Author Topic: Want to work for Yuri? He's starting his own direct sales channel (Read 39472 times)

lthn · « **Reply #50 on:** June 17, 2011, 11:41 »

Quote from: sjlocke on June 17, 2011, 10:19

You seemed to miss the part about "if he sets up an agency in direct competition to iStock then they will throw him out" in the statement, which implies drawing in other contributors to directly compete and take business from existing agencies.

so? the same applies...

Pheby · « **Reply #51 on:** June 17, 2011, 12:07 »

Quote from: BaldricksTrousers on June 17, 2011, 11:39

I think people also wildly over-estimate Yuri's importance to the agencies. If he pulled out of iStock tomorrow I'd bet that 90% of his sales would simply transfer to other black diamonds/diamonds. Isn't he just shooting the same stuff as most of the rest of them?

Laflor will have the time of his life!

Slovenian · « **Reply #52 on:** June 17, 2011, 13:55 »

Quote from: BaldricksTrousers on June 17, 2011, 11:39

If he pulled out of iStock tomorrow I'd bet that 90% of his sales would simply transfer to other black diamonds/diamonds. Isn't he just shooting the same stuff as most of the rest of them?

I think only Lise stands out (or better said has significantly different style of shooting is far more creative etc), most of the rest do the same, some (those that made most of their sales before 2008 and still mostly sell those bestsellers) just don't meet his quality.

RT · « **Reply #53 on:** June 17, 2011, 16:08 »

Quote from: BaldricksTrousers on June 17, 2011, 11:39

I think people also wildly over-estimate Yuri's importance to the agencies.

You've hit the nail on the head, it always makes me (and I'm sure Yuri himself) laugh when I see someone comment about how this or that site would react if Yuri did a certain something or other.

luissantos84 · « **Reply #54 on:** June 17, 2011, 16:27 »

we are all talking a lot and know "little/nothing" but it sure looks like he is planning something which might be an agency which he talked about at IS forum

imagine if he goes that way and plan to include contributors.. what would he pay? 50%? everything around that will make other agencies quite upset.. no? that it just the competition right? I am saying this because I think the majority will join his agency and perhaps with his will and success it might be big after some time/years, IS ain´t that old and as some say here and there sales aren´t raising and buyers aren´t that happy too, not going to talk about contributors

other agencies won´t notice at first but for sure they will be "afraid".. or am I hallucinating??

gotta leave that cheap weed

Sean Locke Photography · « **Reply #55 on:** June 17, 2011, 16:34 »

Quote from: luissantos84 on June 17, 2011, 16:27

imagine if he goes that way and plan to include contributors.. what would he pay? 50%?

Why would you think that? You've never seen him champion "your" rights for higher royalties. He's about making money which is why you all love his business model, so he would probably not pay more than he has to.

luissantos84 · « **Reply #56 on:** June 17, 2011, 16:41 »

sorry... I love his business? show me where I said that..

sharpshot · « **Reply #57 on:** June 17, 2011, 16:47 »

Why don't we wait and see if this is a site just for him before we start arguing over how much commission he should pay us

luissantos84 · « **Reply #58 on:** June 17, 2011, 16:49 »

Quote from: sharpshot on June 17, 2011, 16:47

Why don't we wait and see if this is a site just for him before we start arguing over how much commission he should pay us

don´t ruin the fun and place a bet

Sean Locke Photography · « **Reply #59 on:** June 17, 2011, 16:50 »

Quote from: luissantos84 on June 17, 2011, 16:41

sorry... I love his business? show me where I said that..

Royal "you".

luissantos84 · « **Reply #60 on:** June 17, 2011, 16:56 »

Quote from: sjlocke on June 17, 2011, 16:50

Quote from: luissantos84 on June 17, 2011, 16:41
sorry... I love his business? show me where I said that..

Royal "you".

ah ok! now more serious why do you think he posted that on the forum? sometimes we talk too much..

Sean Locke Photography · « **Reply #61 on:** June 17, 2011, 18:24 »

Businessman Yuri posts when it benefits his business. Nice guy, but doesn't chitchat for fun.

velocicarpo · « **Reply #62 on:** June 17, 2011, 19:18 »

Quote from: RT on June 17, 2011, 16:08

Quote from: BaldricksTrousers on June 17, 2011, 11:39
I think people also wildly over-estimate Yuri's importance to the agencies.

