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Agency Based Discussion => Shutterstock.com => Topic started by: BigBubba on December 02, 2015, 12:42

Title: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: BigBubba on December 02, 2015, 12:42
Your thoughts about it?

Used to be 7/10...




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Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: BigBubba on December 02, 2015, 12:47
The announcement is on SS front page by the way.


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Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: Jo Ann Snover on December 02, 2015, 13:17
I went to look, because I couldn't believe it, but there's a forum post on the topic.

I think they've automated so much of the review process that it doesn't cost them much to have lots of images come in and reject a huge portion (which is what will happen with no real initial screening). If a knowledgeable human had to look carefully over (at 100%) an entire image, there is no way they could afford to let anyone submit as often and as much as they like.
Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: mojaric on December 02, 2015, 13:29
quote. another proof that the review process it's a complete crap there
Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: Mantis on December 02, 2015, 13:37
Its just a faster race to royalty erosion through crowdsourcing.  They probably want to make some branding claims around "we have 7 bazillion excellent artists" contributing to our wonderful site. I wonder if this is a delayed response to the collection growth over at istock due to them letting in everything.
Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: BikeTourist on December 02, 2015, 13:48
I first suspected what was happening when SS lowered the minimum payout rate. It seemed to me that they were anticipating a lot of contributors making small change. This latest news seems to confirm that they are opening up to everyone and anyone who might have even one image of interest to someone. Constant dilution for contributors seems to be the way to increased profits for SS!
Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: Pauws99 on December 02, 2015, 13:56
Bizarre if its 1 in 10 why bother at all......wonder if they will go down the Istock route of accepting everything......
Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: Jo Ann Snover on December 02, 2015, 14:02
Bizarre if its 1 in 10 why bother at all......wonder if they will go down the Istock route of accepting everything......

It'll be more like rejecting everything - with the only mystery being whether it's for being out of focus or lighting/white balance :)
Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: ShadySue on December 02, 2015, 14:10
Bizarre if its 1 in 10 why bother at all......wonder if they will go down the Istock route of accepting everything......
They seem to be determined to follow iStock's poor moves.
Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: disorderly on December 02, 2015, 14:21
I'm not convinced it's a bad thing, so long as their review process can keep up with demand.  I joined SS before they put the qualification exam in place.  It would have likely taken me many rounds to get to 7/10 acceptance, or I might have given up.  Instead I learned as I submitted, improving the quality of my work and its relevance as well.  So if it offers the same opportunity for others, why not? 

There's nothing that says that most of the mediocre work will get accepted, in contrast to what I'm told is going on at iStock.  My guess is that standards won't drop; new contributors will have much of their work rejected, and some will keep at it until their submissions improve.  Those who don't will at least have the opportunity to see how they do.

It doesn't indicate desperation to me.
Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: Zero Talent on December 02, 2015, 14:47
Why being afraid of some newbie competition?
Let everyone try it.
This thing requires endurance and most don't have the stamina to keep on going. A brief 7 out 10 entry exam means nothing long term, anyway.

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Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: Jo Ann Snover on December 02, 2015, 14:52
In theory, open enrollment is fine, if you have a really good review process.

I learned an enormous amount from iStock's review process (early days) and some from SS's earlier reviews. It's a great way to learn, but only if there's a good, thorough and reasonably predictable review system. It's really painful to have your work rejected, but as long as there's enough feedback about what you did wrong and a decent mechanism (iStock's critique forum) to get more detailed help than reviewers can provide, it can work wonders with anyone prepared to put in the effort to improve.

Shutterstock's current reviews are a total crapshoot (I won't elaborate; there's so many threads on this already). In an environment like that you don't really learn anything.
Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: Red Dove on December 02, 2015, 15:22
So nine shots of grass and one perfect shot of a business handshake and you're in.

Obviously some bright spark pointed out they are already allowing a ton of crap through the gate so it no longer makes sense to have a robust entry criteria - economically or aesthetically.

Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: PixelBytes on December 02, 2015, 15:35
No way to argue quality won't go down if they accept 'artists' whose work is 90% crappola.  It is very clear they want to follow Istock in overinflating their numbers to impress share holders and don't care about quality anymore.  All our stuff gonna be buried under the garbage pile.
Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: CJH on December 02, 2015, 15:40
And here I thought I was something special because I finally got in with 6/10 approved.   :o
Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: angelawaye on December 02, 2015, 16:01
I'm surprised they are doing this. I just applied to Alamy and they want 4/4 correct and I got accepted on the first time, I felt pretty good about myself. I can't imagine newbies feeling good about getting accepted with a 1/10 ... No confidence booster there ...
Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: cobalt on December 02, 2015, 16:02
I actually think this is a good thing. But it would make more sense if they make their review process consistent.

Or if they are planning to take nearly everything like istock, then they should have some kind of way of sorting incoming content by style. So customers looking for design elements can find them quickly and those looking for artistic content get their own feed they can browse.

