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Messages - Uncle Pete
3826
« on: July 03, 2019, 09:49 »
Lost in the translation: Bitli baklanın kr alıcısı olur. Literal translation: Wormy beans will have blind buyers. Meanning: Even worthless things find a buyer.We'd need some blind photo buyers?  I just wanted to reply to the OP and thousands of others who come and ask and will come and ask. It's not how many photos you have, it is all about What are they? Someone with 20 great photos will make much more than someone with 2,000 average, common and meaningless photos. Think of what you are uploading in terms of, why would someone want to pay for this. And try not to stretch your imagination too much with, "well someone might want a photo of dog do on a sandy beach. Yeah they might, but how many people want that. For Microstock, in general, especially when starting out: Shoot well lighted, bright, colorful, subjects that buyers need and want. Find subjects that might be used to illustrate an article, make a point or demonstrate examples of the subject. Good Luck Assorted arrangements of assorted blank bottles, could be a background. You take the best shot, and move on, not make 50 versions, just in case. You have one image maybe two of use, then it's covered. 
3827
« on: July 02, 2019, 07:51 »
June ended up a BME due to strong video sales.
Exactly the same for me. BME in 5 years
I strongly believe that they have altered the algorithm, June was worst for me and day one of July super bad, but congratulations to you guys.
Waiting for the fortune loop to come over again.
I think they are pretty much constantly tinkering with the Algorithm sometimes it hits hard on some.
So people with the letters A or P are marked down and people with the letters D or G are placed higher?   Here's my opinion. Sometimes buyers need certain materials, sometimes they need other materials. June is generally a crappy month, but sometimes, some people will get higher sales, if they have something a buyer wants and needs. The whole site doesn't have to be manipulated to have ups and downs by seasons, or artists offerings. It's just what it is? Back to the old days, when "everyone is lower in the search this month, they must have changed something!" Well everyone can't be lower, for mine to go back a page, something has to go forward a page. If they are playing with the algorithm, some would benefit and some would lose. I just checked my test searches, for my work, and I'm still on page one where I was for some and page 14 where that one was and always has been. Everything else is just the same as it was... and has been for going on five years now. No Change in the search. Unless of course only some people get changed? I've been watching for five years, and my images may move a little up or down, but never as bad as some folks who say they were page one and are now unable to find their work or page 12 or something. That's impossible to explain and happened around 2012 when there actually was a huge change in the way the search ranked our works. ps yes my June was horrible compared to other months, and June 2019 was better than every other June since I started, except 2018 (which had an EL). But 2019 is hardly notable, as it's roughly only $2-3 better than 2017, 2016 or 2015. In other words, my stinky Junes are about the same, year after year. 
3828
« on: July 01, 2019, 11:15 »
@Uncle Pete
It's not like you can have dozens of paypal accounts, unless you have dozens of bank accounts. A usable paypal ac. has to be connected to your bank and your bank knows who you are. They have seen your id. when you went there in person to open an account.
However, I'm not going to send one to a stock agency online, because I trust them way less than banks and I especially don't trust Dt.
Don't you remember when they made their users private information available for public viewing, without informing them first. I know of contributors who closed their accounts because of what they did. Dt soon reversed the action.
"Dreamstime recently made the unusual move of showing publicly some of its users confidential information, it was a test run for what they hoped would be a site wide change (for all users, sellers and buyers)."
http://www.microstockposts.com/dreamstimes-identity-crisis/
I know their email database was in all likelihood hacked because for around a couple of years, I kept on getting emails from someone claiming to be from dt and asking to click on something. However, the emails weren't from dt. There are threads about this in their forum, a lot of dt contributors received these emails. How did this person get hold of Dt users emails? Dt have never made an announcement like other sites do when they know that users information has been stolen.
And they want me to send them my photo id? No chance. Recovering from identity theft could cost be more time and money than it's worth.
