Quote from: Firn on May 02, 2022, 10:00

Quote from: Wilm on May 02, 2022, 09:49

Quote from: Firn on May 02, 2022, 09:37

Quote from: Wilm on May 02, 2022, 09:26

Quote from: Firn on May 02, 2022, 08:44

Quote from: Justanotherphotographer on May 02, 2022, 08:40

Quote from: KuriousKat on April 29, 2022, 08:59

You are right that we don't know how much, but we do know from other posts that Shutterstock were actively buying out content. I have a couple of friends who were approached within my circle of contributor friends, and saw 3 or 4 posts on this forum and another. All I can do is extrapolate from that and make an educated guess that it wasn't an insignificant amount. I could, of course be totally wrong.

Sorry, posted before I read this.

It was discussed in some thread here before, with contributors saying they got the offer (or at least a non-disclosure agreement. If you didn't sign that, you didn't get any further information), so I don't think it was that rare.

Did you notice that you were among the top performers in photos on Adobe Stock for the week of April 11-17?

Noooo!  But that explains why my sales temporary skyrocketed on Adobe. Was reallly surprised about that. Thanks for letting me know. I wonder how that happened.

This must be related to your easter motifs, Firn. Maybe there is a change in the algo for easter, where images containing the search term easter are pushed for a certain period before easter.

Could be. I sold a loooot of Easter photos on Adobe this year, even though usually my holiday photos don't do so well on Adobe, while they sell a lot on iStock and SS. I was really surprised about this as it was so unusual for Adobe - Or unusual that Adobe was doing better for me at all. Sadly now it's back to it's old mediocre performance. 

I had exactly 8 downloads of easter images (I have only a handful) at AS in the period from April 1 to 14. That was probably not enough for the Hall of Fame... 

Quote from: Wilm on May 02, 2022, 10:38
I had exactly 8 downloads of easter images (I have only a handful) at AS in the period from April 1 to 14. That was probably not enough for the Hall of Fame... 

Ouch!  But then again holidays isn't really the focus of your portfolio.

Quote from: Firn on May 02, 2022, 10:45

Quote from: Wilm on May 02, 2022, 10:38
I had exactly 8 downloads of easter images (I have only a handful) at AS in the period from April 1 to 14. That was probably not enough for the Hall of Fame... 

Ouch!  But then again holidays isn't really the focus of your portfolio.

No, you are right! 

Shutterstock's stock price dropped sharply today (Tuesday May 3): closed at $68.82, down $8.32 (-10.79%). Market was very slightly up.

Apparently Stan Pavlovsky has resigned as CEO. The statement is careful to note that it was a voluntary resignation and reaffirms their financial guidance for the rest of 2022:

"Mr. Pavlovsky resigned to pursue other business opportunities, and his resignation is not related to any disagreement with the Company on any matter relating to the registrant's operations, policies or practices."

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/shutterstock-shares-slide-as-ceo-stan-pavlovsky-exits-sstk-271651588416

https://www.streetinsider.com/Corporate+News/Shutterstock+%28SSTK%29+CEO+Resigns%2C+Company+Reaffirms+Guidance/20005249.html

https://investor.shutterstock.com/static-files/deabc8b0-90a7-4d66-ad65-254aead3a462


I guess Stan's mornings will look a little different now from April 12th...

https://www.businessinsider.com/ceo-shutterstock-what-morning-work-routine-hybrid-schedule-2022-4

May 4th. No idea who this person is, but here's a post about Shutterstock's current situation:

https://www.boardroomalpha.com/ba-daily-read-can-shutterstock-save-itself/

Shares were down further today, but closed up slightly at $69.93

If he really resigned, it is not surprising.  Only hope is that whoever comes next will realize that however difficult are the conditions, the road to recovery is to treat the very backbone whole business depends on - contributors - with more respect.

I guess his damage is done - on to destroy something else.

What will happen next is they will hire a new swamp creature who comes up with a mind blowing, brilliant idea. Cutting royalties in half.

QuoteApparently Stan Pavlovsky has resigned as CEO. The statement is careful to note that it was a voluntary resignation...

If I had done as much damage to the Shutterstock brand by pissing off contributors and having to defend the company from copyright infringement lawsuits, I'd quit, too.  I wonder if it was his brilliant idea to shaft contributors there and drive a lot of professional content creators into the arms of Adobe. 

Quote from: Jo Ann Snover on May 04, 2022, 00:16
I guess Stan's mornings will look a little different now from April 12th...

https://www.businessinsider.com/ceo-shutterstock-what-morning-work-routine-hybrid-schedule-2022-4

Interesting there are no indications about anything in the article ...

My guess - and it is a guess - is that he is taking the money and making a run for it. SS stock has done very well over the past two years and Pavlovsky is worth somewhere north of $10 million as a result.

He may feel that he has taken SS as far as he can, that the results and the stock prices aren't going to get better. So preferable to leave on a high and with a serious chunk of money while leaving the challenge of running the business to someone else.

I would not be surprised to see him resurface somewhere else and maybe to do something similar. Take a business with a stagnant stock price, wield the axe on costs, get the price up, make more money and move on again.

