Quote from: SuperPhoto on February 01, 2021, 23:28

Quote from: MatHayward on January 26, 2021, 10:32

Quote from: SuperPhoto on January 26, 2021, 10:25

Quote from: dirkr on January 25, 2021, 11:01

Yes, they do have a new program, for 2020 it's based on number of downloads (not uploads).

Details see here: https://www.microstockgroup.com/fotolia-com/2020-adobe-stock-artist-bonus-program/

thanks, good to know. Since I did meet that threshold - do you know when he'll be sending out the licenses?

Thanks!

A redemption link will be found at the top of the contributor portal in a blue banner sometime in February so watch for that. I'll post something in MSG when they go live as a heads up.

-Mat

Okay, thanks, appreciate that.

BTW - any chance we could get the "whole" suite if we had less than 5,000 "downloads"?
I didn't realize there were two separate thresholds (one being for a 'single' application license, and one for the entire suite).

While I didn't actually use the 'entire' suite - I would use AE & PR. "Thought" about using the other apps (last year was the first year I got this) - and then all this silly nonsense with a magical virus that can count the number of people in a group, knows if someone is sitting or standing in a restaurant (sitting = safe, standing/walking = uh oh), knows if it at a protest or party (and avoids the former), etc, etc, started... and became quite the distraction. I literally think I only used the suite for 1-2 months back last January 2020, and only because of my reminder e-mail remembered - oh yeah - I had all these cool things I wanted to do with AE/PR, and just hadn't yet...

Thanks!

Do you mean can you get a code for the All Apps Creative Cloud plan for free without meeting the qualification criteria of the 2020 bonus plan? If that is what you mean, then no, that is not an option. You can purchase the plan via adobe.com however.

Thanks,

-Mat

Yes, I did mean that. (Unfortunately due to what happened the last year, I didn't get to produce/promote/etc as much content as I was expecting, in fact, very little.)

Only getting some time now. I think a lot of other people would be in the same boat, so it would be nice if the bonus criteria could be reconsidered. At the very least, perhaps for the next upcoming year. Please let me know,

Thanks!

ty, are the statistics you have based on an aggregate of the users, or just 1 off cases? thanks.

Quote from: SuperPhoto on January 26, 2021, 10:25

Quote from: dirkr on January 25, 2021, 11:01

Yes, they do have a new program, for 2020 it's based on number of downloads (not uploads).

Details see here: https://www.microstockgroup.com/fotolia-com/2020-adobe-stock-artist-bonus-program/

thanks, good to know. Since I did meet that threshold - do you know when he'll be sending out the licenses?

Thanks!

A redemption link will be found at the top of the contributor portal in a blue banner sometime in February so watch for that. I'll post something in MSG when they go live as a heads up.

-Mat

Okay, thanks, appreciate that.

BTW - any chance we could get the "whole" suite if we had less than 5,000 "downloads"?
I didn't realize there were two separate thresholds (one being for a 'single' application license, and one for the entire suite).

While I didn't actually use the 'entire' suite - I would use AE & PR. "Thought" about using the other apps (last year was the first year I got this) - and then all this silly nonsense with a magical virus that can count the number of people in a group, knows if someone is sitting or standing in a restaurant (sitting = safe, standing/walking = uh oh), knows if it at a protest or party (and avoids the former), etc, etc, started... and became quite the distraction. I literally think I only used the suite for 1-2 months back last January 2020, and only because of my reminder e-mail remembered - oh yeah - I had all these cool things I wanted to do with AE/PR, and just hadn't yet...

Thanks!

Hi,

It was nice Adobe offering a 1 year subscription to its service for people with approved video/photo portfolios (I forgot what the # was, but I think it was 250+ videos or something like that).

Is Adobe doing that again this year? I didn't hear anything from them, but am an active contributor and would be interested in getting an extension on my subscription. Thanks!

what is the video API bug?

Hi all, I hope that you all are doing well and staying safe!

I'm currently working on a desktop app that can identify and cull potentially bad photos from a photoshoot and help in shortening the image culling process.
It has built-in integration with Adobe Lightroom and instead of deleting any of the images, it simply star rates and color codes them.
More information about the app and a video walkthrough can be seen here: https://www.aftershoot.co/coming-soon

I wanted to hear the community's thoughts on this and know if this is something that you might be willing to incorporate into your workflow.

The software is still in active development and we are planning on a beta release this July that would be free for all.
If anyone's interested you can let me know via a post here or by emailing me and I'll be happy to share the app with you.

Thanks!

a) I'd have to say it depends on the quality of the algorithm. I'd have to test it out myself to see how good it was.
b) While I focus mainly on video (I do some photos as well) - when I do photos - I tend to review the photos right on the spot (in the back viewfinder/zoom) - and delete ones I don't like, and/or retake shots I think retaking.
c) I'm not sure how much time it would really save me. (Might be good for some other photographers). But I have a very high end graphics system (actually very top tier/'lambourghini' system of computer systems) - so reviewing videos/graphics/etc is a fast process for me. It would literally take me about 1-5 seconds (with the current system I have set up) - to decide if I wanted to use an image or not. If I was taking 1000's of images on a weekly basis - maybe it would be something I'd find useful. As it is - I maybe only do 300-500/month, so I'm not sure how useful that would be to me.

