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Author Topic: fifty million stock images on Shutterstock 50 Million!  (Read 49160 times)

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« Reply #50 on: December 09, 2016, 10:15 »
0
The thing is the trending aesthetic keeps changing, both with food photography, lifestyle shots, graphic design etc. Im personally more in favour of automatically deleting files that havent sold in 5 or more years or something along the lines. Most of the uploaded stuff never sells. Im also for stricter limits on uploading huge batches of similar graphics/shots.

I more or less agree with you, but remember that fads and trends re-cycle...what's old is sometimes new again.

yes, agree with both. but consider that ss sellers are consistent from day 1,
it is most likely that non-sellers will continue to stay invisible if not selling after 5 years.
it would make sense to delete them, re-process and submit as new ... with better keywords of course.


« Reply #51 on: December 09, 2016, 10:41 »
0
1.200.000 images of salad
2.700.000 of christmas

what surprises me is that people are still uploading images of salad or christmas...and thy still accept everything.
in my opinion there are so many niche that still needs images cause if we analyze the photos 95% are copy of copy and similar subject.

The thing is the trending aesthetic keeps changing, both with food photography, lifestyle shots, graphic design etc. Im personally more in favour of automatically deleting files that havent sold in 5 or more years or something along the lines. Most of the uploaded stuff never sells. Im also for stricter limits on uploading huge batches of similar graphics/shots.
this is all correct BUT aesthetics doesn't change that fast we are talking about 50 million more pictures in less than two years! The sheer amount of pictures will bury you there is simply no way to build a sustainable business with these kind of figures it's like selling sand grain in the desert!

That's what I was getting at. If people want something to feel bad about and misery, you just hit the bottom line in this unsustainable business from our side.

At least trending aesthetic is something that works for us and new files. Also explains why many old files go dead after years. Besides, better production, higher standards, better equipment and lighting.

It doesn't take deep statistical analysis to see that in a year there will be 50 million new competing images. In 2015 there were that many total images. Of course our sales and slice of the pie will be down.

This isn't just happening at SS, remember iStock dropped their standards and has been adding almost anything we upload. Adobe is taking it's bite and gaining customers from the other two. When Adobe goes up the buyers have to come from someplace, this is not an endless demand, with no limit to how many buyers.

We're selling a commodity, most of the time, not art. Buyers have 1000s of choices and more every day. Competition is doubled from two years ago. How should we expect to have growing sales and income with that? But people blame the agency, not the source of the problem. Competition and over supply.

« Reply #52 on: December 09, 2016, 12:46 »
+1
We're selling a commodity, most of the time, not art. Buyers have 1000s of choices and more every day. Competition is doubled from two years ago. How should we expect to have growing sales and income with that? But people blame the agency, not the source of the problem. Competition and over supply.

definitely  over supply. ..
and individually, even more for those who cannibalize their own port by uploading them to 20 agencies thinking it will increase their cumulative earnings. i doubt that.
for this, you see our peers here saying xxx went up 50%, ss went down 50%,etc..
it still ends up killing your own port at the agency which sells best for you.

i also believe those sites which were in the big 4 and mid tier that are still single digit
should just give up. in business, it is said 5-6 yrs to turn , i think most of the agencies to the right
have been with us at least 10 years now.  pack it in.

the only way to cut it in an over-supplied industry like micro is to be niche...
like stocksy, offset, ...
we all know it's futile to try to be another ss.

hopefully, adobe will do something difference, instead of trying to replace istock as
the main challenger for the pie, as you call it.

contributors don't need another ss; they need another agency that will sell
something other than tomato,etc.. on white, or business ppl in suits with white teeth.

