny, and contributor earnings evaporated into digital dust.


Microstock is survived by:

A generation of disillusioned creators

A bloated archive of underpaid brilliance

AI models trained on the very art it once celebrated


It will not be missed by shareholders, but it will be mourned by those who believed in its original promise. In lieu of flowers, please consider supporting independent artists directly. Or simply pay for a license like it actually matters.

For once I wish the agencies would've made some kind of cartel deal in order to keep prices to a decent level. I'm sure they are aware they are next on the line even if they manage to temporarily survive the AI frenzy

Microstock is dead..again..and again.. and again

I will just focus on content. As long as I see huge gaps, I have a job.

Bye, bye...

Quote from: cobalt on August 15, 2025, 12:01
Microstock is dead..again..and again.. and again

I will just focus on content. As long as I see huge gaps, I have a job.

Bye, bye...

Same here I survive end of the world in 2000 this will be much easier

Yes I'll carry on too unless of course AI slop does make it so unprofitable it's not worth it. Unless of course AI plagerizing practices are stopped by lawsuits. 

Contributors who give up = less competition

I have no problem with that 

Premium & Specialist Agencies, you can also try:

They offer higher royalties than microstock platforms. They usually require exclusive or semi-exclusive submissions, and curate portfolios to maintain a distinctive aesthetic. They target advertising agencies, publishers, and luxury brands. eg. Offset, Stocksy, Plainpicture, Trevillion Images, Gallery Stock, The Picture Pantry.

Those who get into these agencies can make some great money, but I doubt that even 0.1% of serious creators will ever have that option.

It is a tremendous privilege to be accepted, but unfortunately it does not help bring fairness to the overall stock market.

You might want to add arcangel, westend61 and places like stockfood to that list.

Also a Gettyhouse contract for access to their real premium macrostock collections.

Quote from: cobalt on August 16, 2025, 22:12
but unfortunately it does not help bring fairness to the overall stock market.

I suspect that the average microstock agency doesn't have the buyers anymore. That market has changed so much - those buyers now just want cheap, cheap, cheap. Or make their own via AI and smartphones. The microstock market that I used to sell to back in 2013 to 2020, is largely gone.  The fault also lies within the agencies, of course. But market perception now is that stock photos are not worth very much.

Yes, contributors may have to upgrade their skills, but in this day and age, upmarket is the only way to get decent money. Or delve into selling direct and promote and market your own work. Or sell related products.

To get ahead, we have to find new markets.

I think agencies should consider variable pricing....if an image keeps selling...raise the price!....use software to optimize an image's price for greatest net income. Why hasn't anyone tried something like this?

Quote from: wds on August 17, 2025, 03:19
I think agencies should consider variable pricing....if an image keeps selling...raise the price!....use software to optimize an image's price for greatest net income. Why hasn't anyone tried something like this?

Dreamstime has exactly this system, your individual files can move up to 5 levels up.

The problem is - imagine yourself as a buyer, what would you prefer - a complicated place where every image has a different price or a place where all files have the same price and you can just download whatever you need and you know it fits into your budget.

Quote from: AM24 on August 16, 2025, 22:19

Quote from: cobalt on August 16, 2025, 22:12
but unfortunately it does not help bring fairness to the overall stock market.

I suspect that the average microstock agency doesn't have the buyers anymore. That market has changed so much - those buyers now just want cheap, cheap, cheap. Or make their own via AI and smartphones. The microstock market that I used to sell to back in 2013 to 2020, is largely gone.  The fault also lies within the agencies, of course. But market perception now is that stock photos are not worth very much.

Yes, contributors may have to upgrade their skills, but in this day and age, upmarket is the only way to get decent money. Or delve into selling direct and promote and market your own work. Or sell related products.

To get ahead, we have to find new markets.

Finding new or more markets is always a good idea. I see more people trying to learn about merch and wallpaper stores.

But there still is a huge amount of content missing, probably 80% of the libraries are filled with copies of copies. Once you dig in and see the gaps it is incredible how empty agencies actually are.

