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Author Topic: iStock New Sub. Model Just Announced!  (Read 40624 times)

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« Reply #200 on: March 10, 2014, 15:07 »
+2
They just announced they are bringing in a huge crowd of flickr artists into the getty community. These guys all get 20%
Isn't that the same people who already have Flickr/Getty contracts, rather than more people coming in, necessarily?

I don't know how flickr works.  Once they "discover" you, don't they have to keep an eye on your portfolio when they want to find more images?  Now, these folks can actually just submit as much as they want to the queue.  Sounds like a different thing.


ShadySue

  • There is a crack in everything
« Reply #201 on: March 10, 2014, 15:08 »
+1
They just announced they are bringing in a huge crowd of flickr artists into the getty community. These guys all get 20%
Isn't that the same people who already have Flickr/Getty contracts, rather than more people coming in, necessarily?

I don't know how flickr works.  Once they "discover" you, don't they have to keep an eye on your portfolio when they want to find more images?  Now, these folks can actually just submit as much as they want to the queue.  Sounds like a different thing.

Yup, I think that's the sum of it.

« Reply #202 on: March 10, 2014, 15:09 »
0
Are they really closing it? I thought they are moving things towards their mobile platform or something like that.

They wrote they will no longer make their poor editors trawl the masses of flickr. Cant blame them for that. But I would think this is more a change towards moving the platform away from flickr and to something they own.

But maybe I just didnt understand it.

« Reply #203 on: March 10, 2014, 15:16 »
+6
They just announced they are bringing in a huge crowd of flickr artists into the getty community. These guys all get 20%
Isn't that the same people who already have Flickr/Getty contracts, rather than more people coming in, necessarily?

I don't know how flickr works.  Once they "discover" you, don't they have to keep an eye on your portfolio when they want to find more images?  Now, these folks can actually just submit as much as they want to the queue.  Sounds like a different thing.

Yup, I think that's the sum of it.

Getty's intention is to flood the market with as much content as they can:
  • They drop the iStock upload limits
  • They lower the inspection to zero level
  • They open the flickr door
  • They provide this content for free in fight against SS copyright infringemen

« Reply #204 on: March 10, 2014, 15:23 »
+2
Then I hope you will still have a full time in income in even one year tick stock.
 
Your portfolio must be doing much better than that of most people.

I feel much more comfortable repositioning myself. I know I will earn more money this way and dont have to abruptly look for a day job because I am completely exposed to just one company.

By the way last month I already earned more on SS with 600 files than with 3600 on istock. So someone who comes in new - what will their experience be? I still have files with good positions, but a new artist? They upload to SS and istock...why would they ever go exclusive with such an experience?

Have you factored the substantial boost shutterstock gives new contributors. I think most new contributors forget that preferential placement in the search does not last more than a year or two at most.

« Reply #205 on: March 10, 2014, 15:56 »
0
I havent been there long enough, so I dont know anything about it. But is it really a first year boost or do people simply not upload as much. or do they "hit the wall" the way it happens in many agencies, where you keep uploading but cant really grow your earnings.

But if I look at the numbers some long term contributors were kind enough to share, I have to admit I didnt see that. I saw growth as long as  they kept uploading. Robert Kneschke is the most prominent, but I have also the numbers of people who dont post them publicly.

Dont people here keep reporting that their income keeps going up at SS?

And like I said, I still get many days with zero downloads on SS. Especially if I dont upload it all drops like a stone.

So unfortunately I can only report what I experience. But SS is not the only agency I am uploading to and in the beginning I really didnt upload much because I wasnt too fond of the subs. But with the much higher downloads being real and not a myth, I feel comfortable to send up more.

SS was a pleasant surprise, so was Fotolia. Both have a lot more credit downloads than I expected.

And now istock will add subs, so lets see what happens there.



lisafx

« Reply #206 on: March 10, 2014, 22:16 »
+10
But if I look at the numbers some long term contributors were kind enough to share, I have to admit I didnt see that. I saw growth as long as  they kept uploading. Robert Kneschke is the most prominent, but I have also the numbers of people who dont post them publicly.

Dont people here keep reporting that their income keeps going up at SS?

Sorry to say, Gbalex's suggestion matches my numbers pretty well.  My monthly take on SS the past several months has been less than half what it was a couple of years ago.  For a number of years I did not earn less than three digits on a (nonholiday) weekday.  Now I am typically getting in the mid double digits. 

And yes I keep uploading, and no, in the case of SS it doesn't appear to be "the wall".  I hit the wall a couple of years ago across most agencies, and although my SS income didn't grow after that, it maintained for 3 years or so.  It has only gone down abruptly starting late last year. 

There have been reports from many other long term contributors, both here and at SS that the search has changed to favor newer, cheaper contributors.  Note that I did not say newer images, of which I have a fair number.  But my newer images pay out at highest rates whereas yours and Sean's equally good ones pay out less. 