Uncle Pete

  • Great Place by a Great Lake - My Home Port
« Reply #53 on: October 10, 2017, 12:28 »
0
Shutterstock Milestones:

September 21, 2006 - Shutterstock surpasses one million stock photos
Feb. 20th, 2009 -Shutterstock reaches 6 million photos, (5 million 2.5 years)
February 14, 2010 - Shutterstock reaches 10 million Photos (4 million 12 months)
June 19, 2012 - Shutterstock reaches 20m stock Images (10 Million 28 months)
October 30, 2013 - Shutterstock reaches 30 million images (10 million 15 months)
Aug. 4, 2014 - Shutterstock celebrates 40 million images in it's collection. (10 million 10 months)
December 31, 2014 - 46.8 million images in the collection. (1 million new files per month)
March 3, 2015 - 50 Million Image mark is reached (10 million in 7 months for those watching)

At the same rate, September 2015 60 Million Images will be available

SS Members by registration year rounded.
2005 - 4300
2006 - 3900 = 8200
2007 - 3800 = 12,000
2008 - 5500 = 17,500
2009 - 7200 = 24,700
2010 - 5000 = 30,700

(I collected this from press releases, wayback on the web and other sources. There is no claim that it's 100% accurate. But it roughly an indication of the milestones and growth of Shutterstock) Also I will be one of the first to argue that registered members is to be taken with a grain of salt. Some never pass the test, and some contribute nothing. Others have stopped uploading and moved on to other interests, but left their ports working.

The number of active, working photographers is unknown. Adding an average of 4000 a year, it could be 50,000 people who opened an account.

60 million by September 2015? that's 10 million new images in seven months. It took six years to do that in the opening days. Small wonder that sales and percentages are down. Competition multiplies at enormous numbers, even with strict reviews and rejections.


It's not a flood of new images, it's a tsunami!


Since pete isn't here to keep this updated. He was off by one month, means new photos are being added faster then in March. 5 months 9 days to add what was 6 years. 62,000 new photos a day.

August 12, 2015 SHUTTERSTOCK STATS: 60,005,768 royalty-free stock images / 445,148 new stock images added this week

More pictures, more competition, less money.


Oh good my favorite Subject

Founded in 2003
September 21, 2006 - Shutterstock surpasses one million stock photos

157,044,919 royalty-free stock images / 1,207,143 new stock images added this week


Adding more new photos a week, than they did in the first three years. We wonder why sales are down?

17,000+ artists with over 1,000 images.
2068 accounts with over 10,000 images each (same as the entire collection in 2012)

nature   24,747,730
objects   20,961,491
parks-outdoor   14,101,183
food-and-drink   18,635,876

That's your competition!
« Last Edit: October 10, 2017, 12:56 by Uncle Pete »

« Reply #54 on: October 10, 2017, 12:40 »
+2
Actually I wonder why I sell as much as I do which is not a lot....then I do a search......I reckon 80%  at least of whats on sale is almost unsellable.
« Last Edit: October 10, 2017, 13:56 by Pauws99 »

« Reply #55 on: October 10, 2017, 13:45 »
0
To add a little more to the stats for the incredible inflating stock collection, look at the images added per year (October to October)

2016 - 2017  53,136,429
2015 - 2016  38,587,590
2014 - 2015  22,068,430
2013 - 2014  13,795,139

I'm not sure that there's any real value in it (given some of the stuff they've added that I cannot believe will ever sell even once), but they went from 100m to 150m images/vectors in the last year. You have to wonder how long they can keep up a 50% growth rate with a collection this big...

« Reply #56 on: October 10, 2017, 14:12 »
0
To add a little more to the stats for the incredible inflating stock collection, look at the images added per year (October to October)

2016 - 2017  53,136,429
2015 - 2016  38,587,590
2014 - 2015  22,068,430
2013 - 2014  13,795,139

I'm not sure that there's any real value in it (given some of the stuff they've added that I cannot believe will ever sell even once), but they went from 100m to 150m images/vectors in the last year. You have to wonder how long they can keep up a 50% growth rate with a collection this big...
Think the current growth rate is down to more like a measly 35-40%. I suspect the monthly number of images is close to topping out at a sluggish 1.5m a week ;-).

Uncle Pete

  • Great Place by a Great Lake - My Home Port
« Reply #57 on: October 10, 2017, 15:13 »
0
To add a little more to the stats for the incredible inflating stock collection, look at the images added per year (October to October)

2016 - 2017  53,136,429
2015 - 2016  38,587,590
2014 - 2015  22,068,430
2013 - 2014  13,795,139

I'm not sure that there's any real value in it (given some of the stuff they've added that I cannot believe will ever sell even once), but they went from 100m to 150m images/vectors in the last year. You have to wonder how long they can keep up a 50% growth rate with a collection this big...
Think the current growth rate is down to more like a measly 35-40%. I suspect the monthly number of images is close to topping out at a sluggish 1.5m a week ;-).

