Happy MicrostockDay to me! today marks 6 years that I started in Microstock.

It's often difficult to understand how lucky we are to have Adobe Stock.

You understand this when after having worked for 4 and a half years with Istock,you receive an email in the middle of the night in which you are informed that all the work you have done,all the sacrifices,all the time,all the effort made to improve,they were destroyed in a second,without any valid or truthful reason that could justify this.

Adobe can block our account,yes,but then after a month or two at most,it is unblocked,unless a real and intentional violation of the terms is proven and verified,but often even in this case,you can get out of it with a simple warning,then if the violation of the terms is repeated another time or two,Adobe will certainly permanently and definitively block your account.

Is Adobe Stock perfect?probably not,nothing and no one is,but their commitment to trying to be so is certainly closer to perfection than any other agency there has ever been.

today I have been a microstock contributor for exactly 6 years,and a couple of years ago,when I received that email from Istock,I had lost all hope,since I had finally managed to improve my hardware and was aiming to improve myself and my future,just then I received that email that completely destroyed me.

I still earn little,I'm nobody,but I'm improving quickly,but today,I have a completely different perspective of my future,a hope,a reason,and all this thanks to me first of all because I didn't give up,but also thanks to Adobe which makes it possible,today,for me to dream and hope for a better future.

I will make it,I know I can do it and I will!

thanks so much Adobe!

keep it up! 

Congrats on your 6-year anniversary.

But don't praise any agency too much, they can (and will) turn on contributors sooner or later. I'm doing it for almost 15 years now and I've seen agencies get successful and then come up with exciting new royalty schedules, commission cuts and unlimited downloads at the expense of contributors.

Congrats on your anniversary!

Hope your hard work keeps paying off!

Maybe the time is ripe for Adobe Stock to think about an exclusivity program.

I believe that anyone who wants to contribute in all agencies can do so,and Adobe could perhaps differentiate the royalties in an exclusivity program.

I clearly hope that they will decide to take this path,which in my opinion,given the general situation will be inevitable,sooner or later this choice must be made to maintain better royalties in the contents that only they have at their disposal,and at the same time remain competitive with the other agencies,with most of the library.

I know that for many of you you may not like this path,for me it is clearly different,I hope that in the future Adobe Stock will decide to take this path. 

Happy 6th anniversary.

I'll second the advice you heard earlier about scaling back on the love for Adobe Stock (or any of the agencies). In September I'll celebrate my 20th anniversary of contributing to microstock. I've been in love and had my (virtual) heart broken multiple times with multiple agencies.

None of the agencies, least of all Adobe Stock, have contributor's interests at heart. We are just a small part of their software subscription universe. At the moment, they're trying to convince investors that Adobe is an AI "winner"; investors were worried that subscription income will nosedive as a result of the rise of AI tools. It's been a rocky path for them (and the stock price is way down from the $638.25 peak earlier in the year).

This article from Friday seems to be on point - but perhaps read it tomorrow so you don't cloud your anniversary with not-very-positive views:

https://petapixel.com/2024/05/03/adobe-throws-photographers-under-the-bus-again-skip-the-photoshoot/

first of all,thank you for the good wishes!

I read the article.

my first impression is that there are a lot of personal considerations based on "skip the photoshoot"

and I believe that unfortunately we have now gone beyond this point,or not yet?

it is certain that AI brings with it significant changes to traditional photography,and I know it's a difficult reality to accept,but we have to adapt,there's nothing left to do on this point it seems clear to me,since long time.

the author of the article writes:"With AI,the logical next step is getting rid of the photographer".

I don't agree,this won't happen,it's not possible to do without some kind of photographers first of all,then,in general,it's not possible,because a red deer (Cervus elaphus Linnaeus) even if you can generate it with AI it's not the same,similar,yes very similar,but not true,and this concept is applicable to many other kind of contents.

reality is reality and nothing can ever replace this.

of course you can "skip the photo shoot" if you need a model with shopping bags,or other type of concept,It doesn't matter if it's real or not.

That's why it's important to try to understand what an Adobe Stock customer prefers to be real,what cannot be completely replaced by AI.

