Author Topic: Twenty20? (Read 12567 times)

Shelma1 · « **on:** February 27, 2015, 10:11 »

I haven't heard of them...but they started as a print on demand service, so I'm guessing many of you know who they are? They claim to have more images than Shutterstock:

http://www.cmswire.com/cms/digital-marketing/who-wants-to-be-the-getty-images-of-the-instagram-generation-028245.php#null

Edited to add: They used to be known as InstaCanvas?

http://marketingland.com/twenty20s-crowd-sourced-stock-image-catalog-exits-beta-119603

Uncle Pete · « **Reply #1 on:** February 27, 2015, 10:27 »

"mobile-oriented, crowdsourced approach to stock imagery."

Yet another one coming to the party, trying to pass off phone camera, snapshots as "authentic, real-world imagery".

Personally? The future of these places looks limited in the long term.

Is there a reason why the Sign In is pushed off the edge of the screen on my computer?

i devices only, coming soon to Google Play store. That might save some people some time and trouble looking?

How Much will you make: https://twenty20.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/204196643-How-do-I-earn-from-my-sales-

When you sell your images through Twenty20, your payment will be deposited into your PayPal at the end of every month. When your image sells through one of our partners, your payment will be deposited into PayPal at the end of each quarter (March, June, September, and December).

Photographers earn a 20% commission on all sales. We handle customer support, transaction costs, image curation & legal support (digital licensing). You simply need to add photos, enjoy exposure, and make money!

When your digital image sells through a partner’s site (what is a partner site?), you earn 50% commission since in that instance, we don't incur any sales/support costs and pass the savings to you.

And what are partners?

In order to make sure your photos get the exposure and opportunity they deserve, we have secured partnerships with some of the most prestigious photography distribution companies in the world. These companies will also list your photos for sale, and you will be notified when one has sold. With partner sales, we also pass 50% of the revenue to you on every sale.

Note, that doesn't say who, just what.

But it does say I can sign up with a computer. Just no Android App. And some of the site features only work on the App. not on the website. How long was this in Beta?

Someone who joins needs to fill in the missing parts.

EmberMike · « **Reply #2 on:** February 27, 2015, 10:48 »

I feel like these things have always been backwards. Sure people want more authentic looking stock images. Less super smiley, less overly posed, more real, more everyday people. And mobile phone cameras certainly put the tools to capture these more everyday moments in the hands of a lot of people. But in the end, clients still need usable artwork. They need sharp, clean, high-res photos, model-released and ready for commercial use. There isn't much of that kind of stuff showing up on Instagram just waiting to be licensed. The people actually shooting for these mobile-oriented stock shops are doing it specifically for that purpose. The idea that any of these companies are capitalizing on the Instagram generation or the buzz of mobile photography are misrepresenting what this really is.

I don't even see the appeal of the mobile aspect of this. As a buyer of stock photos for my clients, I'd rather go to a place like Stocksy where the look of the images is more natural and authentic and the camera used isn't the selling point.

Hobostocker · « **Reply #3 on:** February 27, 2015, 10:50 »

they will FAIL.

while users are happy to share and upload their cr-ap NO ONE is willing to keyword and caption for free or for a pittance.

EmberMike · « **Reply #4 on:** February 27, 2015, 10:53 »

Oh and they're another 20%-royalty-rate company. Great.

Uncle Pete · « **Reply #5 on:** February 27, 2015, 11:09 »

So do I give that a minus because it's just another 20% agency, with mystery partners and a half finished beta site that's gone live?

Or a plus because I agree with you.

Quote from: EmberMike on February 27, 2015, 10:53

Oh and they're another 20%-royalty-rate company. Great.

Quote from: Hobostocker on February 27, 2015, 10:50

they will FAIL.

while users are happy to share and upload their cr-ap NO ONE is willing to keyword and caption for free or for a pittance.

Yup!

EmberMike · « **Reply #6 on:** February 27, 2015, 11:35 »

At least the name is appropriate. Twenty20%

Shelma1 · « **Reply #7 on:** February 27, 2015, 11:49 »

Weird site...can't find a search box once I've signed in, there are contests running, you get "free full size comps," and their subs pricing is higher than SS.

cthoman · « **Reply #8 on:** February 27, 2015, 12:33 »

Quote from: EmberMike on February 27, 2015, 11:35

At least the name is appropriate. Twenty20%

I thought it was a hindsight is 20/20 thing. You know like in hindsight maybe I shouldn't have joined this site.

Shelma1 · « **Reply #9 on:** February 27, 2015, 12:42 »

OK...signed in on my laptop. Found the search box, downloaded a "free comp." Huge watermark. OOF. Noise. Fringing. Apparently they get the images from Instagram?

Jo Ann Snover · « **Reply #10 on:** February 27, 2015, 13:12 »

The idea that 45 million images is 50% more than Shutterstock is curious (as SS is over 40 million I think)

The images themselves are, to put it kindly, a mixed bag. I found a lot that were editorial use only - and one of a beach (no one in sight) that had editorial use OK'd and commercial use "pending review"

The prices seemed very high for the very average images they sell $10, $20, $50 for small-med-large.

The keywording seemed awful - even if you want authentic, you want to know where things were taken (basic place information was missing from many landscapes and city shots; one that had place was still pretty minimal - boston, harbor, fun)

Other than a founder to talk it up as a "movement" (on the bottom of the home page it invites me to Join the Movement...), I don't really see anything about this site that would make it more than a small player.

ppdd · « **Reply #11 on:** February 27, 2015, 16:25 »

Sure but the got $8 million in funding...

