pancakes

MicrostockGroup Sponsors


Show Posts

This section allows you to view all posts made by this member. Note that you can only see posts made in areas you currently have access to.


Messages - iStocked

Pages: [1]
1
I think someone is laughing at us. If I had to guess I would say it's military intelligence. Read the art papers by Miles Mathis if you want to get a clue about the "high-end art market".

http://www.lik.com/news/newsarticle24/

2
iStockPhoto.com / Re: Retroactive raise in Royalty?
« on: October 16, 2014, 03:36 »
"licensed to an iStock customer in a transaction that did not occur through the website"

How nice of iStock to word their lie so carefully. There is no such thing as a transaction not occurring through the website, the files are downloaded from the website. Ah, but the money that was paid didn't go through the website? Meaning the money wasn't accounted for and they "forgot" to pay out our share. Could someone remind me of the exact definition of corporate theft?

I wonder what prompted them to issue the correction at all. Did they get caught and were afraid of legal action?

And there was I, thinking this was actually our 100% royalty day payment. What happened to that?

3
iStockPhoto.com / Is S+ now free money? Will it last?
« on: September 18, 2014, 13:55 »
Signature+ is gone, but you can still nominate for it if you're exclusive (the option also appears for indies, but has no effect apparently), for two things to happen: if accepted into S+, the file will be mirrored on Getty; and, royalties paid out for the file in subscription will be $2.50 rather than $0.75, even though there won't be a difference in pricing for credit purchases.

We can all have our own views about the value of mirroring to Getty, but the subscription royalty structure seems bizarre under the new system. A well-favoured contributor who gets a lot of acceptances to S+ will be making more than 3 times as much on subscription downloads, even though the collection no longer exists from buyer perspective. There's no value added really, just iStock deciding which picture they want to reward more over others.

I don't know what to make of it, except that it probably won't last. Wouldn't a single, higher commission across the board be fairer?

4
Off Topic / Re: Apple Watch is magic
« on: September 10, 2014, 08:21 »
I'm not sure it will be "worthless in a couple of years", it might eventually become a collector's item. First edition of the first smartwatch that redefines things just like the Mac did. And just like it happened with the Mac, it will take time for the revolutionary impact to sink in. Apple are the only one that thought this through and don't treat the Watch as a scaled-down phone. The tactile, pictorial nature of it will develop and affect how we think and interact, just you wait! :)

5
Off Topic / Apple Watch is magic
« on: September 10, 2014, 03:07 »
Yesterday, along with the new iPhones, Apple Watch was released.

Is it just me or is it truly impressive? Too many good things to mention, but the one thing that really appeals to me is that they made the effort to enable simpler, pictorial communication between two devices. It makes sense, the screen is too small for typing text. Plust the tapping thing. And the payment thing. The walkie talkie... etc etc.

Can't wait to get one. Which is funny, as I've been avoiding Apple products and the "Apple tax" for the past 6 years. But this is something else, it's their Apple Mac moment all over again, 30 years after 1984. On this one, I'll be happy to buy from Apple again. Anyone else?

6
Hmm... the board software removed the word "svc king" from the post above then wouldn't let me edit.

7
As an iStock exclusive I'm mostly happy with these changes.

PRO:

1. Vetta is gone (mostly). This was * money out of the system in various ways. The quality argument no longer holds with the oversupply we have now. And the mantra "I want to get paid more for what I invested in this shoot" rings hollow.
2. S+ also gone (mostly). Same thing as above.

CON:

1. Pricing should be for Web and Print sizes, not one price fits all. I hope and expect this will be changed in the near future, once they have some feedback from buyers.
2. The distinction in pricing between Main and Signature still exists. We should have only one collection and one set of prices, but Exclusive images being clearly marked and promoted. Just as it was prior to the nonsense of the past few years.

I'm daring to be cautiously optimistic that lessons have been learned and won't be repeated. A few adjustments as suggested and iStock could be turning around "back to the future". Not as good as it was, but not so disastrous either. I hope for the best!

Pages: [1]

Sponsors

Mega Bundle of 5,900+ Professional Lightroom Presets

Microstock Poll Results

Sponsors