You've hit the nail on the head, it always makes me (and I'm sure Yuri himself) laugh when I see someone comment about how this or that site would react if Yuri did a certain something or other.

+1 ... Yuri got something like a symbol or idol for many photographers but he is a) not the only one with huge success and b) contributing just a veeery little percentage of the whole database of a big agency...as such, in the perception of us comparing ourselves with him as individuals he is a monster of success, but in the whole image of the stock business world he is a tiny fraction as many others...even if he contributes the same volume as 10 other fulltimers (40000 pics to 4000) it is not a huge deal.

jbarber873 · « **Reply #63 on:** June 17, 2011, 20:10 »

Quote from: velocicarpo on June 17, 2011, 19:18

Quote from: RT on June 17, 2011, 16:08
Quote from: BaldricksTrousers on June 17, 2011, 11:39
I think people also wildly over-estimate Yuri's importance to the agencies.

You've hit the nail on the head, it always makes me (and I'm sure Yuri himself) laugh when I see someone comment about how this or that site would react if Yuri did a certain something or other.

+1 ... Yuri got something like a symbol or idol for many photographers but he is a) not the only one with huge success and b) contributing just a veeery little percentage of the whole database of a big agency...as such, in the perception of us comparing ourselves with him as individuals he is a monster of success, but in the whole image of the stock business world he is a tiny fraction as many others...even if he contributes the same volume as 10 other fulltimers (40000 pics to 4000) it is not a huge deal.

I think one of the things Yuri has gotten right is the realization that the world of stock is rapidly becoming about "content flow" rather than just static content. In much the same way that other media companies have to continually refresh content, a lot of the stuff that seemed so great 5 years ago is starting to look a little dated. In another 5 years it will look like an archival collection. Yuri has the resources to be on top of new looks, styles and concepts, as well as new media like video, which is going to be the big market of the future. And, it's a whole lot harder to make it work. He can recycle best selling concepts with current fashions and environments. A great deal of the "volume" in microstock today results from the inability of contributors to only submit the best shots from a shoot, instead of every image that was in focus. Thus the huge amount of new content that sinks to the bottom of the sludge pile. Yuri may have a small footprint in numbers, but it's an outsized footprint in quality, IMHO.

lagereek · « **Reply #64 on:** June 17, 2011, 23:42 »

Jeez! if IS, would throw him out, they lose half their value ( well almost), reputation and credibillity, revenue, etc, etc. I think under the circumbstances they better treat him with silk-gloves, he has got followers! and at the moment the Getty/IS constellation is suffering from the change of life, I dont think they can afford any more ill repute.

nataq · « **Reply #65 on:** June 18, 2011, 00:16 »

exactly my opinion - there would be a lot of talk in the press and such. That would be good advertising to begin with - good for him, bad for others. In no time many buyers would know that he had his images on his own site. So they would at least have a look. If the site is good, they might stay there. And that´s the importance of Yuri for the agencies. While many of his countrymen (some of them even shared his studio it seems) might stay exclusive on istock, they may as well follow him to his new agency. And then the whole "Yuri-Style" might move. Lise has great images, no doubt, so has Sean and others, but sometimes people are looking for a certain style and there aren´t really many people with that style who are not to some extent related to Yuri.

And I´m not sure if Yuri does that all for business purposes - of course he is a clever businessman - but he also loves what he is doing plus he loves the success, plus he loves the publicity (just look at the videos he is doing - either he is a great actor, or he just loves his work/achievement - well, and has every right to do so). He might do that just for the fun of it, or perhaps to show some agencies that he doesn´t swallow all of their moves. The "announcment" seems to come at a very certain time. And - it seems he can afford it. He could easily retire by now.

BaldricksTrousers · « **Reply #66 on:** June 18, 2011, 00:26 »

Quote from: lagereek on June 17, 2011, 23:42

Jeez! if IS, would throw him out, they lose half their value ( well almost), reputation and credibillity, revenue, etc, etc. I think under the circumbstances they better treat him with silk-gloves, he has got followers! and at the moment the Getty/IS constellation is suffering from the change of life, I dont think they can afford any more ill repute.