« Reply #207 on: March 11, 2014, 00:50 »
+2
But if I look at the numbers some long term contributors were kind enough to share, I have to admit I didnt see that. I saw growth as long as  they kept uploading. Robert Kneschke is the most prominent, but I have also the numbers of people who dont post them publicly.

Dont people here keep reporting that their income keeps going up at SS?

Sorry to say, Gbalex's suggestion matches my numbers pretty well.  My monthly take on SS the past several months has been less than half what it was a couple of years ago.  For a number of years I did not earn less than three digits on a (nonholiday) weekday.  Now I am typically getting in the mid double digits. 

And yes I keep uploading, and no, in the case of SS it doesn't appear to be "the wall". I hit the wall a couple of years ago across most agencies, and although my SS income didn't grow after that, it maintained for 3 years or so.  It has only gone down abruptly starting late last year. 

There have been reports from many other long term contributors, both here and at SS that the search has changed to favor newer, cheaper contributors.  Note that I did not say newer images, of which I have a fair number.  But my newer images pay out at highest rates whereas yours and Sean's equally good ones pay out less.

+2 Lisa your experience closely matches my own. Shutterstock flipped on the port kill switch March of 2013. I have many friends who also took large downward hits at that time and their ports have not recovered. 

It is unfortunate that shutterstock is treating its long time contributors this way and also regrettable that they lead new contributors on with the proverbial new bump carrot.  They are counting on the good sales for new contributors creating the buzz they need to generate larger numbers of low cost files.
« Last Edit: March 11, 2014, 00:54 by gbalex »

« Reply #208 on: March 11, 2014, 01:14 »
0
But if I look at the numbers some long term contributors were kind enough to share, I have to admit I didnt see that. I saw growth as long as  they kept uploading. Robert Kneschke is the most prominent, but I have also the numbers of people who dont post them publicly.

Dont people here keep reporting that their income keeps going up at SS?

Sorry to say, Gbalex's suggestion matches my numbers pretty well.  My monthly take on SS the past several months has been less than half what it was a couple of years ago.  For a number of years I did not earn less than three digits on a (nonholiday) weekday.  Now I am typically getting in the mid double digits. 

And yes I keep uploading, and no, in the case of SS it doesn't appear to be "the wall".  I hit the wall a couple of years ago across most agencies, and although my SS income didn't grow after that, it maintained for 3 years or so.  It has only gone down abruptly starting late last year. 

There have been reports from many other long term contributors, both here and at SS that the search has changed to favor newer, cheaper contributors.  Note that I did not say newer images, of which I have a fair number.  But my newer images pay out at highest rates whereas yours and Sean's equally good ones pay out less.

In my opinion, the market is over flooded with newer lower quality content.
I don't think SS cares about 38cent vs 34cent.

« Reply #209 on: March 11, 2014, 01:29 »
+1
well, I'll keep it in mind, thank you. if this is the case, then to benefit best from ss would be to upload a lot in the first two years and not wait to long. So I might have wasted potential income because I didn't upload faster in the beginning.

And for my own predictions I should assume that content uploaded after two years will get lower sales so by then income from other sites must be high enough to balance it.

This is an important info for those moving out, thank you.

But longterm because I anyway upload to several sites, so it is a much easier life than being exclusive.

what are your predictions for istock when subs are introduced? will indies benefit with more downloads?

are you worried it will take away income from other sites?

are you still supplying istock and did your income from Thinkstock grow in the last few years?

« Last Edit: March 11, 2014, 01:39 by cobalt »

Ron

« Reply #210 on: March 11, 2014, 04:41 »
-4
I find it remarkable that any thread on Getty, Istock, whatever agency, ends in a Shutterstock bashing. Why not open dedicated threads on the Shutterstock board here about that? Why does every thread about ANOTHER agency end up with discussing Shutterstock?

When I open a thread on a certain topic I expect to read on topic comments, its annoying to constantly read off topic.

Please, be critical about SS, but do it on topic.

« Reply #211 on: March 11, 2014, 04:53 »
+3
But if I look at the numbers some long term contributors were kind enough to share, I have to admit I didnt see that. I saw growth as long as  they kept uploading. Robert Kneschke is the most prominent, but I have also the numbers of people who dont post them publicly.

Dont people here keep reporting that their income keeps going up at SS?

Sorry to say, Gbalex's suggestion matches my numbers pretty well.  My monthly take on SS the past several months has been less than half what it was a couple of years ago.  For a number of years I did not earn less than three digits on a (nonholiday) weekday.  Now I am typically getting in the mid double digits. 

And yes I keep uploading, and no, in the case of SS it doesn't appear to be "the wall".  I hit the wall a couple of years ago across most agencies, and although my SS income didn't grow after that, it maintained for 3 years or so.  It has only gone down abruptly starting late last year. 