Well I'm not a fan of old FT. Part of the reason I left was the explicit threats to artists, if we posted something they didn't like on social media or a forum like here, they would close our account. Someone here who's anonymous was IDed by another forum regular and the second person reported the guy to FT, and the account was closed. For what the first guy posted here? Yeah, by the time DT got to the public information fiasco I was gone. I never understood why an agency would want to show private information. I haven't gotten an email from Nicole Kidd (Dreamstime) EMail: [email protected] - the ACH form scam. Anyone who's reading this should make a note, Nicole was a real person who worked there, might still be, but these emails with a fake DOC file attached are a scam. What we don't know is, why do they always come from the same person? Did someone get into that email account and that's how they can find users? I've written to DT, others have too, we reported the fraud attempt, and no one I know of or here, has ever gotten an answer. Maybe someone did? So bottom line, and other issues over the years at DT, you're preaching to the choir. I'll go back to the OP and the fair Subject. Use caution when closing your DT account, or you could lose your earnings. Minimum payment is $100, I closed my account and they paid me. It was less than $100. No story there. Now about the ID thing. I can't tell you what to do. Seems like you have two choices, 1) kiss your money goodbye or 2) provide suitable identification and get your money. I'm also surprised that agencies are opening accounts with no IDs to prove age, identity, real names, or documentation for the tax agencies including the US IRS. Pretty hard to say "we paid someone $X and collected taxes on that, but we really don't have a clue who it is, where they live or anything else." Just to accent this part, if you get an email from Nicole Kidd (Dreamstime) EMail: [email protected] - the attached ACH form is a scam. Someone is using the name of an employee or former employee at DT.
3829
« on: July 01, 2019, 10:56 »
What a coincidence. I organized a lighting workshop last Friday and he was the speaker. He mentioned this - he seemed genuinely honest that he has been subjected to a several year attack from another photographer (known as the Angry Photographer I think) and his response was that he would be happy for someone to file a charge against him if they think they have a case. All the internet innuendo and claims are so easy to make and so difficult to dispel.
Steve
I wasn't going to write what I thought, but since you did and Martha added links. It really looks like a petty facebook feud, fueled by followers and people who have nothing better to do than start a big gossip battle. Now if he did it, fine, then he's a jackass, if not, just an example of social media gone astray. Also looks like he was using wannabe models that are disgruntled because they didn't find the fame they thought would come from working for him. My first impression of the question was, who cares? Some FB guy who plays up his notoriety, most of it self manufactured, or from his groupies. Working for clicks and views, while he sells his workshops. A big pretender, living from Internet fame.
3830
« on: July 01, 2019, 07:04 »
You do have to fill in a Tax form at SS which has to be approved to get any payment. I have to enter my Tax Id number given by the UK govt...whether they validate this I can't say. I suspect like many things SS do it gets them off the hook should there be an issue.
Exactly. Plus for me at least the name matches that of my PayPal ac. and in my model releases.
So why does DT require an Id. now in order to release payment. They were paying me since 2007 without one. SS have never asked me for an id. since I joined them in 2007 and the other sites don't require one either.
Interesting, as I had to upload an approved ID to many sites, before they would allow me to upload and sell images. I guess times change? First must have ID, then not. I know I did for SS and IS and that was 2007. I still go back to security and taxes. If someone hacks into an account and tries to claim your money, then the screams are, why don't they have better security.  How does the IRS audit who owes them money if anyone can make up a name and paypal account and get paid? This no ID news is great for image thieves, no accountability and if one account is closed, they can just make up a new name. Yes Did...Shutterstock no longer do it as part of their "strategy"of allowing anyone to join with the minimum of vetting or quality control.....no wonder its flooded with poor quality work and stolen images.
LOL Microstock agencies always thinking of our best interests?
3831
« on: July 01, 2019, 06:26 »
Quite correct Uncle Pete but Alamy provides a date and location field in the optional data tab so having the location/date taken in the description field is largely redundant.
Except that for sure the location field is unsearchable, and at least IME, locations are pretty important, and for some years now the caption has trumped the keywords. Usually I have the location in both, sometimes only the keywords, very rarely not at all.
It looks like the date field must inform 'date taken' searches, though.
Sounds interesting, I'll need to search the search and see about location. Yes I think that's important.
What I was pointing out is my images have over 150 characters and they are not live news. I never knew I was over the limit and they never bounced or clipped or rejected anything.
