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Hi All, A lot of Tornado's blowing around this post and probably some feelings getting hurt. I think this post alone shows and shares the frustration that many are feeling about Microstock. Try to remember that it is the industry you are frustrated with not each other.Cheers,Jonathan
...Who is going to invest their time and effort in something which is obviously headed in only one direction?
Look at all of the people giving their work away as Creative Commons. Tell them, "hey not only will we let you give your work away, we'll even pay you 10 or 15 cents for ever download!" And I guarantee there will be a ton of people who think it is a great deal. Ever lower commissions for higher standards, just for the privilege of possibly having one of your images used in an advertisement someday. How exciting!
Who is going to invest their time and effort in something which is obviously headed in only one direction?
Quote from: stockastic on July 19, 2013, 16:52...Who is going to invest their time and effort in something which is obviously headed in only one direction?That's what I'm wondering too. And what will happen with the agencies when nobody is uploading new material any longer?
Maintenance on Shutterstock today, the RC schedule might come sooner than we think
Quote from: stockastic on July 19, 2013, 16:52Who is going to invest their time and effort in something which is obviously headed in only one direction?And yet we're all still here. Wonder what that says about us.
There was a time when I thought that by increasing the costs and the commission payments iSTock risked wrecking the model, driving away buyers and pulling in people who would not have bothered when we were getting 10c 20c and 30c or evern 20c, 40c, and 60c per DL.I'm starting to think again that I was right. Standards would have been much lower, the factories would never have appeared and the RPI might not have shrunk to where it is now. I'm not sure, of course, but I do wonder...
Quote from: BaldricksTrousers on July 23, 2013, 15:52There was a time when I thought that by increasing the costs and the commission payments iSTock risked wrecking the model, driving away buyers and pulling in people who would not have bothered when we were getting 10c 20c and 30c or evern 20c, 40c, and 60c per DL.I'm starting to think again that I was right. Standards would have been much lower, the factories would never have appeared and the RPI might not have shrunk to where it is now. I'm not sure, of course, but I do wonder...I think istock was right that the industry can bear higher prices, they just got it wrong about which companies could do it and the context in which it would be accepted by buyers. They established themselves as a microstock company but ventured too far out of that realm. When really what they should have done was create something separate, like SS is doing with Offset. Of course it is yet to be seen whether Offset will work, but at least SS isn't ruining their existing business by trying to change it up too drastically. There's a proper place for what istock wanted to do. That place just wasn't istock.
Quote from: EmberMike on July 23, 2013, 16:01Quote from: BaldricksTrousers on July 23, 2013, 15:52There was a time when I thought that by increasing the costs and the commission payments iSTock risked wrecking the model, driving away buyers and pulling in people who would not have bothered when we were getting 10c 20c and 30c or evern 20c, 40c, and 60c per DL.I'm starting to think again that I was right. Standards would have been much lower, the factories would never have appeared and the RPI might not have shrunk to where it is now. I'm not sure, of course, but I do wonder...I think istock was right that the industry can bear higher prices, they just got it wrong about which companies could do it and the context in which it would be accepted by buyers. They established themselves as a microstock company but ventured too far out of that realm. When really what they should have done was create something separate, like SS is doing with Offset. Of course it is yet to be seen whether Offset will work, but at least SS isn't ruining their existing business by trying to change it up too drastically. There's a proper place for what istock wanted to do. That place just wasn't istock.Didn't they already have an Offset? It's called Getty. I agree though. They were doing a good job selling higher priced content until they broke it.
Didn't they already have an Offset? It's called Getty. I agree though. They were doing a good job selling higher priced content until they broke it.