Now - one thing that WOULD be useful - is software that identified WHAT kind of picture I have - titled it accordingly, & applied accurate keywords. Now I know (personally) it would be very difficult to write that kind of software - but that is actually something I would find useful. While I could (& should) outsource that - I haven't - so I know that is something that would definitely save me time.

good point. I deactivated my portfolio 11k+ video items.

while also in theory a good idea -

a) it would be cheaper to start your own company
b) getting 1000's of contributors to agree on something would probably be a challenge in itself. so again, cheaper to start your own company.

I don't mean to be disrespectful, but a lot of people are already doing what you are saying here: we disabled our port before the changes, we are posting bad reviews, and comments on social media letting customers know about the situation, there are several articles about this in the media etc. It just sounds like you are saying everything as you are not involved (you should do this, you should do that, instead of WE should do it) and that's not very convincing.

Did you disabled your portfolio BTW?

As for top contributors: they have a special deal, so not much chances in convincing them.

actually,

a) yes, I did disable my portfolio.
b) yes, I did contact shutterstock and get them to try and listen (falling on deaf ears)
c) and I am looking at alternatives right now.

Okay, everyone knows shutterstock gave the middle finger to the majority of its contributors, knowing full well most individual contributors would be scared to leave, thinking 'something' is better than 'nothing'. Problem with that thinking is you continue to get screwed, until you actually get nothing, and it's too late to do anything.

Money, or what affects their income source/money is pretty much the only thing that a company like shutterstock will listen to.

So. Here's some specific things that can be done.

1. How to effectively reach & band contributors together.
2. Effective negative publicity
3. Promote other 'good' sites (i.e., dreamstime right now), moving customers to better paying sites

1. How to effectively reach & band contributors together.

a) https://microstockrank.com/shutterstock/videos-rank is a fantastic resource to get the list of contributors that you can contact one by one.
If you could get the top 100 contributors (which is about 10% of the total assets on shutterstock) to agree to do something (i.e., turn portfolio off), that would send a very strong message. Chances are though - they benefit from the new scheme, so may or may not be willing to participate. You'd need to use a different approach (i.e., they'd like the idea of bargaining power to INCREASE revenue further).
b) You simply look @ the contributor name, go to google, type "contributor name + shutterstock" look @ their about tab, and some have contact information. Not everyone does. But this is one way of getting individual contact information. (They may also have contact info on another site, as most ppl have more than one agency they submit to).
c) (While I don't care for google's lack of privacy protection in general) - at the moment - google docs can be useful for people sharing/updating who has been contacted/agrees/etc. Alternatively, if someone wanted to use their website, or be a bookkeeper, could do that too.

Not sure how many ppl it would take turning off their portfolio, whether its 10, 100, or 1000, but at some point, shuttertstock would pay attention.

2. Negative publicity

a) Review sites. Posting negative reviews does to some degree have an effect (tends to be the #, the site posted on, and so forth). Be truthful (don't just bash/namecall, but specific about what wrong they are doing).
b) Contacting actual print publications. I.e., https://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/153708/the-100-most-important-online-publishers.html
Journalists love a good story. Basically you find a journalist who would be sympathetic to what you have to say. So you might google something like "publication name + rotten companies" or "publication name + companies abusing power", etc, etc.

One possible approach would be something like "In the midst of a crisis for the general population, when most businesses are bending over backwards to provide better service and help people, not only does shutterstock - a 654 MILLION revenue a year company not do that -  but they decide to shave more money off the top from 95% of struggling contributors that their business is based on". (The 95% is a guess, but probably accurate - as I am guessing it would only be the top 5%, or less, that have the bulk of assets & subsequent sales that would see either the same or an increased commission).

If enough people contact enough journalists, there are likely to be stories to be printed.

Print publications are also good. Just google something like 'top print publications'.

3. Promote other 'good' sites, moving customers to better paying sites

Dreamstime (long time ago) was upset because they losrt google rank (and actually I think I remeber reading google struck a deal with shutterstock, to promote their assets over sites like dreamstime).

Companies need good publicity/advertising, and people love "causes". (I.e., look at "hashtag" anything, and you'll find "hashtag-movement" "hashtag-stop-the-opression", etc, etc).

So companies that are doing right by people (i.e., at the moment dreamstime seems to be one of them) - promote them. Help drive sales to sites that are doing RIGHT by contributors (i.e., right now dreamstime).

Consumers do tend to "stick" with something when they are used to it, but - they still do read twitter, facebook posts, etc - and if "everyone" is saying "go check out this site" - they'll most likely follow their peers, and check out that site.