Yes to both. There's a percentage math problem entering in. Lets say the peak has been reached and 1.5 a week is the limit to submitting, review and placement. (it's not, but hypothetically) Then the rate of growth will slow, stated as a percentage. In fact as the collection grows, the rate of growth will essentially start to slow, even though it hasn't.

That's where percentage is a flawed measure. If some small agency suddenly added 1.5 million a week, their rate of growth, percentage, would be enormous. For SS adding 3 miilon would be less.

Same problem for SS earnings growth, eventually the annual gross is so high, that growth percentage appears to be slowing, when the actually dollar income is still growing at a high rate.

As someone pointed out, for us to compete with the new competition, new images, we'd have to be submitting tens of thousands of new images a month, not hundreds. That's how the market has changed in ten years.

I know I make fun of this, but it's honest. Sliced Vegetable Stock Photos, Illustrations, and Vector Art (813,790)  Why would anyone shoot or draw another sliced vegetable and then expect it to make sales?
What makes the newest image better than the other 800,000 already on the site. Even if half are useless and won't ever sell, that's still 400,000 of the same general subject?

Speaking of 400,000 images... Sliced Tomato Stock Photos, Illustrations, and Vector Art (404,583) are buyers so needy that we must make more sliced tomatoes for them?


« Reply #58 on: October 10, 2017, 15:57 »
0
At some point exponential growth will come to a halt often spectacularly as investors have often found. I think we are seeing the first signs of this.

Quasarphoto

« Reply #59 on: October 10, 2017, 16:52 »
0
To add a little more to the stats for the incredible inflating stock collection, look at the images added per year (October to October)

2016 - 2017  53,136,429
2015 - 2016  38,587,590
2014 - 2015  22,068,430
2013 - 2014  13,795,139

I'm not sure that there's any real value in it (given some of the stuff they've added that I cannot believe will ever sell even once), but they went from 100m to 150m images/vectors in the last year. You have to wonder how long they can keep up a 50% growth rate with a collection this big...
Think the current growth rate is down to more like a measly 35-40%. I suspect the monthly number of images is close to topping out at a sluggish 1.5m a week ;-).

Yes to both. There's a percentage math problem entering in. Lets say the peak has been reached and 1.5 a week is the limit to submitting, review and placement. (it's not, but hypothetically) Then the rate of growth will slow, stated as a percentage. In fact as the collection grows, the rate of growth will essentially start to slow, even though it hasn't.

That's where percentage is a flawed measure. If some small agency suddenly added 1.5 million a week, their rate of growth, percentage, would be enormous. For SS adding 3 miilon would be less.

Same problem for SS earnings growth, eventually the annual gross is so high, that growth percentage appears to be slowing, when the actually dollar income is still growing at a high rate.

As someone pointed out, for us to compete with the new competition, new images, we'd have to be submitting tens of thousands of new images a month, not hundreds. That's how the market has changed in ten years.

I know I make fun of this, but it's honest. Sliced Vegetable Stock Photos, Illustrations, and Vector Art (813,790)  Why would anyone shoot or draw another sliced vegetable and then expect it to make sales?
What makes the newest image better than the other 800,000 already on the site. Even if half are useless and won't ever sell, that's still 400,000 of the same general subject?

Speaking of 400,000 images... Sliced Tomato Stock Photos, Illustrations, and Vector Art (404,583) are buyers so needy that we must make more sliced tomatoes for them?

Shutterstock is not as comprehensive as I thought. As you say sliced veggies are overflowing and fake happy successful business people as well. I shoot travel and I am surprised how little is out there actually beside some extremely popular places flooded with tourists. People buy the cameras, lights then have no clue what to shoot. Hiring good looking models is hard and expensive in the 'western' world. So what's left, sliced fruits and veggies, nuts and bolts, sunsets. Cats and dogs.

« Reply #60 on: October 11, 2017, 00:28 »
0
To add a little more to the stats for the incredible inflating stock collection, look at the images added per year (October to October)

2016 - 2017  53,136,429
2015 - 2016  38,587,590
2014 - 2015  22,068,430
2013 - 2014  13,795,139

I'm not sure that there's any real value in it (given some of the stuff they've added that I cannot believe will ever sell even once), but they went from 100m to 150m images/vectors in the last year. You have to wonder how long they can keep up a 50% growth rate with a collection this big...
Think the current growth rate is down to more like a measly 35-40%. I suspect the monthly number of images is close to topping out at a sluggish 1.5m a week ;-).