Nononono.
Your captions are indeed under 150 characters.
What you have over 150 characters for is the "More Information" field, which is optional and unsearchable. Also it's not visible when someone hovers over a photo in a search, whereas the caption is. The caption is what's important. 'More Information' is for anything which might be important to the buyer which isn't in the caption. No need to repeat anything from the caption in 'More Information'.
E.g. file #JRX4GK
https://www.dropbox.com/s/8gcleavrk6nyn11/Xfinity.jpg?dl=0
NB, there isn't a field called 'description', and the caption and title are the same.
Oh I get it, maybe? I didn't know my "more information" was so extensive. I suppose if someone is already looking, they could use that for details that don't fit. I also nothing that the image I looked at, has no dateline in the Caption. The term description varies from agency to agency, it's the caption on some, title on others, however title is different than caption other places. The standards for IPTC call the field Caption, it's on the Description page and listed as... (description)  Here's the other important page: Origin or Credits  We don't use that page for Microstock but some of the places I submit files, require it. Also minor, there is a place for a standard category, which is also used, but not for Microstock? I added a very distinctive location to an image, the exact town and county, which is not in the title, keywords or caption areas. Now I need to wait a few days to see if it's searchable. Unless that's been answered and I missed it. It appears that Alamy has been loading my Caption into additional information. I'd have to upload something and watch more carefully, what's going where. You're right 150 isn't much, but for what I do, the location and date is important and relevant, some other subjects not so much.
3832
« on: June 30, 2019, 17:58 »
Quite correct Uncle Pete but Alamy provides a date and location field in the optional data tab so having the location/date taken in the description field is largely redundant.
Except that for sure the location field is unsearchable, and at least IME, locations are pretty important, and for some years now the caption has trumped the keywords. Usually I have the location in both, sometimes only the keywords, very rarely not at all.
It looks like the date field must inform 'date taken' searches, though.
Sounds interesting, I'll need to search the search and see about location. Yes I think that's important. What I was pointing out is my images have over 150 characters and they are not live news. I never knew I was over the limit and they never bounced or clipped or rejected anything.
3833
« on: June 30, 2019, 13:02 »
total stock income over the last decade:
2009 18% increase over previous year
2010 11%
2011 26%
2012 25%
2013 4%
2014 -3%
2015 20%
2016 4%
2017 16%
2018 -17%
2019 -18% extrapolated
Have anything on June compared to the rest of the year or the rest of the Junes? Change from the previous year, so 20% up over a -3 which was after a 4% slow year, is almost the same? 2018 sure was terrible, I say you did a better job than many, at holding up against the downward income trend. Nice work. I searched for the poll, "What's Your Worth Month of the year. I'm pretty sure that June was the biggest loser, followed by January. But that was many years ago, things change.
3834
« on: June 30, 2019, 12:56 »
When I do get them, it is long after I already know the status. They've been useless since they changed the format
That's my experience too, if I get anything it's days after the files are live, and I already see them myself. On the other hane a recent batch of 56 I think I got one email for each image, if I got anything at all.
3835
« on: June 30, 2019, 12:54 »
The thread is about Dreamstime! Your payment is from Deposit where the limit is $50.
Sorry wrong closing. I'll have to search a different computer, further back in the past.
Just saying, they did pay me 2009 or 2010, below threshold maybe $20 total, and I think it took over 60 days to happen, because they wanted all sales to clear.
DT also has that percentage deletion rule and they had my photos for months, after my account closed. I was able to rejoin in 2018 and I have about 100 files there, kind of, just in case place.
i've been trying for months to get them to pay me, that whole ID thing is ridiculous. I wasn't going to close my account but I think I will after I get my money.
Didn't SS and IS (or the rest) require a photo ID to create an account? What kind of extra ID is DT asking for that's upsetting people. I don't get it? I'm pretty sure that the IRS requires accountability, but what's the issue?
Yes Did...Shutterstock no longer do it as part of their "strategy"of allowing anyone to join with the minimum of vetting or quality control.....no wonder its flooded with poor quality work and stolen images.