Adobe says it supports creators as follows:

-Empowering creators to monetize their talents through our Stock marketplace.

-Compensating Stock contributors and creators through paid programs like Stock royalties,Firefly contributor bonus,Adobe Missions,and payments for custom content.

-Advocating for laws including a new federal anti-impersonation right (FAIR Act) to protect artists from people misusing AI tools to intentionally impersonate their style.

-Pushing for transparency around the use of AI with Content Credentials,which are like a nutrition label for digital content.

so what I read confirms what I think,and believe me,on the last point I also raised some doubts about the transparency of labeled AI contents,but recently I realized that I was wrong.

believe me Adobe is doing everything very clear,in the way they are labeling AI content,so that customers can know "what" they download.

and again the author of this article follows the points just listed by Adobe with this:"Conspicuously absent is any mention of photography,photographers,or even artists".

again?is it still not clear?Has photography changed?Many photographers who used to do photo shoots are now useless?YES

I also used to print on paper with my enlarger and work in the darkroom,and that's how I earned in the 80s and 90s then digital photography replaced this beautiful work.

coming back to us,AI will not destroy the microstock,they will change it,improve it in some aspects and eliminate others,it is the normal process of evolution,which certainly makes many angry and makes others happy.

even the way the article is concluded feels too personal:"No, Adobe,choose to embrace it because you can sell this "new digital camera" to customers, your relationship with human artists be damned".

no I don't think that's the case,and Adobe also knows very well that it will never be possible to do without human artists completely,it's simply impossible.

they're trying to convince investors that Adobe is an AI "winner?"

they are right to do it! we should do it too! 

thanks for the article!I'll reread it tomorrow!

Congrats, but  I think you taking everything too close to your heart. It�s just a business, there isn�t any anniversaries or good side and bad side. Take as much money as possible, but be ready for everything to go bust, and is contributors being dumped. I�m upset that I haven�t started earlier. But I don�t take anything too close to heart. We are expense and we might  be replaced in the future, same applies to a lot of industries.

thank you! 

yes I take to heart what I'm passionate about.

sure,it's a business,but for me it's not just that,and in my opinion there are even anniversaries,it's right to live with passion what you do It's the only way to do something really well.

I think this is the difference between a doctor,a scientist,an engineer or whoever you want and a great doctor,scientist or engineer.

a great doctor can only become great if he/she simply loves his job and the reasons why he does that job.

however,no,for Adobe Stock we are not an expense,but a source of income,it is evident,for various reasons,and in the AI ​​reality in which we live it's up to us to make sure that this thing doesn't change,I don't predict the future,everything can change,but I believe that this won't change,if we make sure that it doesn't change,but it essentially depends on us!

and it seems like a slightly convoluted phrase,I know,but it has a very precise meaning!

one of the main points here is that many believe that due to AI the microstock will end soon,but in my opinion absolutely not!

Congratulations 🎉 That�s a big milestone and shows your long term commitment. I hope Adobe will have an exclusive option soon.

thank you!

yes an exclusive program I believe it is necessary in the future to maintain fair royalties,because it is other agencies like Istock that drive prices down,with an exclusivity program Adobe could counteract this,maintaining higher royalties for exclusive content,I hope they will choose this path.

think how lucky we are with Adobe,despite the "dramatic" scenario we experience today with microstock,with agencies trying to attract customers by lowering prices,Adobe still manages to maintain honest royalties for us contributors,it's not easy,we're lucky! 

Quote from: Mifornia on May 04, 2024, 21:51

Congratulations 🎉 That�s a big milestone and shows your long term commitment. I hope Adobe will have an exclusive option soon.

thank you!

yes an exclusive program I believe it is necessary in the future to maintain fair royalties,because it is other agencies like Istock that drive prices down,with an exclusivity program Adobe could counteract this,maintaining higher royalties for exclusive content,I hope they will choose this path.

think how lucky we are with Adobe,despite the "dramatic" scenario we experience today with microstock,with agencies trying to attract customers by lowering prices,Adobe still manages to maintain honest royalties for us contributors,it's not easy,we're lucky! 