Lol! Another couple of people caught up in the cult of Yuri! Didn't iStock say that it pays out at least a couple of million dollars a week? Yet Yuri's iStock sales total shows he can't have earned that much in the five or six years he has been there, let alone be taking more than $1million a week. So if he quit AND took all his sales with him, it would still only cost iStock a fraction of one percent of their total business. How do you square perhaps 0.1% of sales with almost half the company's value? And the impact on their credibility and reputation etc would be about the same at the impact on their bottom line.

As far as I can tell (and I don't really pay any attention to what he does because I operate in a completely different market) Yuri has identified the biggest selling sector of stock, analysed exactly what it is that makes pictures in that genre desirable, and churns it out in huge quantities and at a quality level that is at least as good as anyone else's, while relentlessly promoting himself. It's a brilliant strategy but it's not one intended to produce anything particularly unique or irreplaceable.

lagereek · « **Reply #67 on:** June 18, 2011, 00:37 »

Quote from: BaldricksTrousers on June 18, 2011, 00:26

Quote from: lagereek on June 17, 2011, 23:42
Jeez! if IS, would throw him out, they lose half their value ( well almost), reputation and credibillity, revenue, etc, etc. I think under the circumbstances they better treat him with silk-gloves, he has got followers! and at the moment the Getty/IS constellation is suffering from the change of life, I dont think they can afford any more ill repute.
Lol! Another couple of people caught up in the cult of Yuri! Didn't iStock say that it pays out at least a couple of million dollars a week? Yet Yuri's iStock sales total shows he can't have earned that much in the five or six years he has been there, let alone be taking more than $1million a week. So if he quit AND took all his sales with him, it would still only cost iStock a fraction of one percent of their total business. How do you square perhaps 0.1% of sales with almost half the company's value? And the impact on their credibility and reputation etc would be about the same at the impact on their bottom line.

As far as I can tell (and I don't really pay any attention to what he does because I operate in a completely different market) Yuri has identified the biggest selling sector of stock, analysed exactly what it is that makes pictures in that genre desirable, and churns it out in huge quantities and at a quality level that is at least as good as anyone else's, while relentlessly promoting himself. It's a brilliant strategy but it's not one intended to produce anything particularly unique or irreplaceable.

Yes but its not just a question of money, is it? as nataq, above says, its the reputation, doesnt look too good, does it, to part or even make an enemy of the worlds most prolific photographer?
Besides, I dont see why his new venture in any way would hurt IS, and in Gettys case, well if you live by the sword, you have to suffer the sword, simple as that really.

nataq · « **Reply #68 on:** June 18, 2011, 00:59 »

Quote

As far as I can tell (and I don't really pay any attention to what he does because I operate in a completely different market) Yuri has identified the biggest selling sector of stock, analysed exactly what it is that makes pictures in that genre desirable, and churns it out in huge quantities and at a quality level that is at least as good as anyone else's, while relentlessly promoting himself. It's a brilliant strategy but it's not one intended to produce anything particularly unique or irreplaceable.

I´m usually not the cult type of guy, but I´m also not envious. I respect people - especially if they achieve something I haven´t. No matter if it´s because of talent, effort or whatever.
In regard to quality: he is shooting with some of the best equipment available. Sure equipment alone doesn´t make a good picture, but at least it adds to the quality you´d have to admit. So I honestly think his work is better than most others (not all). One element would be flash recycle times - if you can shoot multiple frames (per sec) when shooting with models you might much more easily get the right timing than shooting one every 2-3 seconds. Using professional models too adds to the quite long list, so does knowing the market and competition.

XPTO · « **Reply #69 on:** June 18, 2011, 03:59 »

Quote from: RT on June 17, 2011, 16:08

Quote from: BaldricksTrousers on June 17, 2011, 11:39
I think people also wildly over-estimate Yuri's importance to the agencies.

You've hit the nail on the head, it always makes me (and I'm sure Yuri himself) laugh when I see someone comment about how this or that site would react if Yuri did a certain something or other.