You're kidding me, no ID for SS? I suppose they watch IP address and camera serial numbers but really? And no wonder the thieves come back, over and over, hoping to take a small profit before they get caught. One of the latest caught thieves, there were at least seven different SS accounts with the identical image. I finally got interested enough to try to track down the original, using file numbers. So SS doesn't require and ID to get paid, just a Paypal account? I think the IRS would be really interested in that. Like they are always interested if it means someone is evading the taxes. Especially foreign agreements where the person is unlikely to ever file for a refund of the withholding. Well anyway, the issue was DT does ask, and I wonder if Adobe, Getty and Pond5 require an ID? Seems I remember people complaining that they wanted to sell photos and couldn't get accepted because of the form of ID they had in their country.
3836
« on: June 30, 2019, 12:47 »
It's not all doom & gloom...
Latest May 2019 Earnings Report:
https://brutallyhonestmicrostock.com/2019/05/31/may-2019-brutally-honest-earnings-report/
Very nice and informative. May I ask if most of your iStock collection was submitted as a non-exclusive?
I'll just mention, if you look under his messages, there is a row of agencies he submits to. He can't be an iStock exclusive.
You don't see mine, for example, because I don't choose to disclose, but Brasilnut shows his.
But if he was iStock exclusive in the past, the photos submitted as an exclusive would still be selling at a higher price and generate more revenue.
Didn't know someone could do that. You mean old exclusive images, which aren't anymore are paid at a higher rate, even thought we could upload someplace else? And they stay as exclusive. I wouldn't have imagined that. No I was never an IS exclusive. JoAnn would know best... she was exclusive and changed.
Now the question becomes interesting.
No, their tech isn't very sophisticated.
If you were an exclusive and went indie, your existing files stay at three credits*, but you only get your indie rate on them. Your subsequent files go to one credit.
If you were indie, and go exclusive, your old files sell for one credit, of which you get your exclusive percentage, and your new files will go on sale for three credits.
*unless already demoted, of course, but they allegedly haven't done that for a few years.
Getty = how to make anything as clear as mud. I'll guess, they can't adjust photos so they leave them as the level they were, or they could, but it would take a human going into the collection of a former exclusive and changing the number of credits needed. That's pretty funny. So a former exclusive gets three credits at the non-exclusive rate, which is actually pretty nice, instead of one credit at 15%?
3837
« on: June 29, 2019, 10:28 »
What's the worst month of the year. Just one please.
And on average what's the best month of the year?
From my data over six years, the year looks like a sine wave. It rises from January to February, starts a long decline to June, then climbs until September and October, then declines again until January.
So I'd say my worst months are typically January and June, and my best September or October.
and Hi guys,
is anyone else facing a dramatic drop in sales?
last week things were normal, this week however, SS sales went down almost -40% (I don't think it's June!)
any idea ?
Thanks..
Yes, 50% down for a whole June comapred to May. Not normal. I am 3500+ port with regular uploading. This is not normal.
Or 2014 (locked thread) from someone who does diligent statistics and tracking: Stockmarketer Thought I was having a decent start to June on SS, but this thread made me go and check my numbers from the first three days of June 2013.
first Sunday in June '14 vs '13: dls down 35%
first Monday in June '14 vs '13: dls down 32%
first Tuesday in June '14 vs '13: on track to be down about 30%
And my port size is about 35% higher than this time last year.
Depressing.It's June and it seems every year, things get worse than ever for many people, in June and January.
3838
« on: June 29, 2019, 10:09 »
I'm never going to be a "top seller" because I shoot a narrow niche (North American wildlife, nature, scenics), but sales from my relatively small portfolio have continued growing even as the overall number of images available skyrockets into the hundreds of millions.
Buyers are looking for what they're looking for. My niche is small and specialized, but my images are good and somehow buyers looking for them still do find them and buy them.
