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Probably one understanding is that our lack of unity and lack of strong resistance to Shutterstock has led to all agencies going the same route.What now? How do we now learn from this and push back. Alamy has barely any significant earnings. Can they be dropped enmasse
The lesson was not learned from everyone jumping on board to microstock many years ago so I doubt very much the exact same slap in the face will change things. I remember for being ostracized and skinned alive for being a microstock doubter, after all who in their right mind would give sell their work for pennies on the dollar. The masses asked and even applauded this and the masters agreed to it. The genie is so far out of the bottle it will never go back.Don't forget your unity and lack of strong resistance towards the valuations of the industry before you backed in unity with no resistance to selling on micros. 0.25c back then was garbage yet is was embraced and even idolized.Just sayin.
Quote from: Clair Voyant on May 21, 2021, 14:21The lesson was not learned from everyone jumping on board to microstock many years ago so I doubt very much the exact same slap in the face will change things. I remember for being ostracized and skinned alive for being a microstock doubter, after all who in their right mind would give sell their work for pennies on the dollar. The masses asked and even applauded this and the masters agreed to it. The genie is so far out of the bottle it will never go back.Don't forget your unity and lack of strong resistance towards the valuations of the industry before you backed in unity with no resistance to selling on micros. 0.25c back then was garbage yet is was embraced and even idolized.Just sayin.Who is everyone? Trad stock was a (mostly) closed shop. Micro was a new industry in and of itself. The worst thing that happened was that trads saw people making money hand over fist and tanked their own markets but submitting high value work for pennies, opting for volume sales. Their customers saw and followed.Micro could have been a stepping stone for so many, improving to the point where they/we grew out of micro into RM. Instead, your (not you specifically) high end work sells side by side with my 30 second breakfast photo, and for the same price.Edit to add: Unless I am misunderstand and we are saying the same thing from different directions.
Quote from: farbled on May 21, 2021, 14:41Quote from: Clair Voyant on May 21, 2021, 14:21The lesson was not learned from everyone jumping on board to microstock many years ago so I doubt very much the exact same slap in the face will change things. I remember for being ostracized and skinned alive for being a microstock doubter, after all who in their right mind would give sell their work for pennies on the dollar. The masses asked and even applauded this and the masters agreed to it. The genie is so far out of the bottle it will never go back.Don't forget your unity and lack of strong resistance towards the valuations of the industry before you backed in unity with no resistance to selling on micros. 0.25c back then was garbage yet is was embraced and even idolized.Just sayin.Who is everyone? Trad stock was a (mostly) closed shop. Micro was a new industry in and of itself. The worst thing that happened was that trads saw people making money hand over fist and tanked their own markets but submitting high value work for pennies, opting for volume sales. Their customers saw and followed.Micro could have been a stepping stone for so many, improving to the point where they/we grew out of micro into RM. Instead, your (not you specifically) high end work sells side by side with my 30 second breakfast photo, and for the same price.Edit to add: Unless I am misunderstand and we are saying the same thing from different directions.Yes and no... but yes we are more or less saying the same thing from different directions.The 'Trads' as you call them did not have stepping stones, you failed until you passed, so it was not really a closed shop at all. I actually can't stand that argument. Sort of like sports day in school back then, you either got 1st, 2nd, or 3rd so really it was not a closed competition, whereas in today's world everyone gets a prize for just showing up.That is the standard that is now set and accepted, so yes your 30 second breakfast photo is now in the same category of my so called set up and styled breakfast photo or vice versa.
Quote from: Clair Voyant on May 21, 2021, 14:58Quote from: farbled on May 21, 2021, 14:41Quote from: Clair Voyant on May 21, 2021, 14:21The lesson was not learned from everyone jumping on board to microstock many years ago so I doubt very much the exact same slap in the face will change things. I remember for being ostracized and skinned alive for being a microstock doubter, after all who in their right mind would give sell their work for pennies on the dollar. The masses asked and even applauded this and the masters agreed to it. The genie is so far out of the bottle it will never go back.Don't forget your unity and lack of strong resistance towards the valuations of the industry before you backed in unity with no resistance to selling on micros. 0.25c back then was garbage yet is was embraced and even idolized.Just sayin.Who is everyone? Trad stock was a (mostly) closed shop. Micro was a new industry in and of itself. The worst thing that happened was that trads saw people making money hand over fist and tanked their own markets but submitting high value work for pennies, opting for volume sales. Their customers saw and followed.Micro could have been a stepping stone for so many, improving to the point where they/we grew out of micro into RM. Instead, your (not you specifically) high end work sells side by side with my 30 second breakfast photo, and for the same price.Edit to add: Unless I am misunderstand and we are saying the same thing from different directions.Yes and no... but yes we are more or less saying the same thing from different directions.The 'Trads' as you call them did not have stepping stones, you failed until you passed, so it was not really a closed shop at all. I actually can't stand that argument. Sort of like sports day in school back then, you either got 1st, 2nd, or 3rd so really it was not a closed competition, whereas in today's world everyone gets a prize for just showing up.That is the standard that is now set and accepted, so yes your 30 second breakfast photo is now in the same category of my so called set up and styled breakfast photo or vice versa.Well we both agree and disagree. And in fairness the barriers to entry were much higher until digital came along simply from a development/expense point of view. Digital photography leveled the playing field completely. The unfortunate side effect is that with unlimited supply (and talent), the biggest resource that traditional stock had (scarcity/uniqueness) was gone. Some innovator will upset the market again sooner or later. But right now, I believe as long as someone can make a residual penny here and there, there will always be people willing to do just that.
