deleted

this should no longer be my concern

back to shooting and uploanding

Maybe the warm welcome thread is in the exclusive forum 

Anybody ready to bet istock didn�t know this was coming?

@ Jaak Blendimages not just have their own site, they also have 20 000 files on Shutterstock. These images are also available via Getty.

Getty does not necessarily need it all exclusive. That is just a marketing myth.

Hi Yuri,

does this mean you are closing your own webshop peopleimages as well?

Whatever you do, best of luck!

And maybe we will see you in Berlin  at the mexpo.

Let�s focus on what we really know. His files have been removed from Shutterstock. Does he no longer trust Shutterstock as a good sales partner? Or does he believe they are going down after many successful years?

The little icon on istock is not as relevant IMO than the fact that he removed his files from the most successfully growing microstock site.

What does it mean for Shutterstock that the "most successful photographer of the decade" no longer has his portfolio with them?

Maybe they "upgraded" him to a certain price group or best match status and they need to add the crown to push his files. Getty has many "exclusive" collections on istock (and getty) that are being sold elsewhere as well. Blendimages is the easiest example. They sell on istock, getty, their own site and also have their files on Shutterstock etc...

So I wouldn�t be surprised if Yuri made a deal to get the same benefits and preferences.

Well, that is good news.

Too bad photography is one of the most popular hobbies on the planet.

This is part of the old thread on changes for price points. somewhere in there Kingcash announced what changes were coming.

I haven�t looked at the whole thread and anyway for me it is no longer relevant. But it might be worth comparing the original idea that Kris laid out in January to what is going to come now.

Like I said before, i hope it works out. istock is a major part of my income and will remain so for a long time because I am uploading my portfolio very slowly to other sites.

Also many of my friends are exclusive and I really wish them well. Their families depend on their income from istock.

http://www.istockphoto.com/forum_messages.php?
threadid=350573&page=11


ETA:

This is the page I was looking for. Is this the same to what was just announced? I think the main difference is that exclusive files with zero (or few) downloads will be available in the lowest rank and indie content can rise up to the 3rd level, but not the fourth.

So this way exclusive content will be available on all levels.

http://www.istockphoto.com/forum_messages.php?threadid=350573&page=6

On istock you can use the price slider to decide the price range of files you want to look at. Until now every price range had exclusive content and the higher price bands had only exclusive content.

So if a customer was ready to look at higher prices, he would see only exclusive files.

But with the coming changes, if I understand them correctly, indie content will go to main, exclusive content will default to signature, until a few months later they look at the files and decide if they should stay there.

This will mean that for the first time, the customer can look at the lowest price point and see mostly indie files. Only exclusive files with zero downloads, i.e. the less interesting content will be represented there. So you will have weaker exclusive content competing with all indie content on the lowest level.

The next higher levels that used to have ONLY exclusive content will now have a mix of exclusive and indie content. Just the highest level with Vetta, will be exclusive only.

So while before exclusive content was always visible over all price points, you will now see only teh weaker exclusive files in a sea of indie content at the lower price point. Then on higher levels there will be a mix of indie and exclsuive content whereas before it would only be exclusive content.

Maybe go back to the December thread by the Getty admins. they described that model quite clearly.

There is a lot of superb indie content out there. The volume alone would make me scared if there will be enough room left for exclusives in the higher price bands.

ETA: I forgot P+. So you had 15% of indie content in the next higher price band.

Anyway, it is no longer my problem. Might even be positive for me.

But why would they if they earn less money this way?

When the price of exclusive files was higher, getty always earned more money on an exclusive file although they paid out a higher percentage to the artist. This way the interest of getty and the exclusive artist where aligned.

At the same price level the indie file will always earn them more money.

You really believe that out of the generosity of their hearts they will voluntarily pay more?

But the biggest loss is the ability to nominate files for E+ and Getty. You can now no longer invest in a shoot and decide the higher price point to make your money back.

And it also effects your RC. Before you could nominate 25% of your portfolio for E+. How much of a percentage will you get now?

I�m confused - wasn�t the getty 360 program the big next thing coming up? What happened to that?

This looks like what Kris Kringle(?) or KingCash or whatever they called themselves announced last December. That there would be new price tiers and price bands that used to have only exclusive content would now also have independent content. So when a buyer chooses a higher price point, he will no longer see only exclusive files.

There is a lot more independent stock material than exclusive content in the stock world. And the upload limits have been removed so the floodgates are open for indie content to be placed in nearly all price levels.

It is very interesting news for independents and maybe people with very special content can now make deals with getty to have their content placed even higher than before.

But the exlusives lose control over the price point in their portfolio. They also lose the ability to decide which images will be mirrored on getty.

I also wonder like some have mentioned if the price point for some files is the same - why would getty promote the image where they only earn 60% instead of the ones were they earn 80-85%?

So at higher price points exclusives will no longer be shielded from the competition. Only Vetta is the level left to exclusive only content.

And what about the customer? Simplifying collections is a good idea in principle, but why move indie content to higher prices if the customer can find these files cheaper everywhere else?

I am sorry to see my exclusive friends so worried. Is there really nothing coming up that is good news for exclusives?

I guess I should be happy as this might be good for me, but my focus is anyway spread over all the agencies, it makes changes at just one agency less important.

But maybe this opens the path longterm for exclusive images. I would welcome that for all the Lypse files and certain subjects.

That was fast! Thank you very much

See you in Berlin!

Hi everyone,

just wanted to point out that sometimes being the early bird is not the best deal. I already booked a ticket and workshop and today I got an email from picworkflow with a 20% discount code. Maybe others will send out discounts as well, so I would suggest if you are just looking for a ticket, maybe wait a week before you book.

The workshops are expensive, but they might still get sold out, so if you are looking for a workshop, then you might have to book faster.