Jo Ann Snover · « **Reply #12 on:** February 27, 2015, 17:19 »

Getting a few million in funding is no guarantee of anything...

https://clarity.fm/questions/396/for-every-success-story-in-silicon-valley-how-many-are-there-that-fail

http://pando.com/2014/01/31/failure-report-dissecting-the-biggest-flameouts-in-venture-history/

http://www.slate.com/articles/business/how_failure_breeds_success/2014/05/no_exit_by_gideon_lewis_kraus_are_tech_startups_for_suckers.html

Cesar · « **Reply #13 on:** February 27, 2015, 17:28 »

they dont have one million, write in search: woman mobile phone . You will get 3 images woman with mobile phone.

Shelma1 · « **Reply #14 on:** February 27, 2015, 17:37 »

Yes, one of the articles mentions that there are far fewer images online than the number claimed.

Jo Ann Snover · « **Reply #15 on:** February 27, 2015, 17:38 »

http://pando.com/2015/02/26/twenty20-raises-8m-removes-the-velvet-rope-on-its-crowdsourced-stock-photo-platform/

Interesting to see Shutterstock lumped in with the old guard in the above article, and also the notion that crowdsourced content is somehow new - perhaps the author was unaware that this is how the microstock agencies have typically been characterized.

There's much more press about their funding - whoever's doing their PR is certainly getting the word out

http://techcrunch.com/2015/02/26/twenty20/

http://www.bizjournals.com/losangeles/news/2015/02/26/twenty20-s-vision-for-crowdsourced-stock-photos.html?page=all

"Twenty20 is here to harness the power of a mobile photo and provide a bigger stage to showcase everyday talent," said founder and CEO Matt Munson. "Creative brands and agencies are looking for original image content from real people, creating a more impactful and sincere relationship with their customers."

http://mobilemarketingmagazine.com/twenty20-funding-round-leaves-beta

https://www.pehub.com/2015/02/twenty20-rakes-in-8-mln-in-canaan-partners-led-round/

And these guys got the numbers wrong (saying it's $20m)
http://www.socaltech.com/twenty__gets___m_for_crowdsourced_stock_photography/s-0059134.html

Shelma1 · « **Reply #16 on:** February 27, 2015, 17:49 »

Quote from: Jo Ann Snover on February 27, 2015, 17:38

"Creative brands and agencies are looking for original image content from real people, creating a more impactful and sincere relationship with their customers."

As opposed to us fake people, creating weak, unimpactful and insincere relationships with customers...

Jo Ann Snover · « **Reply #17 on:** February 27, 2015, 17:54 »

I took a bit more of a look around, and was pretty astounded at what's there - although it's easy to see how they claim big numbers when you have portfolios full of this sort of text on white "image":

https://www.twenty20.com/photos/ig-445773709777941545_38220364

https://www.twenty20.com/photos/ea8f4975-744d-42a6-9548-ad80c79491ac

Bottom line is that there's a lot of stuff that's commercially unusable, and a ton more that is visually and technically a train wreck.

The only good news I can imagine is that some of the established agencies might broaden their acceptance criteria to compete with these newcomers. Shutterstock may think it's seen focus problems, but they should look at Twenty/20

Cesar · « **Reply #18 on:** February 27, 2015, 17:57 »

waste of time, word business 1,847 photos, cats are in search, lock the theme

Batman · « **Reply #19 on:** February 28, 2015, 00:20 »

Quote from: Cesar on February 27, 2015, 17:57

waste of time, word business 1,847 photos, cats are in search, lock the theme

New feature request for MSG. Lock this thread vote, if it makes 10 it's closed. Good way to shut up trolls and dumb arguments. I vote with you cesar.

Cesar · « **Reply #20 on:** February 28, 2015, 03:37 »

the main problem is they are big fat liers, i dont know why, also in my counrtry, there is too much tolerance for liers.

Shelma1 · « **Reply #21 on:** March 01, 2015, 19:44 »

Just got an email from Twenty20 with a link to a blog post. They use watermarked Shutterstock images as examples of photos that are "off" in some way:

http://stock.twenty20.com/what-makes-an-authentic-photo?utm_campaign=website+signups&utm_source=hs_automation&utm_medium=email&utm_content=16243078&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-_RUt8oAKPmA77vBlK0c7iKrVl01QyZ-l1A0OedeVv4QbMQE3x-c6fCwc4QZo-UiS1CFDeaNRo61_YZ7O-r3AR7J-AdfA&_hsmi=16247137

SS should be after them for this, as should the photographers in question.

Edited to add: Emailed SS about it.

Uncle Pete · « **Reply #22 on:** March 05, 2015, 12:10 »

Who are these people?

"Twenty20 - your source for native royalty-free stock photos sourced from social." then selling stock marketing boot camp and get 15 minutes free - pages with completely invasive pop up boxes and many of the pages are 1/3 information and 2/3rd blank white as you scroll down.

Click Subscriptions and you get a page that says, this photographer hasn't added any images yet. The site is a tragic failure.

If a website is any indication of capabilities or any confidence on a scale of one to ten, this is a zero.

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Author Topic: Twenty20? (Read 12567 times)

Shelma1

Uncle Pete

EmberMike

Hobostocker

EmberMike

Uncle Pete

EmberMike

Shelma1

cthoman

Shelma1

Jo Ann Snover

ppdd

Jo Ann Snover

Cesar

Shelma1

Jo Ann Snover

Shelma1

Jo Ann Snover

Cesar

Batman

Cesar

Shelma1

Uncle Pete

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