Mostly we sell time.

Designers have always been able to take their own pictures, but even setting up a nice pic of a salad to shoot with your smartphone takes much longer than quickly browsing thousands of salads on an agency and downloading.

And ai? I have been doing ai for more than 2 years. While some things have improved I am still getting images with wrong hands or weird feet.

And you can easily spend an afternoon prompting to get one image right.

So again, looking through images on a stock agency is much faster.

For editorial there is no replacement, unless you fly to the location.

Adobe has always been a lot more expensive than the cheap places but I think for most people income on Adobe has been rising.

And the ultracheap places always lack lots of great content, because - surprise! creators don't send everything everywhere, they are quite selective.

Adobe pays best and there are creators with over 30k ports who are faux exclusive to them, because they are happy with the returns and the workflow.

I know many people talk the end is near, but we heard it with the free files, when the smartphones came...but still endless amount of contents are missing.

Becuase the masses simply don't do any research about needed content or customers. They just sort content by keyword and copy the exact three first pages.

The youtube gurus explicitly show them how to take a bestselling file and copy it as exactly as possible with ai.

Nobody talks about who the customers are.

So that will forever be my advantage.

I'm not that talented and pretty sure I wouldn't be accepted on the higher end agencies. I am doing a photography course though, silly me should have done this years ago.

"but unfortunately it does not help bring fairness to the overall stock market"  I don't see what fairness has got to do with it.  If someone is very good at what they do - they deserve paying more than someone who makes little effort.

"take a bestselling file and copy it as exactly as possible with ai"  lawsuits *may* resolve this one.  As with Napster I think the company was sued in part because they created the platform that allowed copyright theft. 

Agree Cobalt buyers don't want buying to be over complicated.  Adobe now as 1 star on Trustpilot.

"Nobody talks about who the customers are." very true. 

Quote from: cobalt on August 17, 2025, 06:25

Quote from: wds on August 17, 2025, 03:19
I think agencies should consider variable pricing....if an image keeps selling...raise the price!....use software to optimize an image's price for greatest net income. Why hasn't anyone tried something like this?

Dreamstime has exactly this system, your individual files can move up to 5 levels up.

The problem is - imagine yourself as a buyer, what would you prefer - a complicated place where every image has a different price or a place where all files have the same price and you can just download whatever you need and you know it fits into your budget.

I kind of see your point...but at the same time, in the "rest of the world" (other than stock), "more desirable products" cost more money than "less desirable products"

Quote from: wds on August 17, 2025, 15:41

Quote from: cobalt on August 17, 2025, 06:25

Quote from: wds on August 17, 2025, 03:19
I think agencies should consider variable pricing....if an image keeps selling...raise the price!....use software to optimize an image's price for greatest net income. Why hasn't anyone tried something like this?

Dreamstime has exactly this system, your individual files can move up to 5 levels up.

The problem is - imagine yourself as a buyer, what would you prefer - a complicated place where every image has a different price or a place where all files have the same price and you can just download whatever you need and you know it fits into your budget.

I kind of see your point...but at the same time, in the "rest of the world" (other than stock), "more desirable products" cost more money than "less desirable products"

images from offset, stocksy, getty macrol srockfood all cost a lot more than the micros.

business rules of course apply to the stock market.

99% of creators do not belong to the high end club with high prices.

Quote from: cobalt on August 17, 2025, 18:43

Quote from: wds on August 17, 2025, 15:41

Quote from: cobalt on August 17, 2025, 06:25

Quote from: wds on August 17, 2025, 03:19
I think agencies should consider variable pricing....if an image keeps selling...raise the price!....use software to optimize an image's price for greatest net income. Why hasn't anyone tried something like this?

Dreamstime has exactly this system, your individual files can move up to 5 levels up.

The problem is - imagine yourself as a buyer, what would you prefer - a complicated place where every image has a different price or a place where all files have the same price and you can just download whatever you need and you know it fits into your budget.