Yes to both. There's a percentage math problem entering in. Lets say the peak has been reached and 1.5 a week is the limit to submitting, review and placement. (it's not, but hypothetically) Then the rate of growth will slow, stated as a percentage. In fact as the collection grows, the rate of growth will essentially start to slow, even though it hasn't.

That's where percentage is a flawed measure. If some small agency suddenly added 1.5 million a week, their rate of growth, percentage, would be enormous. For SS adding 3 miilon would be less.

Same problem for SS earnings growth, eventually the annual gross is so high, that growth percentage appears to be slowing, when the actually dollar income is still growing at a high rate.

As someone pointed out, for us to compete with the new competition, new images, we'd have to be submitting tens of thousands of new images a month, not hundreds. That's how the market has changed in ten years.

I know I make fun of this, but it's honest. Sliced Vegetable Stock Photos, Illustrations, and Vector Art (813,790)  Why would anyone shoot or draw another sliced vegetable and then expect it to make sales?
What makes the newest image better than the other 800,000 already on the site. Even if half are useless and won't ever sell, that's still 400,000 of the same general subject?

Speaking of 400,000 images... Sliced Tomato Stock Photos, Illustrations, and Vector Art (404,583) are buyers so needy that we must make more sliced tomatoes for them?

Shutterstock is not as comprehensive as I thought. As you say sliced veggies are overflowing and fake happy successful business people as well. I shoot travel and I am surprised how little is out there actually beside some extremely popular places flooded with tourists. People buy the cameras, lights then have no clue what to shoot. Hiring good looking models is hard and expensive in the 'western' world. So what's left, sliced fruits and veggies, nuts and bolts, sunsets. Cats and dogs.
Even very popular places walk round the corner from the usual spots walk round the corner and you will often  find a rarely taken perspective.

Quasarphoto

« Reply #61 on: October 11, 2017, 08:24 »
0
To add a little more to the stats for the incredible inflating stock collection, look at the images added per year (October to October)

2016 - 2017  53,136,429
2015 - 2016  38,587,590
2014 - 2015  22,068,430
2013 - 2014  13,795,139

I'm not sure that there's any real value in it (given some of the stuff they've added that I cannot believe will ever sell even once), but they went from 100m to 150m images/vectors in the last year. You have to wonder how long they can keep up a 50% growth rate with a collection this big...
Think the current growth rate is down to more like a measly 35-40%. I suspect the monthly number of images is close to topping out at a sluggish 1.5m a week ;-).

Yes to both. There's a percentage math problem entering in. Lets say the peak has been reached and 1.5 a week is the limit to submitting, review and placement. (it's not, but hypothetically) Then the rate of growth will slow, stated as a percentage. In fact as the collection grows, the rate of growth will essentially start to slow, even though it hasn't.

That's where percentage is a flawed measure. If some small agency suddenly added 1.5 million a week, their rate of growth, percentage, would be enormous. For SS adding 3 miilon would be less.

Same problem for SS earnings growth, eventually the annual gross is so high, that growth percentage appears to be slowing, when the actually dollar income is still growing at a high rate.

As someone pointed out, for us to compete with the new competition, new images, we'd have to be submitting tens of thousands of new images a month, not hundreds. That's how the market has changed in ten years.

I know I make fun of this, but it's honest. Sliced Vegetable Stock Photos, Illustrations, and Vector Art (813,790)  Why would anyone shoot or draw another sliced vegetable and then expect it to make sales?
What makes the newest image better than the other 800,000 already on the site. Even if half are useless and won't ever sell, that's still 400,000 of the same general subject?

Speaking of 400,000 images... Sliced Tomato Stock Photos, Illustrations, and Vector Art (404,583) are buyers so needy that we must make more sliced tomatoes for them?