... I do really wonder what the agents think, or do they just not care.
Quote from: csm on May 21, 2021, 16:52... I do really wonder what the agents think, or do they just not care.Do you really have to wonder?
yes -- continue to blame SS for everything (correlation is not causation) rather than face the fact that stock is a fungible commodity and price has little to do with quality --> more to SEO & other marketing. Falling prices should be no surprise with any understanding of basic capitalist economics - i paid over $5000 for my 1st PC and it didnt have a hard drive! now, mutatis mutandi, there's no difference among PCs and price is the determining factor for many/most buyers
Quote from: Rage on May 21, 2021, 12:29Probably one understanding is that our lack of unity and lack of strong resistance to Shutterstock has led to all agencies going the same route.What now? How do we now learn from this and push back. Alamy has barely any significant earnings. Can they be dropped enmasseWhere was the unity and resistance to iStock which was much worse than Shutterstock and still is. Where was the resistance and unity against the tiny new agencies that offered minimal returns for work. Yet people flocked to those and sold their souls for penny stock.Quote from: cascoly on May 21, 2021, 20:39yes -- continue to blame SS for everything (correlation is not causation) rather than face the fact that stock is a fungible commodity and price has little to do with quality --> more to SEO & other marketing. Falling prices should be no surprise with any understanding of basic capitalist economics - i paid over $5000 for my 1st PC and it didnt have a hard drive! now, mutatis mutandi, there's no difference among PCs and price is the determining factor for many/most buyersRight, the world changes, sometimes for the better, but world markets and open access changed the stock photo industry, not the agencies. Technology is the culprit not the people who saw the future and created a new way to market and distribute.For others, who wish to live in the dark ages and never grow or advance or change?Trads, those people who think they died from Microstock? What a joke. When you have negatives and slides, mailed. We have gone from chipping notes in stone, to pressing letters in clay, to other forms and the huge revolution with movable type. Linotype machines, casting letters in lead or bars of lines, and the people crying about the demise of Trads, forget that offset virtually eliminated typesetting and streamlined printing.Would people argue against the fact and ability that we have to write, as we are right now, and distribute whole books, electronically, instead of in print? If we were writing the old way, before electronics and computers, we could mail letters to each other. That's Trads. Now I can type this, click POST and anyone, anywhere can read it.The change is not because of stock agencies changing, it is because of technology.Good news, good images are still good images. We just don't have to use expensive films, process in chemicals, and do delicate spotting or alterations. Welcome to the 21st Century... cameras are pretty much similar to the old ways. The way of recording images has transformed the way we can share those images.
Where do agencies such as Stocksy, Getty proper and other curated agencies who are paying more than pennies fit into this picture?
Quote from: wds on May 22, 2021, 08:37Where do agencies such as Stocksy, Getty proper and other curated agencies who are paying more than pennies fit into this picture?They don't fit in the picture. Getty has gone micro, I know because I see my statements. Stocksy I don't know personally, but what I have heard from a few contributors I know it's not all it's cracked up to be, not even close.The whole industry is in a shambles for many of the reasons noted in above posts.It's always been a tough industry in many ways but nowadays it's an impossible industry. The costs and time consumed don't even break even anymore.
Quote from: Clair Voyant on May 22, 2021, 13:15Quote from: wds on May 22, 2021, 08:37Where do agencies such as Stocksy, Getty proper and other curated agencies who are paying more than pennies fit into this picture?They don't fit in the picture. Getty has gone micro, I know because I see my statements. Stocksy I don't know personally, but what I have heard from a few contributors I know it's not all it's cracked up to be, not even close.The whole industry is in a shambles for many of the reasons noted in above posts.It's always been a tough industry in many ways but nowadays it's an impossible industry. The costs and time consumed don't even break even anymore.Completely agree with this. The other part is that so many buyers out there don't "need" the highest, bestest, stuff (in my opinion only based on my own works and my own experiences as a buyer). Its like hiring Michelangelo when you just need a sign for your hot dog cart. I worked as a contractor in a bunch or marketing companies over the years, and good enough "now" always trumped a longer search for perfect and more expensive.