no "stakeholder" is a common word. Look at any Marketing Management or Strategic Mangement text. No doubt politicians would hve their own meanings and reasons for usage.

cobalt:  "Absolutely not. Although the customers are usually not shareholders"

Sorry they are stakeholders. Generally consider external stakeholders and rightly so. IS is more complex because many customers are also buyers and/ influensers in the industrial/consumer buying process.

IS will have great profits this year and prob for the next two. That is clearly their aim. Of course after that it will slide as market share falls and any price rise revenue grabs are offset (or exceeded)  by declining sales.

I used to love IS. It was a great place. I have now stopped uploading. Not to get even or whatever, only because there is no point. The files will not be seen. Where they are seen and sold is TS and why put up with the IS upoad process for that? Their searches give poor results for customers, very poor results for independents and even exclusive defenders of the faith have had huge declines in sales (partially offset by price increases).

so all exclusive files get rated highly and indies not? lol

OK racephotos what is the point of arguing about insignificant trivia. Clearly exclusive files are pshed to the front and independants back. Saying else is stupidity. Most of us (independents) hope it does not last but it hs a fair chance of staying.

Putting new files up is a wasted excercise. They get very few views.

"Agree with all except the part about only the most expensive are at the front. Wasn't that contradicted by the theory that Independents were pushed to the front so IS would pay lower commissions, and make more money. Or was that swapped for the Exclusive to the front, so they could get their ranks up for the end of the year? Wait, old photos first, new photos don't have a chance.
"

The evidence supports exclusive and dearer at the front, not the other way around. It is not the commission they pay that they are thinking of.So 85% of $5 is not as good for IS as say $70 of $10. Long term it will create problems for them but now it is about maximising short term gain. The search is skewed and does not warrant arguing about.

long term only exclusives at IS? No point uploading with this best match and how would a newbie get enough sales to go exclusive? All independents only at TS? Maybe in future newbies start there and go to IS as exclusive by some new formula? Strange results, definitely not the best images at front, just the most expensive. It is tricky, it is like a threat to exclusives - leave and your sales vanish and an attempt to keep them with sales in a decline at IS.

Profit will be great short term. Long term a strange strategy but do they think long term?

being older has its advantages. I was asked to photograph a pole dancer teacher. I think she felt safer with someone as "old" as me. Anyway communication with models is probably easier as you get older.

I take "offenCe" to you lumping us "non-native English speakers" together thinking we don't understand anything Smiley Joking! The question was never the full breadth of meanings for that particular word - it was the way that in the manner it was casually used to a quite wide unknown audience, but I stand corrected. Rape is my new word, I will use it daily for all those meanings that I previously didn't previously think it was "ok" to use it in! It really adds to the English language in my opinion, nothing quite like it like a brutal multi-faceted word like that to make people take notice of common littered with platitudes non perfectly written Queen's English!  

Words used by me were accurate and in an appropriate way. Accept the points made in regard to your narrow focus on the discussion and your attempt to be critical of all other points made (accept those by yourself in supprt of IS).You are quick to atttack words as being wrongly used and offensive to you. Get over it . Your portfolio really limits you to your current strategy. Your Alamy penetration will not gain you much income and SS may not even accept most of your stuff (it is getting tough). Work an exit strategy for yourself if you want but quit trying to discredit all others. Delusion may be comfortable but please don't try to share it. You certainly do not let the facts get in the way of your argument.

for many halving/destroying their income is what is known as "financial rape".  An often used term to describe taking away money against their will and they are not willing or able to resist and totlly unexpected Many people find it a financial violation and a destroyed trust in the company. The term was used to showcase the attitude of some indoctrinated contributors who think it is ok to be treated like that. Yes it is vile. Take half of someones income and after give them back a little and they are all glowing IS lovers. What do you think this has done to people's incomes. Some people do not care , so long as it is not them. Others still blindly want to believe in the IS community. The community was contributors NOT management.

"Sorry, Mark.  #1, only the first paragraph is mine.  You convienently left out the quotes separating them.  #2 What is 'Pollyanna' about hoping for resolution of the problems and issues we've had over the last 12 months.

Try harder next time, Ace."

Yep only half the delusion quote belonged to you. I did not say it belonged to. IS has a queue of people that thank them for being gentle when they raped them. It is a shame to have people lack the foresight to see the real issue. People saying thanks because IS gave them back some of the royalty they took off them??? Thanking them for the exclusive bias at the best match (whilst knowing it is not helping the customer). Realistic now , why would IS grow next year? You have kept commission by increasing prices with falling volume and placed exclusives ahead of independents in searches to try to win them over (and maybe get more per sale). The only problems IS has had have been self inflicted. What are you hoping for a management change?? Hmm thought it made it worse. How long before they lose an accelerating rate of customers. When the sales get very low it does not matter what the percentages are, best match is or price. I t will mean severely diminished revenue even for exclusives. Exit strategies for exclusives are getting harder all the time. New files aunder different names at different agencies? That one has been done.

"I don't have all my eggs in one basket, only in microstock. * I'm not smug at all, I take quite an offense that you say so - please point to where you got that impression."

Your whole post earlier is totally smug. Try the IS forums for more support for independents being screwed to prop up exclusives as IS sales fall. Do not claim posters love SS because of the real issues with IS that have been vented about. Ebjoy the search while it compensates for lack of sales. What they need is to get more sales not give a bigger share to one group over another. The long term plan would seem to be scale down IS volume, have what is there as high price low volume and move all else to TS to compete with real micros.

Of course some may have images elsewhere in micro libraries often under other pseudonyms. Some claim it is the partners files etc. Others have RM. I am sure given vision many would have not been s loyal as they have to the IS exclusive agreement. Having a few images (taken in the same shoots as IS shots) in Alamy or somewhere else as RM is not a serious outing into market coverage. Like it or not the RF market is larger. You still have to think what is life like post IS like for you.

"You don't need an EL for an album cover."-sjlocke


So you are saying they can sell 100,000 albums, no El? Then use the same image for teeshirts and stickers. Hmm I will check. I get a few EL at SS but at IS they are rare. I should be glad it was not a TS sale?

matbe now but reality is less indie uploads and more exclusives mean a exclusives will domoniate all searches. That is reality. Not one I like but a reality nonetheless. If nothing changes all searches will be dominated by exclusive content.