Don't underestimate just how powerful, effective, & quick this can be. (I read somewhere someone said 161 people responded to the poll - if 161 people ALL posted on facebook/twitter/etc to say go to dreamstime), you'd be surprised how fast that can catch on with a good hashtag name, cause & powerful reason.

These are some very specific, effective strategies you can employ today.

Once shutterstock starts seeing a difference (whether its customers migrating to other platforms, or contributors stop uploading/cancelling their accounts), they will be more inclined to listen.

Fun facts about shutterstock, in case anyone is wondering 'how well' they are doing.

$654 MILLION  IN REVENUE in 2018-2019. After ALL expenses (i.e., jet planes, hotels, bonuses for execs, salaries, etc) - $54 MILLION in profit. Extra money. That they couldn't figure out how to reduce lower to lower their taxes. (Envato btw, also apparently $113 MILLION in 2019 according to a forbes article, but since they are private & apparently have some interesting accounting, not sure if the figure is accurate, understated, etc), after trying to minimize contributors money as much as possible).

Financial reports for public companies are fun to read, I highly recommend it. Here is the 2018 financial report for shutterstock.
https://investor.shutterstock.com/static-files/8b795c10-8df0-403b-811d-1f39f8f34393

HIGHLY recommend reading it. Highly doubt they are 'hurting' at the moment (as they did transition to subscriptions, which actually take more money out of a contributors pocket than straight commission sale the way it is structured) - but rather a price gouge from their contributor base. Obviously I haven't seen their 2020 financials, but based on experience I'd say it's a) a boost for the execs to give themselves a bit more money, b) positioning for shareholders to say 'hey look, ain't we doing great!'.

Also - for someone who thinks they might be getting a 'great deal' with the new structure (whether videos or images) - you have to look at the 'average' sale you make. For the first six months let say you are at 15%. If the next six months you are at 30% (or even say 40%) assuming you sell the same # of clips consistently (which btw are incredibly HIGH thresholds) - you are still worse off than without it. Because the 'average' clip comission is lower overall.

Read the report. Fun read.

Wrong, very wrong.

actually - thats a VERY interesting idea...

start contacting some journalists that cover the virus pandemic, etc - ANY one of them - and then just write a short blurb something along the lines of:

"Hi, I'm a stock photographer. I make a living online. While most companies have been great - this company shutterstock has cut people's livelihood in half
starting June 1st to boost their own corporate profits. I think you might have a story here. Let me know if you would like to interview me/and or some other
people (anonymously or with names)"

In the middle of a pandemic shutterstock decides to GOUGE the very people that ALLOW them to make the sales they do.

Makes for a GREAT story.

Shutterstock does care about stock prices, and negatively publicity may not sit well with them, so maybe they'd stop gouging contributors to line their own
pockets.

Pick a random major publication (wapo, nyt), etc - or even smaller ones...

Good idea!

When you do find a publication willing to listen, send me a PM. I'll drop them a line too.

Thanks!

Quote from: angelawaye on May 29, 2020, 09:53

I've been with them since 2008 with 226,737 lifetime downloads.

It's going to be so difficult for me to end my relationship with SS on June 1st but it has become an abusive relationship (financially) and I see it continually going down now.

The problem is Adobe Stock never took off for me after Fotolia...

Please do not give up hope yet.

The contributor protest has just started and the �reset to zero� will wake up a lot of people.

I don�t think it is unrealistic that with a proper online protest, journalists reporting, sharing the petition, the management can be shamed into reversing the worst of this.

I also cannot imagine that the SS employees are comfortable with this kind of cruel cut in the middle of a pandemic.

Nobody enjoys working for a company perceived as evil.

Contributors don�t just control the upload streams, we also are buyers and direct our clients where to buy.

I really can�t see how they will handle the fall out of a major online scandal. The first ever for SS who used to be drama free and the worst in the entire history of the stock industry.

I don't have a dog in this fight, because I don't sell on shutterstock, but what they did is pretty crappy.

Why don't the folks that contribute to stocksy talk to the owners of that site, Bruce and ask him to consider launching a new site, for the masses. Just like iStock use to be when he owned it? Bruce knows how to build and launch and run a mega large stock photo site. I doubt anyone else here is going to know how to launch a site and run it properly, because it takes a great deal of knowledge and it takes a great deal of money. Since stock photos pays nothing, following that logic, I know most of you don't make any real money, therefore you guys can't afford to launch a site without someone like Bruce. I could be way of, but based upon my days in a previous life working in digital advertising many years ago, to launch a mega stock site can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. Personals websites are cheap, professional websites built for corporations are mega expensive.

actually, getting a site set up is not that expensive, nor that time consuming. a skilled programmer (depending on what complexity you want) can put something together in as little as a couple hours, to a couple months.

the challenge is effective marketing, & converting customers to sales, etc...