I use the Kessler http://store.kesslercrane.com/time-lapse-system-tls-starter-bundle.html  nice price now too.

Nobody has been paid!

I got paid.

I don't agree that the model is necessarily any worse than the standard subs model,  where the agency and contributor are in competition.  The agency only makes a profit if the buyer doesn't use his allocated sub downloads, the buyer only makes a profit if he does.

Doesn't videoblocks own much of the content and not pay royalties on that?

There have been warnings about VB since they started.  Their model is not in the contributors best interest.

Strong month!   

https://www.wdc.com/products/portable-storage/my-passport-wireless-pro.html something like this?  Or maybe http://www.verbatim.com/prod/accessories/wireless-streaming/mediashare-wireless/

Look the numbers at the right of this page. If you contribute to the top 5 sites as non-exclusive you will make more money than as a single iS exclusive.

Pond5 is almost all video and Alamy does a lot of RM so you can still go exclusive for photos and get the bulk of those numbers.  30% should be easy to reach, even higher levels are much easier to reach with the changes.  I'm up every month this year over the last 2 years, about 20% overall from last year and around my best ever.  Not saying that will happen for anyone starting now, there are some obstacles (your old files won't be priced higher as far as I understand it for example).  I think if you produce a good amount of work with good quality you would do well but you need to be honest with yourself. 

Does anyone know if the new pricing means as little as $3 paid for 4k footage?

If the agency is saying that an image can be used commercially then it could be illegal to knowingly license "editorial" images as commercial.  All the agencies I know say in their terms that images can be used in certain ways, "editorial" images can't be used in those ways without risk.

The questions don't really seem to be about building a stock site, it looks like you're collecting info for marketing or some other reason.  Almost none of the questions are about making a site that contributors would want to use.  You ask 2 times for our email address.  Then sex, age, and how much we make with how many images.  The only vaguely relevant question is how we keyword, I say vaguely relevant because every site already lets you upload the metadata or keyword on the site, what's the point of that question?   I'm left thinking this is a scam, "In a way, once you complete this survey, you become a partner to our business. If our commission structure says anything, it�s that we value our partners."  what business am I a partner with?  I don't see a business name or any info about a business.

You have to wait more than a few hours for your images to show up, if they aren't there in a couple days you might have a problem.

Quote from: tickstock on March 30, 2017, 01:03

Quote from: Tay on March 30, 2017, 00:51

Quote from: everest on March 29, 2017, 23:38

Quote from: tickstock on March 29, 2017, 11:45

There aren't too many exclusives who come here any more.  I'm curious to hear how others are doing too.  If it is just me then maybe these two months are outliers and I shouldn't get too optimistic.

I wish I was in your situation. Despite uploading, my trend of total revenue is slowly going down since 2012. The bleeding has increased another 20% since the last changes. I think by many posts of the monthly revenue thread at Getty forums, most established diamond and blackdiamonds report the same trend to the bottom. So whatever makes you not being in this downward direction... congratulations! I wish I could say otherwise but that is the reality for me.

Yep, I'm full time diamond and compared to 2012 my income is less by about 85%-90% I just drop the crown. I've been waiting to long to do this.

Wow, 90% drop is bad.  I hope you'll let us know how it goes as an independent.

Sure that is my plan. I will give you charts, data etc but you have to wait about 2-3 months for this

Great, good luck.

Quote from: Brasilnut on March 26, 2017, 15:48

Other than the obvious oversupply, I find the biggest challenge is knowing what will and won't be popular.

I know agencies go to great lengths to inform contributors about current and upcoming trends but I find it all a bit hit and miss. In other words, spending a considerable amount of time and expense on producing images that don't generate many downloads. Sometimes it works the other way, images I don't expect to do well suddenly become popular.

The image requests are helpful but they can also be too specific.

Agencies want to plug holes in their collections so they can retain customers. Often this involves filling niches that will never make enough sales to pay back a photographer's expenses. These images and customers belong on macro stock.

Yep, this is 100% true.  You have to have realistic expectations for returns before you fill those niches.  Most of us know what sells already, niche stuff should get a premium.