Exclusive program at Adobe Stock would be great. But I'm afraid it won't happen.

As I had said before. Exclusive program is a countermeasure for underdog agencies to compete with the top dogs. And AS is surely not an underdog. No microstocker would dare to omit AS and miss a good chunk of income. Some of my images are already exclusive at AS. So why would Adobe create a redundant (exclusive) program and pay us more?

I'll be happy to be wrong.

Quote from: Injustice for all on May 05, 2024, 04:39

Quote from: Mifornia on May 04, 2024, 21:51

Congratulations 🎉 That�s a big milestone and shows your long term commitment. I hope Adobe will have an exclusive option soon.

thank you!

yes an exclusive program I believe it is necessary in the future to maintain fair royalties,because it is other agencies like Istock that drive prices down,with an exclusivity program Adobe could counteract this,maintaining higher royalties for exclusive content,I hope they will choose this path.

think how lucky we are with Adobe,despite the "dramatic" scenario we experience today with microstock,with agencies trying to attract customers by lowering prices,Adobe still manages to maintain honest royalties for us contributors,it's not easy,we're lucky! 

Exclusive program at Adobe Stock would be great. But I'm afraid it won't happen.

As I had said before. Exclusive program is a countermeasure for underdog agencies to compete with the top dogs. And AS is surely not an underdog. No microstocker would dare to omit AS and miss a good chunk of income. Some of my images are already exclusive at AS. So why would Adobe create a redundant (exclusive) program and pay us more?

I'll be happy to be wrong.

I think you're partly right,most contributors would give up any agency to become exclusive with Adobe,and that's exactly the point.

I don't really agree with this:"Exclusive program is a countermeasure for underdog agencies to compete with the top dogs"

the point is that if Adobe Stock really takes microstock into its own hands by becoming an exclusive agency,ensuring a monopoly on content,which no other large agency can have,it could decide the prices.

it's a slightly surreal scenario,but I don't feel like ruling it out completely in the future,Adobe could start with an exclusive collection accessible directly from Adobe Stock,and not through other channels as it is now.

the only thing I am certain of is that as long as we continue to contribute to agencies like Istock or SS we are the ones starting the race to the bottom.

What do we expect if we continue to give our content to an agency that pays us 15% and to make 100 USD we have to sell 300 content if not 500 or more?

of course it's good in the short term it's money,but in the long run this behavior of ours is wearing out the microstock system,sending content to anyone who gives us some money,I don't think it's a good idea anymore.

this is also why I chose to contribute only on Adobe Stock,I still have other active ports,but since September 2023 I have decided to upload only to Adobe.

I understand that you say that Adobe already has this content,but the point is that it doesn't have it as exclusive.

we need to start asking ourselves some questions as:"why does SS reset the level of contributors every year?"we complain,but then we accept,and that's why we find ourselves like this today.

Istock and SS have hundreds of millions of content thanks to us,but what if they no longer have it?

and every time I make this speech I feel guilty first of all because I still have my active port on SS!

Adobe launches exclusivity program!Please save us from ourselves! 

  I also did contact printing with larger film formats and used a timed yellow-green light,for this type of printing.

I used a Z winder,bought the films by the meter and prepared the rolls in the darkroom.

at the beginning I took photography courses by correspondence,I received all the material and lessons at home,the 80s and 90s were very beautiful. 

However,it's true,it takes tenacity in microstock,but as in many things,but perhaps especially in microstock,at the beginning it's easy,because it's new,then after a couple of years not many are willing to continue,because it takes constant commitment if you want to reach more distant goals.

this is why passion is important,if you don't really like microstock and you only do it for money it is very difficult to continue in the long term,I have seen many start and then abandon after a few years.

then success in the short or long term depends on many factors.

From what I have seen,Adobe is the only agency that guarantees a constant income that increases over time,as long as your portfolio continues to grow,but above all vary.

However today it's different,I believe that before 2019 contributing to many agencies had its advantages,today I don't think it's like that anymore,it's better to only choose the best.