I kind of see your point...but at the same time, in the "rest of the world" (other than stock), "more desirable products" cost more money than "less desirable products"

images from offset, stocksy, getty macrol srockfood all cost a lot more than the micros.

business rules of course apply to the stock market.

99% of creators do not belong to the high end club with high prices.

As another anomaly, there are many images on Adobestock that are every bit as good as the images on the higher priced agencies (including the "high priced" Adobe collection)....why not let an image determine its' $$$ value by its sales numbers (="desirability") and not an arbitrary price an agency happens to charge? (just playing "devil's advocate here")

Quote from: cobalt on August 17, 2025, 06:25
...

Dreamstime has exactly this system, your individual files can move up to 5 levels up.

The problem is - imagine yourself as a buyer, what would you prefer - a complicated place where every image has a different price or a place where all files have the same price and you can just download whatever you need and you know it fits into your budget.

also, on DT why buy a level 5 when you can get a similar lvl1 that is 'good enough' for your needs?

Quote from: angelacat on August 17, 2025, 10:53
.
..
"but unfortunately it does not help bring fairness to the overall stock market"  I don't see what fairness has got to do with it.  If someone is very good at what they do - they deserve paying more than someone who makes little effort.

...

buyers don't care whether someone deserves more, but look for images that fit their needs and don't care what effort was made to produce it.  actually some of my best sellers are grab-shots, while more 'deserving' images languish

Quote from: angelacat on August 17, 2025, 10:53
I'm not that talented and pretty sure I wouldn't be accepted on the higher end agencies. I am doing a photography course though, silly me should have done this years ago.

I think doing a photography course is helpful because it teaches you how to shoot manually and that gives you a lot more control over the camera - at least it did for me. But in the meantime, you can also learn a lot from the myriad of youtube videos out there.

For me, it was always about knowing your buyer. That came from my business background, and that's how I made so many downloads back in those days. I used to keep a lot of stats from every sale, and I knew everything right down to what colors sold best.

And then deciding what you want to shoot and who's out there who wants to buy that, and what they are willing to pay. When I decided to stop shooting for microstock - after seeing all those dwindling numbers, 2 years ago, I was cleaning out my props room, but I kept all my food photography props. I didn't know exactly why then, but I thought I would still shoot the food side - even as a hobby and perhaps upload occasionally to agencies.  My father was a chef, so it was part of my background and what I loved doing.

The food photography then took on a life of its own. I studied, I did a lot of research. I had to change from studio lights to natural light, which is a whole new learning curve. I ended being accepted into a specialist food agency. Based on my past microstock portfolio, I shouldn't have, but I told the owner what I wanted to do, what my plans were for my future work. I did a lot of research into what food trends were expected in the forthcoming year. The owner said -  ok, come back to me with 100 photos and we'll see. I focused on my strengths which were styling and flatlays - and got very, very busy. Based on my final 100 submissions, I was accepted.

I guess I am just telling you this, because there's always a way. If this is something you really want to do - there's always a way. Grow, develop, lean into new areas, study, research, focus on your strengths and expand on those. I had written books before, and also did a lot of teaching - so that was the easy part. The rest just developed naturally.

Cheers
Annie

Quote from: AM24 on August 16, 2025, 22:19

Quote from: cobalt on August 16, 2025, 22:12
but unfortunately it does not help bring fairness to the overall stock market.

That market has changed so much - those buyers now just want cheap, cheap, cheap. Or make their own via AI and smartphones. The microstock market that I used to sell to back in 2013 to 2020, is largely gone.  The fault also lies within the agencies, of course. But market perception now is that stock photos are not worth very much.

To get ahead, we have to find new markets.

100% True.

It's the natural progression of a market.

When microstock first launched, buyers couldn't believe they were able to purchase a photo for a few dollars, or even a royalty free HD a video for around 50 bucks, but now the novelty has worn off. Technology moves on and buyers expect more

But much of the blame still lies with the agencies and the greedy cut they take for selling a 'digital' product. IMO, If they had just a little integrity and cared more for the creatives that supply them with product, the situation would be no way near as dire.