Shutterstock is not as comprehensive as I thought. As you say sliced veggies are overflowing and fake happy successful business people as well. I shoot travel and I am surprised how little is out there actually beside some extremely popular places flooded with tourists. People buy the cameras, lights then have no clue what to shoot. Hiring good looking models is hard and expensive in the 'western' world. So what's left, sliced fruits and veggies, nuts and bolts, sunsets. Cats and dogs.
Even very popular places walk round the corner from the usual spots walk round the corner and you will often  find a rarely taken perspective.
Absolutely, no doubt there, I do it often. Even a new camera and editing adds a new look to old places. I was rather referring to available content, adding photos of new places less photographed, which is quite true for example in the case of South America.

« Reply #62 on: October 11, 2017, 08:49 »
0
At some point exponential growth will come to a halt often spectacularly as investors have often found. I think we are seeing the first signs of this.

I believe 50% annual exponential growth will continue for the next five years.  In 2022 top agencies will have a billion plus images.  Best to adjust business plans and expectations accordingly. 

« Reply #63 on: October 11, 2017, 14:39 »
0
Today = 157,249,430. That's quite a few.

If you were just starting out, would you?

Uncle Pete

  • Great Place by a Great Lake - My Home Port
« Reply #64 on: October 11, 2017, 16:51 »
+1
Today = 157,249,430. That's quite a few.

If you were just starting out, would you?

Yes I would, but I'd have different expectations based on current events and the whole Microstock market. Many of us started out thinking that we could build a portfolio and reach a level of sustainable income. Instead of growth, we started to see an earnings wall and then the agencies started to cut things, like referrals. iStock changed commissions, lower of course. Fotolia dropped some achievement levels, percentages and returns. SS has held steady for almost everything, adding some ways to sell, but revised the EL values. Adobe has actually increased stability and set some standards in spite of FTs unpredictable changes. BS went from 50c DLs when independent to 25c when sold.

The little places struggle, but somehow stay in business. Doesn't that say something about how much they make off our work and how little is shared? Example 129 people ranked DT at an average of 5.9, which could mean $25 a month. That x 129 = $3,225 or at 80%, their take, $12,900 from those same people. Is that enough for the office, website, servers, staff?

Adobe, who's selling a service made us an average (roughly) of $200 for 106 people, $21,200 or their take = $84,800! Thanks going to pay some bills.

I wouldn't have predicted that we would be getting 15-20% at almost all the functional agencies and less from some that barely sell anything at all. EVen if a small one promises 50%, what's 50% of nothing? :)

At some point exponential growth will come to a halt often spectacularly as investors have often found. I think we are seeing the first signs of this.

I believe 50% annual exponential growth will continue for the next five years.  In 2022 top agencies will have a billion plus images.  Best to adjust business plans and expectations accordingly.

I'd agree with pauws that there's an end, especially to 50% growth. It's like a Ponzi scheme. Eventually it starts to collapse and the pyramid only has a few at the peak, supported by the many people on the bottom.

« Reply #65 on: October 11, 2017, 22:39 »
0
Welcome back. :D

rinderart

« Reply #66 on: October 11, 2017, 23:32 »
0
+1 Pete. BS was a great Little site with great people who owned it. Tim and dawn. They cared about us. and I think the last site that did. I worked for them when I started and got to learn how to properly review images.And your post is spot on.I really wish I had the Chutzpah to post what I really think But I would be thrown off every site if I did. it's getting sadder every day.
« Last Edit: October 11, 2017, 23:38 by rinderart »


« Reply #67 on: October 12, 2017, 00:45 »
0
At some point exponential growth will come to a halt often spectacularly as investors have often found. I think we are seeing the first signs of this.

I believe 50% annual exponential growth will continue for the next five years.  In 2022 top agencies will have a billion plus images.  Best to adjust business plans and expectations accordingly.
Its a matter of opinion of course but currently 157m images 1,145,643 new images added this week. To achieve 50% growth they would need more like 1.5m images this week (and more next and so on) Thats quite a gap.

« Reply #68 on: October 12, 2017, 07:35 »
+1
At some point exponential growth will come to a halt often spectacularly as investors have often found. I think we are seeing the first signs of this.

I believe 50% annual exponential growth will continue for the next five years.  In 2022 top agencies will have a billion plus images.  Best to adjust business plans and expectations accordingly.
Its a matter of opinion of course but currently 157m images 1,145,643 new images added this week. To achieve 50% growth they would need more like 1.5m images this week (and more next and so on) Thats quite a gap.