Stock is a commodity business. Volume and margin are the name of the game and the only way to drive volume is through being price competitive and the only way to drive margins is by cutting costs. Unfortunately, contributors represent the biggest cost and Pavlovsky's successor will probably want to look at that.

Quote from: Jo Ann Snover on April 27, 2022, 00:04
Edited May 3 to note that Stan Pavlovsky resigned as CEO April 27th, effective May 3rd. Jon Oringer is interim CEO until they find someone.

THANK YOU Jo Ann you really cheered me up this morning! 

Maybe the writings on the wall so he wants to sell his shares, which would tank the price and get him in trouble if he was still in charge?

This might actually be low point for Shutterstock, and it will get better from now on. With capable person that understands kind of damage that has been done by one incompetent person, things can be reversed.  Rebuilding trust with contributor base should be priority, including eliminating 10 cent abomination, fair QA, restoration of Forum etc. Fingers crossed

There is absolutely no way that any incoming CEO will reverse the commission cuts, they would have no way to replace the lost profit without increasing sales prices in correlation to the increased commission payments - which just isn't going to happen!
Best case scenario is that they remove the January reset each year but even that would be very unlikely as that generates the majority of the profit from the exercise.

Imagine you are CEO of SS starting tomorrow. How would you improve it?

From where I sit, SS is slipping down relative to AS and iS ($$wise and downloadwise), so a change in management sounds like a good idea.

The downfall is coming even faster than I anticipated here 2 years ago. The two pals we all know are going home with a sack full of dosh, laughing all the way to the bank. Oringer has been selling stock like crazy every weeks for the last 2 years so he and his 10 generation descendants will live a comfortable life. SS will not recover from the stab they did at the peak of the pandemic.

Many of the best contributors are now somewhere else (Adobe, Getty, Stocksy) and that leaves SS with no new interesting content. That is a kiss of death for every creative enterprise, whatever the name or power they had in the past.

Quote from: Unamas on May 04, 2022, 17:12
Imagine you are CEO of SS starting tomorrow. How would you improve it?

For whom?
Buyers?
Sellers?
Shareholders?
All of the above is presumably the answer, but ...   

Quotekiss of death

lets hope this ...

nobody can produce content for 0,1 flatrate - not even in cheapest places

Quote from: oooo on May 04, 2022, 19:24

Quotekiss of death

lets hope this ...

nobody can produce content for 0,1 flatrate - not even in cheapest places

Well it looks as if Jon Oringer is stepping back in as CEO in the interim period, and I'm sure most of us haven't forgotten (or forgiven) his petulant outburst about what we could do if we didn't like the commission cut.

I don't hold out much hope for any improvements for contributors.

Quote from: KuriousKat on May 04, 2022, 20:11

I don't hold out much hope for any improvements for contributors.

Most people will agree with this.  But I really think rebuilding contributor relationships is the only way forward.   Stock agencies are parasites by nature;  clearing houses, middle-man between producer and consumer.  You can have best marketing, subscription plans, etc.  but if fresh quality content stops coming -or is getting uploaded to competition instead- this is doomsday.   

What they did with 10 cents, AI QA nonsense, Forum etc.  should be studied at college business classes how NOT to do things.  If incoming management can understand and fix this, SS will be great again.

Quote from: zeljkok on May 04, 2022, 23:41

Quote from: KuriousKat on May 04, 2022, 20:11

I don't hold out much hope for any improvements for contributors.

Most people will agree with this.  But I really think rebuilding contributor relationships is the only way forward.   Stock agencies are parasites by nature;  clearing houses, middle-man between producer and consumer.  You can have best marketing, subscription plans, etc.  but if fresh quality content stops coming -or is getting uploaded to competition instead- this is doomsday.   

What they did with 10 cents, AI QA nonsense, Forum etc.  should be studied at college business classes how NOT to do things.  If incoming management can understand and fix this, SS will be great again.

Parasites?

Well... that's a very marxist point of view, a point of view that fails to understand the essential role of "the middleman" in a prosperous economy.

"The middleman" is not a "parasite", but a critical component of the market, a component allowing the expertise to flourish, instead of being wasted with collateral activities.
The farmer can focus on farming, and the photographer on photography, while the middleman is bridging the gap between expertise and customers.

Obviously, there are always middlemen trying to push their luck, but the market has a natural tendency to reward those middlemen who understand where the equilibrium point is.

Quote from: Unamas on May 04, 2022, 17:12
Imagine you are CEO of SS starting tomorrow. How would you improve it?

Since their job is to increase shareholder value, whatever they do won't be good for contributors. If anyone thinks a new superhero CEO will swoop in and save contributor bacon, welcome to fantasy land.

The only way SS would increase commissions is if it's in their business interest to do so. Very few folks left when they cut commissions. As far as they're concerned, lower commissions doesn't hurt their business.

Quote from: PigsInSpace on May 05, 2022, 01:57
The only way SS would increase commissions is if it's in their business interest to do so. Very few folks left when they cut commissions. As far as they're concerned, lower commissions doesn't hurt their business.

Agreed. I would like to see them do something to stop their download numbers from slipping....and maybe get them to increase??