I'm mostly in the same situation, limited access, specialized makes up over half of my collection and isn't going to enable me to quit my day job. Still most of my sales, month after month, are from art and creative not my Editorial. The Editorial however does add some consistency in the Summer months, nearly nothing in between Oct - April. I suspect from friends, who are much smarter and better at what sells on Microstock, almost everyone is getting lower returns for their work, and adding new files is just treading water, not making any large gains. The residual income from years of work, is not staying steady, but instead is dropping, every year. The exception has been video sales, and I still haven't been doing anything much in that area.
3839
« on: June 29, 2019, 09:57 »
The thread is about Dreamstime! Your payment is from Deposit where the limit is $50.
Sorry wrong closing. I'll have to search a different computer, further back in the past. Just saying, they did pay me 2009 or 2010, below threshold maybe $20 total, and I think it took over 60 days to happen, because they wanted all sales to clear. DT also has that percentage deletion rule and they had my photos for months, after my account closed. I was able to rejoin in 2018 and I have about 100 files there, kind of, just in case place. i've been trying for months to get them to pay me, that whole ID thing is ridiculous. I wasn't going to close my account but I think I will after I get my money.
Didn't SS and IS (or the rest) require a photo ID to create an account? What kind of extra ID is DT asking for that's upsetting people. I don't get it? I'm pretty sure that the IRS requires accountability, but what's the issue?
3840
« on: June 29, 2019, 09:36 »
It's not all doom & gloom...
Latest May 2019 Earnings Report:
https://brutallyhonestmicrostock.com/2019/05/31/may-2019-brutally-honest-earnings-report/
Very nice and informative. May I ask if most of your iStock collection was submitted as a non-exclusive?
I'll just mention, if you look under his messages, there is a row of agencies he submits to. He can't be an iStock exclusive.
You don't see mine, for example, because I don't choose to disclose, but Brasilnut shows his.
But if he was iStock exclusive in the past, the photos submitted as an exclusive would still be selling at a higher price and generate more revenue.
Didn't know someone could do that. You mean old exclusive images, which aren't anymore are paid at a higher rate, even thought we could upload someplace else? And they stay as exclusive. I wouldn't have imagined that. No I was never an IS exclusive. JoAnn would know best... she was exclusive and changed. Now the question becomes interesting.
3841
« on: June 29, 2019, 09:32 »
I get rid of that stupid town/ state/ country - date that you have to have on SS it leaves more room on Alamy for a bigger desription.
The Dateline is standard for news and reporting.
The OP wasn't talking about Live News.
The Date Taken is an auto-populated field on Alamy, I guess unless you have done something to change it or it's an old scan. No point in wasting characters, of which you only get 150 on repeating it. I assume that if the buyer specifies a date, the Date Taken field is what is used, as I have searches with [DT] and I very seldom put the year into my caption or keywords.
Alamy editorial stock is secondary editorial. Nowadays, there is no tickbox for 'unaltered' (I can only assume that wasn't something their editorial buyers were using much, if at all), so non-Live News doesn't have to follow the news editorial rules. In fact, they can be as altered as one chooses.
Yes I think in terms of events and news, which ethically should not be altered beyond some minor adjustments, color correction (not alterations), exposure, white balance, no cloning in or out, no additions or subtractions, or filters. At any rate, all agencies accept the same and require location and date, a brief description in present tense. Only 150 characters, wow, that's potentially limiting. Here's one of mine... on SS Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin USA, June 25 2017 : Verizon Indycar Series Driver Scott Dixon, during the Kohler Grand Prix. Fast formula car rounding a corner. I count 152 I've slowed on Alamy of late but: https://www.alamy.com/portfolio/245438.htmlAlamy file: Newton Iowa, USA - June 29, 2017: NASCAR Xfinity Series, American Ethanol E15 250 race. Presented by American Ethanol Iowa Speedway. Ryan Preece, Toyota. Victory circle celebration at Iowa Speedway Xfinity race. 192, where's the 150 character limit? I'm missing that? Is that new this year?
3842
« on: June 29, 2019, 09:14 »
It's not all doom & gloom...
Latest May 2019 Earnings Report:
https://brutallyhonestmicrostock.com/2019/05/31/may-2019-brutally-honest-earnings-report/
Very nice and informative. May I ask if most of your iStock collection was submitted as a non-exclusive?
