From a video contributor perspective my sales were always quite steady and in the last couple of months i have experienced a huge drop in sales which i thought was atttributed to a summer slowdown but it doesnt appear to be picking up, i am quite worried about it. This together with further redeductions in comission to contributors means that i am no longer recommending FT to anyone and i opted out of their subs program.

The ideal situation would be that we have a union that would represent contributors as a whole and could negotiate with the agencies or threaten them with mass pullouts which if there was a large base of people that were part would be a pretty big problem for agencies.. That would be the only way to be able to really effect a change otherwise they know there is really no resistence for them because there is no organization on this end. nothing will happen unless the majority is organised together, which happens in Macro, but I don't think that it will happen in micro because of the mass amounts of "small fish" that don't have enough of an interest in the business to want to make that kind of effort or sacrifice..

 I am personally not uploading any more to either IS or FT, and as a buyer I will not purchase from them for my designs either.. I will start to give more images to my Macro agencies.

I think tubed has basicly hit the nail on the head and reflects what i have been thinking about for quite sometime.

The odd contributor here and there that threatens to pull their portfolio from one of the many sites wont have any impact whatsoever.

1st and foremost we need unity and to be represented by a single voice because at the moment its just a fragmented mess. Once we have unity we could have more clout. This could be a type of union but more like a site to which we are registered to where we could all stay informed and voice our opinions, a typcal forum and blog would play a pivotal role but with the sole purpose for the protection of us. it could also serve to protect individual contributors who have been treated unfairly but have had no where to turn.

This "union" could also not only be used to point the finger at agencies that are taking liberties but also to commend and recommend agencies that treat contributers fairly. Above all it should have a positive impact.

In terms of funding it could be purely paypal donations and maybe some revenue through the usual adverts.

I'd like to re-iterate that we cannot do anything unless many of us are united (doesnt have to be all) and if we could all decide upon a certain course of action we could be a devasting force to make any agency take notice.

In the grand scheme of things we do have to be realistic, it may not change a lot because agencies are free to do what they want to do, we have to acknowledge this but at the same time we dont have to take it. At the very least it will show that we are united and we are watching agencies which may in turn force them to rethink certain policies. I for one would like to be a part of this movement.

Just to finish off i'd like to say that many of the ideas people on MSG have had i think are also good options such as a brand new agency that treats and pay contributors fairly. But just think how well this agency could do if it also had the backing of a large microstock union?

Basicly anything we decide to do should 1st and foremost begin with a union where we could stand together collectively, advise and promote sites that treat us fairly.

Lots of good ideas so far, keep em coming!

I dont trust them either. I just thought that it was odd that i didnt actually recieve any email notifiying all of the changes and then all of a sudden i was earning less for HD subscription downloads. It was only by chance that i came here and saw that someone had posted it. To be honest i think they kept that part quiet on purpose. Anyways, i found the option to opt out and did so because i draw the line there.

Thanks for listening.

Just thought i'd bump this thread because it appears that the ridiculously low comission rate of premium subscription HD video downloads has gone down from $3.6 to $2.7.

If you are opt'd into this you may of already noticed this change.

I would advise everyone to opt out and spread the word to your fellow videographers.

Of course you may be perfectly happy with that commision, but I for one am not and if you feel the same please pass the message on.

Thanks.

Quote

Im a videographer and the subscription removal for HD videos is a welcome change - i think. I was earning a whopping 3.7 dollars for videos that took more than a week to create

No, no!!! That's the opposite too!! Because actually you can uncheck " sell video in subscription" in your profile, i've done that some months ago  and i've never sold a video by subscription!!


But now, they going to sell small size video for nothing, next time, they will probably erase the possibility of subscription choice etc. Each time contributors lose royalties and choice, and the trap is closing slowly until they have to sell photos, vectors and video for 10cents, maybe less in the future!

Thanks for the heads up, i didnt realise i could do that, but to be honest even if i did know im not sure if i would opt out because with all the subscription downloads i get it does add up at the end of the month albeit small change but change none the less.

So what im trying to find out is if i will earn less because the cheapo subscription buyers may just decided to no longer purchase video. Or maybe they will just buy small web video in which case i will gain an even smaller commision, at least thats what i understood from the thread starter.

If i personally were to start one off i would go the route of istock and make it very community and contributor focused with a good forum and continual feedback from the site's management. I always think those istockalypses are a good idea and also a good way to advertise the site.

Off the top of my head:

I would offer images, video, vector right off the bat, and initially i wouldnt offer exclusivity but not rule it out.

I would also go straight to international markets and actively encourage it because i think this still is an uncracked nut.

Photo previews with ability to zoom in 100%
High quality video previews.
Transparent credit versus dollar like Helix suggested.
Tiff or PNG upload in adition to JPEG.
Utility for corporates to upload images direct to PowerPoint.

I could go on.....

Hi Ducan, BIG improvement.

The only thing i would say is make the fact that you sell video a bit more prominent to help your sales and us contributors!

Regards,

stocker2011.

Any of you videographers had any kind of success with canstock? ive been with them for a month with about 67 vids online and not a single sale as of yet. And to be honest im not holding out much hope either as im seeing good videos from other contributors with lots of views uploaded 2 years ago with only a handful of sales.

Hi tbmp, im curious to know if youve had any sales with them yet?

Just found out about "yet another" all-in-one photo/footage etc. site called www.mediastock.ca

Their percentages seem good and their site appear to be fully featured apart from the blog and forum link which takes you no where

Anyone have any experience with them?