I don't know what happened to the industry.  Something changed.

�Amazing stuff for free. �

Not so free once you get sued.

Part of it is due to companies like videoblocks saying "GIVE AWAY YOUR CONTENT FOR PENNIES, AND YOU'll MAKE "LOTS"!". And people believing that, and making their content for virtually free.

Quote from: SuperPhoto on July 30, 2019, 14:06

Part of it is due to companies like videoblocks saying "GIVE AWAY YOUR CONTENT FOR PENNIES, AND YOU'll MAKE "LOTS"!". And people believing that, and making their content for virtually free.

microstock in general IS, SS, AD, FT, 123, DT and now GI is nothing more than a microstock agency, due to pressure from where it all went, SOUTH. i recently saw one of my photos being used by a major automobile manufacturer and i got a whopping 0.38c for it (after taxes I might get 0.25c). considering this company makes a quarterly profit of several hundred million dollars, I'd say that is what is wrong with the whole industry. before microstock came along that would have easily been a 4-5 thousand dollar sale = sustainable.

Back in the days when stock agencies were just that and acted as your agent and you had value, not they could care less about you and your creative content assets. And now we are all expendable. It used to be a complete badge of honour to be a GI contributor, now it's an gut wrenching embarrassment.

getty images is the king of going south...please don't uptown things.

for em the biggest error was at the begining when they decided to choose one dollar as symbolic prize for micro stock...5 dollar couldn't have been so impactful but much more sustainable in the wrong and i doubt lot of buyers would have complained consideringg the hundreds dollar minimum of macro agency in 2008.


unpslash has leaving a mark...hundred million of download stolen to micro...i don't deny most of them are well deserved considering the fact that when you browse unspalsh is a joy micro stock especially new file makes me only puke.

and the best part will be when unsplash founder will cash out with 100 million dollar and all those idiots who make him rich will continue earning penny, as happened already with pixabay and the other site bought by canvas.

Unfortunately, it's just the nature of the business. Supply is outpacing demand and there's more competition than ever. Happens to every industry.

SS is still performance surprisingly well, but AS has declined a little bit. I was banking on AS staying consistent since it's still my biggest earner, but the closure of FT is hurting our download numbers.

AS is not looking good.  Down a consistent slide to 30% off from January.  And that wasn�t so hot to start.

fotolia is the worst performing of the three...summer is falling down compared to is and ss....the problem is they not accept editorial and in my opinion sell mostly stuff where i'm not strong , lifestyle illustration, landmark and classic travel photography.


anyway doom time in front. august started so slow.

Sean it is obvious that the big customers will generally don't touch places like Unsplash but more and more smaller users and those take the risk and it is probably not worth suing if a model without release appears on a blog small magazine etc. And with studio shots or landscapes that problem disappears completely.

I doubt also that there are fake accounts uploading others content as in micro as there is no benefit for them. I don't say it is the end for micro but the dent to it is growing as their collection are maturing.......

Quote from: Sean Locke Photography on July 30, 2019, 13:47

�Amazing stuff for free. �

Not so free once you get sued.

*facepalm*

https://unsplash.com/search/photos/walt-disney

'License
All photos published on Unsplash can be used for free. You can use them for commercial and noncommercial purposes. You do not need to ask permission from or provide credit to the photographer or Unsplash, although it is appreciated when possible.

More precisely, Unsplash grants you an irrevocable, nonexclusive, worldwide copyright license to download, copy, modify, distribute, perform, and use photos from Unsplash for free, including for commercial purposes, without permission from or attributing the photographer or Unsplash. This license does not include the right to compile photos from Unsplash to replicate a similar or competing service.'

Quote from: Sean Locke Photography on August 01, 2019, 07:35

AS is not looking good.  Down a consistent slide to 30% off from January.  And that wasn�t so hot to start.

fotolia is the worst performing of the three...summer is falling down compared to is and ss....the problem is they not accept editorial and in my opinion sell mostly stuff where i'm not strong , lifestyle illustration, landmark and classic travel photography.


anyway doom time in front. august started so slow.

I agree, AS/FT have been the worst performing agency since end of June for me... terrible. Surprisingly, SS and others have been doing well for me so far this summer... just AS/FT that have plummeted... not sure yet on how to handle them yet. Might work on content that I know sells better elsewhere and wait to see if things change at FT/AS.