I'll just mention, if you look under his messages, there is a row of agencies he submits to. He can't be an iStock exclusive. You don't see mine, for example, because I don't choose to disclose, but Brasilnut shows his.
3843
« on: June 29, 2019, 09:06 »
Even the standards for editorial are different on the two sites, the captioning has to follow a specific format on iS (maybe the same on SS, I don't know), what's allowed on Alamy isn't often allowed on iS (which isn't allowed to compete with Getty togs on news, sport or celebrities), Alamy is stricter on what needs releases so must be editorial, iS often needs 'permission' for certain editorial shots (even if in a public place).
A blanket approach wouldn't work for these two alone of the agencies you suggest, and presumably the others have quirks of their own.
SS and IS and every Microstock site I've contributed to in the past, and the ones I do at the current time, accept the standard Dateline format. Some are more picky, but if someone uses the SS format, it will also be accepted at IS and Alamy. That's from experience, not guessing. That wasn't true when these places started accepting Editorial. I think they may have agreed to make uploading less trouble. Location, State Country, June 29 2019: Who is doing what, in present tense, description, other informational details. Difficult to believe considering how Getty has made iStock complicated, non-standard, and time tortured. No up front fees, they do the extra work, and take 15% of whatever. I could see dumping my extras, in case something makes a sale and keep the best for my own uploads. I wouldn't use this as my primary way of uploading or working. But I could see as a time savings, which would free me up to do something more productive, like take or manage my better images.
3844
« on: June 29, 2019, 08:28 »
After sending an email to demand my earnings, they obliged, paid in full and shut down my account.
On their forums the new CEO says their goal is to transform Photocase into a European Stocksy.
Ok then, lets see how that works out...
Glad you got your money. As for their goal, where is that crying with laughter emoji.....
 Photocase is a passionately curated authentic stock photography agency. We offer hand-picked Royalty-Free Images with a modern feel for prices that fit any budget.  The prices at Photocase are simple and fair. Price depends on size of the image and if you choose any additional options during checkout. Our photographers earn between 40% and 60% of each sale. Photocase what a joke. Well at least they dream big?
3845
« on: June 27, 2019, 06:52 »
Thanks Sue. I never had live news access even though I shoot live news.  I am always amused how Alamy changes things, like what fields are searched, based on contributors using them inappropriately, which results is all the rest of us losing rights or access. We took the decision to remove automatic access to the news feed as this past year
we've seen a dramatic increase of imagery that isn't suitable. Yeah, so instead of just banning the people who caused the problem, Alamy chooses to throw out the baby with the bath water and ban almost everyone.
3846
« on: June 27, 2019, 06:46 »
It is hard to be enthusiastic with a continuing downward trend.
I know! I removed everything except the two very accurate points. It's hard to be motivated in light of the downward trend. What makes me wonder is, why does anyone think anything will change after most of us have been watching this slide for seven years now? I was relatively happy when sales stayed flat, even with uploading new files. Now that phase has passed and it's getting worse. I didn't think things could get any worse. Once again, I was wrong.
3847
« on: June 27, 2019, 06:32 »
Thanks Cascoly, really helpful. Will try otherwise almost everything is going Editorial.
If it's any consolation, I'm positive that people are downloading some of my Editorial images and using them for other purposes. It's not a kiss of death to downloads to have them designated Editorial. Probably doesn't help, but in the end the buyer determines the use. What cascoly said... don't put specifics in the description, I get the feeling that some reviewers see a town name and bam, you get a rejection. It's wrong but with reviews outsourced to the lowest pay sector, it seems things are more and more random. We care, they don't.
3848
« on: June 27, 2019, 06:25 »
Over 280,000,000 royalty-free images on Shutterstock. June 26th or 27th, 2019 depending on your location.
Nothing much more to say. Another 10 million images accepted to compete with ours, 47 days.
you need not to re-open the thread again and again.. we all can see the future, you are adding more depression.
But it's exciting news and every 10 million images I need to report the next milestone. What do you want, darkness and no accountability? Yeah, it is depressing but that's business in Microstock.  But since you asked... watch around October 1st when Shutterstock passes the 300,000,000 images mark. 