There have been reports from many other long term contributors, both here and at SS that the search has changed to favor newer, cheaper contributors.  Note that I did not say newer images, of which I have a fair number.  But my newer images pay out at highest rates whereas yours and Sean's equally good ones pay out less.

In my opinion, the market is over flooded with newer lower quality content.
I don't think SS cares about 38cent vs 34cent.

It's 38 cent vs. 25 cent. That's essentially lowering "cost of goods" by around 33%. I do think they care.
That means they have a very big financial incentive to move newer contributor's files to the front - as long as that does not result in customers buying less.

If they are really doing that - and to what extent - we can only speculate.
We do have anecdotal evidence (e.g. the reports of gbalex and Lisa above), but no real proof.

Ron

« Reply #212 on: March 11, 2014, 04:59 »
+1
There are plenty of 38 cent ports still hitting BME.

w7lwi

  • Those that don't stand up to evil enable evil.
« Reply #213 on: March 11, 2014, 13:07 »
+1
I find it remarkable that any thread on Getty, Istock, whatever agency, ends in a Shutterstock bashing. Why not open dedicated threads on the Shutterstock board here about that? Why does every thread about ANOTHER agency end up with discussing Shutterstock?

When I open a thread on a certain topic I expect to read on topic comments, its annoying to constantly read off topic.

Please, be critical about SS, but do it on topic.

Ron, I suspect the reason this happens is Shutterstock is the new gold standard that all other sites are measured against.  Whenever anyone looks at other agencies, the question that always comes up is how does this site compare to SS?  That, of course, leads to some degree of SS bashing by those who simply don't like SS, for whatever reason.  Filter the bashing out and you can end up with some degree of useful information.

lisafx

« Reply #214 on: March 11, 2014, 13:24 »
+4
I find it remarkable that any thread on Getty, Istock, whatever agency, ends in a Shutterstock bashing. Why not open dedicated threads on the Shutterstock board here about that? Why does every thread about ANOTHER agency end up with discussing Shutterstock?

When I open a thread on a certain topic I expect to read on topic comments, its annoying to constantly read off topic.

Please, be critical about SS, but do it on topic.

Not sure if this is directed at me.  I hope not, because I was not the one who brought up SS here.  I was simply responding to Jasmin's comment in an attempt to fill out a more complete picture of potential earnings. 

While I agree there is a lot of "Shutterstock bashing" around here by people who aren't even on the site, I don't feel that factual information provided by members who have many years' experience fall into that category. 

« Reply #215 on: March 11, 2014, 13:36 »
+2
I think with istock announcing subs it is understandable that SS, as the biggest sub site and main competitor, will be brought into the discussion.

But like many I am surprised how often SS gets mentioned by people who have zero experience with earnings there.

So again thank you for the info Lisa (and the warning gbalex).


Ron

« Reply #216 on: March 11, 2014, 13:36 »
0
 Shutterstock gets dragged into any topic, by certain people, just to turn the focus on Shutterstock. They can open their own threads about that. They never do, they always try to turn a topic, not related to Shutterstock, by dragging SS into it.


« Reply #217 on: March 11, 2014, 13:47 »
0
.
« Last Edit: May 11, 2014, 23:40 by tickstock »

Shelma1

  • stockcoalition.org
« Reply #218 on: March 11, 2014, 13:51 »
0
So you were at Shutterstock but are now exclusive at iStock?

« Reply #219 on: March 11, 2014, 13:52 »
0
.
« Last Edit: May 11, 2014, 23:40 by tickstock »

« Reply #220 on: March 11, 2014, 13:53 »
0
I know nothing about your experience tickstock. All I know is that you are an istock exclusive, since before 2008.

Or did I misread that?

And that you recently got access to getty and want to upload to PC, right?

A successful exclusive who is able to make a full time income from istock and getty.

eta: I think I am confused?

« Reply #221 on: March 11, 2014, 13:55 »
0
.
« Last Edit: May 11, 2014, 23:40 by tickstock »

« Reply #222 on: March 11, 2014, 13:57 »
+1
maybe you should post some kind of anonymous bio somewhere, so we at least get some idea what we can ask you about.

« Reply #223 on: March 11, 2014, 13:57 »
0
.
« Last Edit: May 11, 2014, 23:40 by tickstock »

Shelma1

  • stockcoalition.org
« Reply #224 on: March 11, 2014, 13:59 »
0
I know nothing about your experience tickstock. All I know is that you are an istock exclusive, since before 2008.

Or did I misread that?

And that you recently got access to getty and want to upload to PC, right?

A successful exclusive who is able to make a full time income from istock and getty.

eta: I think I am confused?
Close enough.

Perhaps you've become an iStock exclusive more recently?


 

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