My math was: 157 million images x1.5 x1.5 x1.5 x1.5 x1.5 = 1192 million images in 2022.  I hope the billion plus images agency totals do not happen but I think it will. 

« Reply #69 on: October 12, 2017, 09:05 »
0
At some point exponential growth will come to a halt often spectacularly as investors have often found. I think we are seeing the first signs of this.

I believe 50% annual exponential growth will continue for the next five years.  In 2022 top agencies will have a billion plus images.  Best to adjust business plans and expectations accordingly.
Its a matter of opinion of course but currently 157m images 1,145,643 new images added this week. To achieve 50% growth they would need more like 1.5m images this week (and more next and so on) Thats quite a gap.

My math was: 157 million images x1.5 x1.5 x1.5 x1.5 x1.5 = 1192 million images in 2022.  I hope the billion plus images agency totals do not happen but I think it will.
Correct maths but I don't think  x1.5 will be achieved more like 1.3x1.3x1.2x1.2x1.1 would be my guess.

« Reply #70 on: October 12, 2017, 09:31 »
0
At some point exponential growth will come to a halt often spectacularly as investors have often found. I think we are seeing the first signs of this.

I believe 50% annual exponential growth will continue for the next five years.  In 2022 top agencies will have a billion plus images.  Best to adjust business plans and expectations accordingly.
Its a matter of opinion of course but currently 157m images 1,145,643 new images added this week. To achieve 50% growth they would need more like 1.5m images this week (and more next and so on) Thats quite a gap.

My math was: 157 million images x1.5 x1.5 x1.5 x1.5 x1.5 = 1192 million images in 2022.  I hope the billion plus images agency totals do not happen but I think it will.
Correct maths but I don't think  x1.5 will be achieved more like 1.3x1.3x1.2x1.2x1.1 would be my guess.

None of the above.  :) Just like we found out that there isn't a one to one relationship for our uploads, meaning we could double or triple our collections in a year, and income stayed pretty much stable, or slight growth. The prediction of endless submissions to SS is flawed. Artists are going to become dissatisfied, stop producing, some will leave. New people who think this is a good way to make extra money are finding it's too much work especially considering the raised levels of competition now.

Just like we hit the wall, so will new submissions. It could be at 1.5 million new images a week. We can keep watching, but it's not exponential, the growth is a curve and will eventually go flat. Much like most of us have found for earnings. Watch all the people complaining about last year, past year and this year. I don't happen to be one who's dropping, just leveling at this point. If I upload 200 new files this week, I don't know that it will make a small increase or any difference at all?

The more people see that their are treading water and financially sinking, the less new material that will be produced and submitted. I'm only talking about SS and library growth, since that was the subject. I really think the limits for new files are being pushed right now. Wait 6 months and lets see.

End of March will there be 2 million files a week added or 1.5 million or the 1.2 million we see now? That will tell.

« Reply #71 on: October 12, 2017, 10:06 »
+1
At some point exponential growth will come to a halt often spectacularly as investors have often found. I think we are seeing the first signs of this.

I believe 50% annual exponential growth will continue for the next five years.  In 2022 top agencies will have a billion plus images.  Best to adjust business plans and expectations accordingly.
Its a matter of opinion of course but currently 157m images 1,145,643 new images added this week. To achieve 50% growth they would need more like 1.5m images this week (and more next and so on) Thats quite a gap.

My math was: 157 million images x1.5 x1.5 x1.5 x1.5 x1.5 = 1192 million images in 2022.  I hope the billion plus images agency totals do not happen but I think it will.
Correct maths but I don't think  x1.5 will be achieved more like 1.3x1.3x1.2x1.2x1.1 would be my guess.

None of the above.  :) Just like we found out that there isn't a one to one relationship for our uploads, meaning we could double or triple our collections in a year, and income stayed pretty much stable, or slight growth. The prediction of endless submissions to SS is flawed. Artists are going to become dissatisfied, stop producing, some will leave. New people who think this is a good way to make extra money are finding it's too much work especially considering the raised levels of competition now.

Just like we hit the wall, so will new submissions. It could be at 1.5 million new images a week. We can keep watching, but it's not exponential, the growth is a curve and will eventually go flat. Much like most of us have found for earnings. Watch all the people complaining about last year, past year and this year. I don't happen to be one who's dropping, just leveling at this point. If I upload 200 new files this week, I don't know that it will make a small increase or any difference at all?