3849
« on: June 27, 2019, 06:16 »
Odd because when I closed mine, I politely requested payment and account closing, they paid me after a few months. I was not at threshold. Times change so maybe that did too. But I wrote first and they sent the money, I didn't just delete everything and ask for money.
Was that recently or a few years ago?
I see that your question got included in a quote and I missed it. More than a few years ago. All I was trying to point out was, I asked, I got the money, after that I disabled everything. If someone disables and closes their account and then asked for payment, DT might have a different answer. I wanted the money before I shut down. Who knows, they might have changed the policy and they just keep artists money if someone doesn't make the threshold. Or maybe they like me? So my addition to the caution and warning is, get the money first!
3850
« on: June 27, 2019, 06:01 »
Out of the agencies listed here alemy does have that tick box. You do see these cretited in media.quite often.
Alamy changed Live News recently and now they really only want people who are committing to seeking out and submitting sellable Live News on a very regular basis.
There is some thought that if you have Live News and submit it directly to their editors, your files may be looked on favourably, but I don't think that's been established.
You also have the option of submitting news as Reportage. The advantages are that reportage files go into general stock very quickly (immediately), and you get a much longer description field. The downside is that for ever afterwards there's a note on the file saying it might not be up to normal standards, even if it is; also Reportage files don't go into the Live News feed, or get pinged out to editors.
I'm not sure that Reportage is News. Not the way Alamy handles it. I've applied and they said, my content was news, not "reportage". But of course we speak different English across the pond? I could try to find the reply and information, it was last year.
Yebbut watch my lips: "Alamy changed Live News recently and now they really only want people who are committing to seeking out and submitting sellable Live News on a very regular basis."
In short, many people had their Live News upload facility closed. At first it was supposed to be if your Live News hadn't sold as Live News (not counting future general stock sales of these files), but in fact, some people (I know one personally) who had sold Live News files as such, had their uploading stopped, and weren't reinstated on appeal, no explanation given.
If people were never Live News submitters, they can apply with recent tear sheets of news files in use, but it seems to be taking a long time.
https://discussion.alamy.com/topic/11370-live-news/?tab=comments#comment-206491
https://discussion.alamy.com/topic/11585-how-to-successfully-apply-for-live-news-image-upload-service/?tab=comments#comment-210699
https://discussion.alamy.com/topic/11627-my-live-news/?tab=comments#comment-211466
About a week after they sent the emails out to people from whom they were removing the Live News upload facility, they sent a second email out to those who have had Live News images subsequently selling as stock to tell them they could now upload via the Reportage route. So although I had never applied to upload Reportage/Archive, these are now in black on my upload page, so I could do it if I wished, but my Live News is now greyed out.
Here's what I was looking for. I finally had some time to sit still and find the email from Alamy Our archive and reportage upload route was created for content with historical value that otherwise would struggle to pass our quality control. A few examples of this are collections of scans from WW2, vintage poster designs or coverage of war zones like Syria where it is very difficult to avoid technical errors as camera shake etc.
So all though the work might be classified as reportage or editorial it might not fit our criteria for the upload route. Images uploaded through archive route will come with a warning about possible damage to quality for our customers, so its beneficial for the photographer to upload these images to stock if the quality allows them to do so.
The Stockimo app has a News function which you can use to upload directly from events, but this is only for images shot with camera phones. So if you mainly take your pictures with a DSLR then its better to upload you Live News content directly to our News team, or through stock if the content is older than 24 hours. She called it the archive and reportage route and the question was, why do I keep getting rejected for reportage when I'm shooting newsworthy events? Meanwhile you read the Alamy forum more than I do, and the programs have changed, yet again? Live news only on a regular basis? I think they don't know what they want sometimes. Oh but Stockimo for news, which is forbidden to discuss on the Alamy forum is what they do want... but there's no forum for that. LOL Repeating, I shoot sports events throughout the Summer, and I was refused for Alamy "reportage" as they said, I was providing the wrong kind of content for that classification. At least that's the way I read it? If you can make sense of the latest version of Alamy News, please try. 
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