I'm very far from being an Arcurs groupie, like some people I know that are on the verge of considering his poop a "sacred relic"

but if his importance to the agencies he's in is probably less impressive than most people think it is, there's the fact that he still impacts a lot of the contributors that supply the agencies.

I have no idea about what Arcurs plans are - and don't care much abut them either - but him setting up an agency with all the influence and credit he has among other contributors could in fact impact the agencies.

He's in a position in this business that no one matches. The proof of it is that for many years I've read countless appeals to him to set up an agency, to make a stand against falling commissions, etc. Can you name any other individual micro contributor that has had those generalized personal appeals? I can't...

So, his influence is actually not on the agencies, it's in the base of the agencies it's contributors, whom well organized could seriously damage - not to even to say destroy - some of the agencies in the current business model of regular falling commission rates with fraudulent and dishonest arguments.

I still think there's more than room for a well managed and well funded major micro agency that pays their contributors at least 50% of the sale. For example, Alamy (a Traditional agency) pays 60% to contributors, gives away millions for cancer research every year and still keeps profitable. The famous "unsustainable" argument of iStock and other copy-cats to reduce commissions is simply fraudulent.

And Arcurs is the only one in the position to create such agency and mobilize a huge amount of contributors, especially after all the start-up failures we've been seeing in the last years which undermined contributors confidence. The question is, is he interested in managing a bag full of cats like micro contributors are

and make his reputation a little more fragile?

ffNixx · « **Reply #70 on:** June 18, 2011, 06:41 »

While I think Yuri will take on contributors, my hunch would be that it's going to be invitation only. Top talent that can expand the range on offer. I certainly don't think he'll play by the established "rules" of the business - it's time to innovate. That said, it's anything but clear whether he has the vision to succeed. His announcement, on second look, has holes you could drive a truck through. Namely, you don't attract the best professionals on a freelance and part-time basis.

Mantis · « **Reply #71 on:** June 18, 2011, 07:07 »

Quote from: ffNixx on June 18, 2011, 06:41

While I think Yuri will take on contributors, my hunch would be that it's going to be invitation only. Top talent that can expand the range on offer. I certainly don't think he'll play by the established "rules" of the business - it's time to innovate. That said, it's anything but clear whether he has the vision to succeed. His announcement, on second look, has holes you could drive a truck through. Namely, you don't attract the best professionals on a freelance and part-time basis.

Will it be a factor of who has the best isolated tomato or apple on white?

Sean Locke Photography · « **Reply #72 on:** June 18, 2011, 07:55 »

Quote from: lagereek on June 17, 2011, 23:42

Jeez! if IS, would throw him out, they lose half their value ( well almost), reputation and credibillity, revenue, etc, etc. I think under the circumbstances they better treat him with silk-gloves, he has got followers! and at the moment the Getty/IS constellation is suffering from the change of life, I dont think they can afford any more ill repute.

I'm surprised to hear that from you. This would be seen as just doing business sensibly, and truly, the gap would be filled in by others (not really my style). I was just looking at his companies recent IS uploads, and it's all just businessmen on the bright backgrounds with computers and stuff. Someone else said that maybe his new business model is just churning out recycles of old content to keep it fresh. Maybe.

iclick · « **Reply #73 on:** June 18, 2011, 10:31 »

The Guys a Genus and him walking out of Isock if it ever happened would be the last thing they would need right now.

Nobody does it better ..... a tad Jealously out there perhaps

loop · « **Reply #74 on:** June 18, 2011, 11:22 »

For istock, losing Yuri would mean losing 8000 (out of seven milion or so) files. There are other factories, exclusives, that have much more files and can upload much more weeky. Similar style. While Yuri produces nice and very stock oriented work, I think that should he open a new agency with outside contributors, he wouldn't last at IS.

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Author Topic: Want to work for Yuri? He's starting his own direct sales channel (Read 39472 times)

lthn

Pheby

Slovenian

RT

luissantos84

Sean Locke Photography

luissantos84

sharpshot

luissantos84

Sean Locke Photography

luissantos84

Sean Locke Photography

velocicarpo

jbarber873

lagereek

nataq

BaldricksTrousers

lagereek

nataq

XPTO

ffNixx

Mantis

Sean Locke Photography

iclick

loop

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