Maybe everybody should do this today (opt out of video) https://www.shutterstock.com/contributorsupport/articles/en_US/kbat02/000006563?q=opting+out+of+sales&l=en_US&fs=Search&pn=1


It's so sad. And I was just about to go all in on stock video...... :-(

Would a sign pettion be any idea?

Opting out of video?  you bet it would help but only if thousands are doing it. When the shareholders pockets becomes a little bit shallow they start screaming and there would be a very different sound.
Look!   this is not going to improve in any way but instead its going to get worse. Thats my experience after 15 years in this business. There is no remedy.

Quote from: Horizon on April 07, 2020, 17:28

In a sense Adobe is worse then SS. Fotolia was great for me then came Adobe and wrecked a good agency. I had reached Emerald at Fotolia but that meant nothing when Adobe took over.

Why does that mean nothing?

https://helpx.adobe.com/stock/contributor/help/royalty-details.html

Lifetime Downloads    Minimum Subscription Royalty
0-999    $0.33
1,000-9,999    $0.36
10,000 and above    $0.38

Maybe they don't have cute metal or jewel names but you still make more than "Bronze and Silver".  Is that .38 a drop from what FT paid for the same subscription downloads?

Other royalties were raised and standardized, making them higher than Fotolia was. There's the bonus program, which I understand doesn't mean everyone benefits, but any artist type can now get a free years subscription to one of the CC products, for free. Only 150 downloads needed. That's not a huge number?

I can't speak if overall downloads changed, some people say they make more, some say they make less. I dropped FT when DPC came in, and only re-joined when Adobe bought them.

If the problem is lower sales, not lower royalties, that's a different issue than being Emerald and somehow getting less commission? Or both maybe?

Not sure I understand what you are trying to say?..I reached Emerald about six month's before the Adobe takeover and was earning very well indeed. Adobe came along and after two month my income was down by 50%  and I wasn't alone I spoke to at least a dozen members in my position and it was all the same down by 50%  the sales started to go to lower members with a lower royalty percentage....Adobe treats Fotolia as a side-kick thats all.

In a sense Adobe is worse then SS. Fotolia was great for me then came Adobe and wrecked a good agency. I had reached Emerald at Fotolia but that meant nothing when Adobe took over.

As of November 2019 my revenue dropped by 40% even though oddly the number of downloads has not.

They did something and they aren't telling us.

Same here and been with them since 2005. in 2010 they started to find ways of manipulating the search in order to gain as much as possible. In 2015 they started to drop older contributors to give way to new members and calling it a "fair chance " for them to earn some money and as you say in 2018-19 they stared to aim and nurse countries where lets say 4 dollars could get you through a whole day. That way the members from these countries started to upload like crazy, quantity and quantity became the name of the game. Quality went out the window!.....of course a saturated market with millions of members all fighting for a buck just adds to the misery.  Nowadays I just let my portfolio hang in there and earn what it can any uploading is just futile.

Congrats to a very professional site! wish you had come along years ago. I am part owner in a small RF-agency and it took us four exhausting years to get off the ground. All the money went to pay for advertising and promotion this and that and finally we are beginning to see a bit of profit. No joke.
Alongside I've spent fifteen tough years in microstock just to see agencies like SS and Adobe producing less and less earnings! I have just left my ports with them not bothering uploading for over a year.

I really hope you make it wishing you all luck in this venture.

Quote from: georgep7 on March 05, 2020, 13:50

Quote

I have a feeling that it is better to upload the works on youtube and offer to others free. At least I will be able to make a audience and earn from advertising what seems to me to be more safer and fairer than selling at a bargain price.

Assume that i need a green screen train window scene and i search youtube for a free version. I get your clip, like your clip, subscribe after your cta and poof! I am gone. Even if i subscribe i will never check regularly until i will need another clip that i will first search in Youtube search bar and this is negative for your channel's growth as long as you need constant and loyal viewers. Perhaps you want to reconsider on advertisement profits

It's more about how many hours your videos are getting viewed.  The subscriber count is a lot easier to attain.  You have to have content people want to view.  Then leave the advertising to YouTube, there is a "butt for every seat".  They will fill whatever type of content you have, with advertisers who want to put their message there. 

The YouTube partner program isn't as easy to get into as it was before.  You need a crap-ton of viewing hours (over 10,000 within the last year).  I used to earn some small side income from my youtube channel, until they booted me from it. I've got over the required 1000 subscribers on my channel, but not the amount of viewing hours.  Product placement is important, and brand influencers help out a lot.  If you were a stock footage producer and wanted to get the word out about your work, all you'd have to do is make a deal with a big video-editing channel with a nice following.  Either send them some free clips, or offer them an affiliate program.  Set your work up on your own website, and send the traffic there to license it direct.  It's not as tough as you might think.  I do it with physical goods now, as I'm tired of competing in the super-saturated digital content market.

What you're saying is very, very true!! could not have put it better myself!

Many of the best businesses are created by someone filling a need they had themselves.  Adobe got on board with the microstock game really late, and they will continue to try and claw at Shutterstock's client base.

Good for Jon.  I appreciate what he did because it gave me a full-time, home-based income over the years.  His vision and platform helped me to earn hundreds of thousands of dollars in income for my family.  Show the guy some respect - it's totally his prerogative if he wants to do something else. 

I highly doubt Jon will be reading this thread.  If he does, please know that it's been a fun run while it lasted.

Yes while it lasted thats true. I think for most people its been a somewhat downhill race ever since they went public and thats when the penny pinching started. Everything changed. As far as Adobe I think they treat Fotolia as some sort of a sidekick not too bothered about anyg