The more people see that their are treading water and financially sinking, the less new material that will be produced and submitted. I'm only talking about SS and library growth, since that was the subject. I really think the limits for new files are being pushed right now. Wait 6 months and lets see.

End of March will there be 2 million files a week added or 1.5 million or the 1.2 million we see now? That will tell.
Thats basically what I'm saying %age growth will tail off from here I think so in 5-6 years time I expect it will become linear but I doubt it will stop. In the past though it WAS exponential I don't expect that it will continue...same with sales.

Uncle Pete

  • Great Place by a Great Lake - My Home Port
« Reply #72 on: October 30, 2017, 12:29 »
0
Shutterstock Milestones:
September 21, 2006 - Shutterstock surpasses one million stock photos
Feb. 20th, 2009 -Shutterstock reaches 6 million photos, (5 million 2.5 years)
February 14, 2010 - Shutterstock reaches 10 million Photos (4 million 12 months)
June 19, 2012 - Shutterstock reaches 20m stock Images (10 Million 28 months)
October 30, 2013 - Shutterstock reaches 30 million images (10 million 15 months)
Aug. 4, 2014 - Shutterstock celebrates 40 million images in it's collection. (10 million 10 months)
December 31, 2014 - 46.8 million images in the collection. (1 million new files per month)
March 3, 2015 - 50 Million Image mark is reached (10 million in 7 months for those watching)

At the same rate, September 2015 60 Million Images will be available

SS Members by registration year rounded.
2005 - 4300
2006 - 3900 = 8200
2007 - 3800 = 12,000
2008 - 5500 = 17,500
2009 - 7200 = 24,700
2010 - 5000 = 30,700

(I collected this from press releases, wayback on the web and other sources. There is no claim that it's 100% accurate. But it roughly an indication of the milestones and growth of Shutterstock) Also I will be one of the first to argue that registered members is to be taken with a grain of salt. Some never pass the test, and some contribute nothing. Others have stopped uploading and moved on to other interests, but left their ports working.

The number of active, working photographers is unknown. Adding an average of 4000 a year, it could be 50,000 people who opened an account.

60 million by September 2015? that's 10 million new images in seven months. It took six years to do that in the opening days. Small wonder that sales and percentages are down. Competition multiplies at enormous numbers, even with strict reviews and rejections.


It's not a flood of new images, it's a tsunami!


Adding to the list, maybe when it snows I'll make another timeline?

Oct. 28th, 2017 surpassed 160 million images. (trick or treat?)

160,279,451 royalty-free stock images / 1,294,753 new stock images added this week

« Reply #73 on: October 31, 2017, 06:46 »
0
Running at a not too shabby 42% but at least its slowing a little it seems

Uncle Pete

  • Great Place by a Great Lake - My Home Port
« Reply #74 on: October 31, 2017, 15:21 »
+1
Found them on a backup drive. Unofficial numbers but best I could find by my own research, wayback and announcements.

Shutterstock Milestones:
September 21, 2006 - Shutterstock surpasses one million stock photos
February 20, 2009 -Shutterstock reaches 6 million photos, (5 million 2.5 years)
February 14, 2010 - Shutterstock reaches 10 million Photos (4 million 12 months)
June 19, 2012 - Shutterstock reaches 20 million stock Images (10 Million 28 months)
October 30, 2013 - Shutterstock reaches 30 million images (10 million 15 months)
August 4, 2014 - Shutterstock celebrates 40 million images in it's collection. (10 million 10 months)
December 31, 2014 - 46.8 million images in the collection. (1 million new files per month)
March 3, 2015 - 50 Million Image mark is reached (10 million in 7 months for those watching)
August 12, 2015 - 60 Million Images (10 million in 160 days. 62,500 new files a day)
December 15, 2015 - 70 Million Images (four months)
March 26, 2016 - 80 Million
June 16, 2016 - 90 Million (10 million under three months)
Sept 8, 2016 - 100 Million
February 2017 - 110 Million
October 28, 2017 160 Million (50 million in under 8 months)

It took about 12 years to reach the first 50 million, 1 1/2 years for the next 50 million and one year for the next 50 million.


 

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