We will see what happens, I am not worried about them.
Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: Shelma1 on December 02, 2015, 16:05
All I can figure is that they somehow think they'll be able to monetize the "learning" process. And now I really find it hard to believe live humans inspect every image. Surely they don't plan to triple their paid review workforce overnight to keep up with the influx of new contributors.
Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: ACS on December 02, 2015, 16:12
It is very logical for SS to have more amateur / small players; most of those new contributors will tend to have small portfolios, therefore they will likely to get small sales numbers and they will wait longer to reach the payout. Plus they will get paid for 0.25 instead of 0.38. Financially a clever move for SS.
Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: Elenathewise on December 02, 2015, 16:46
It's a joke right?
Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: stock-will-eat-itself on December 02, 2015, 17:01
It sends out a clear message that they are not interested in pro photographers at all. iStock seem to be coming to the same conclusion that pro's will migrate to Macro and the rest can be sold off cheap.
Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: stockastic on December 02, 2015, 17:31
It will end up as an all-you-can-eat buffet of junk food. All the lukewarm day-old French Fries you can eat, for one low price.  I haven't seen that business concept tried yet, but personally, I would not invest. :-).


Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: CJH on December 02, 2015, 17:52
It's a joke right?
I don't think so.  I got accepted about a week ago with 4 rejections and 6 acceptances.  I was so happy....I still am, but not as much. 
Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: sharpshot on December 02, 2015, 18:51
Does this mean they are going to lower their review standards or why would they let people that can only get 1/10 submit?  Makes no sense to me, it will most likely dilute the earnings of people that can produce good images and they will give up on microstock.  Every time I try to motivate myself to start uploading again, something like this happens that puts me right off.
Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: marthamarks on December 02, 2015, 19:01
Why being afraid of some newbie competition?
Let everyone try it.

I don't think anybody is afraid of newbie competition.

The problem is… it was already hard enough to break through the cacophony of many millions of images vying for attention. Once it's several bazillion images, how will anybody's work stand out long enough to be bought?

ETA: As a contributor who got in on the first crack, I'm very disappointed in SS.
Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: Zero Talent on December 02, 2015, 19:02
Why being afraid of some newbie competition?
Let everyone try it.

I don't think anybody is afraid of newbie competition.

The problem is… it was already hard enough to break through the cacophony of many millions of images vying for attention. Once it's several bazillion images, how will anybody's work stand out long enough to be bought?

ETA: As a contributor who got in on the first crack, I'm very disappointed in SS.
so you are actually afraid of competition.

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Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: marthamarks on December 02, 2015, 19:03
All our stuff gonna be buried under the garbage pile.

Yep. That's it.
Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: marthamarks on December 02, 2015, 19:04
I'm surprised they are doing this. I just applied to Alamy and they want 4/4 correct and I got accepted on the first time, I felt pretty good about myself. I can't imagine newbies feeling good about getting accepted with a 1/10 ... No confidence booster there ...

Yep.
Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: marthamarks on December 02, 2015, 19:09
so you are actually afraid of competition.

If you say so, fine.

I don't see it as "fear of competition."  I see it as disappointment in a quality agency that has been good to me for years but now seems to have lost its way.
Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: Zero Talent on December 02, 2015, 20:47
so you are actually afraid of competition.

If you say so, fine.

I don't see it as "fear of competition."  I see it as disappointment in a quality agency that has been good to me for years but now seems to have lost its way.

The first 10 photos mean nothing.
If your real aim is an improved collection quality, then you want tougher review standards and a higher rejection rate, especially after being accepted.

However, as far as this forum is concerned, the main complaint against SS is the excessive rejection rate.

So, a high rejection rate is OK when applied to a beginner, but not OK when applied to an established contributor. Hmm.....
Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: Ava Glass on December 02, 2015, 21:41
Why don't they just handle things like Dreamstime? What's the point of requiring 10 images now?
Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: angelawaye on December 02, 2015, 21:45
It will end up as an all-you-can-eat buffet of junk food. All the lukewarm day-old French Fries you can eat, for one low price.  I haven't seen that business concept tried yet, but personally, I would not invest. :-).

You hit the nail right on the head! I don't think were afraid of competition, now our work will be "diluted" down in the search results ...
Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: Jo Ann Snover on December 02, 2015, 22:21
...However, as far as this forum is concerned, the main complaint against SS is the excessive rejection rate.

So, a high rejection rate is OK when applied to a beginner, but not OK when applied to an established contributor. Hmm.....

I can't speak for anyone else, but my complaints are not about the quantity of rejections, but the inconsistency and ignorance (white balance rejections for sunrise or sunset shots, for example).

Shutterstock's review process is seriously flawed and it's the flaws, not the rejection numbers, that are the problem.
Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: PixelBytes on December 02, 2015, 22:22
Does this mean they are going to lower their review standards or why would they let people that can only get 1/10 submit? 

Ding, ding, ding!  You are correct sir!!
Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: Zero Talent on December 02, 2015, 22:25
...However, as far as this forum is concerned, the main complaint against SS is the excessive rejection rate.

So, a high rejection rate is OK when applied to a beginner, but not OK when applied to an established contributor. Hmm.....

I can't speak for anyone else, but my complaints are not about the quantity of rejections, but the inconsistency and ignorance (white balance rejections for sunrise or sunset shots, for example).

Shutterstock's review process is seriously flawed and it's the flaws, not the rejection numbers, that are the problem.

Fine, I get that.
But then what makes you believe that the same flawed rejections are not applicable to the first 10 photos, denying access to some really good photographers?
Following the same logic as in the previous post, are the flawed rejections only applicable to established contributors?

 I guess not.

Then the talk should be about flawed rejections in general, be it for the first 10 or the next 990 and not about removing the admission test, which is flawed by your definition, therefore irrelevant.

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Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: noodle on December 02, 2015, 22:29
I wonder what Oringer thinks about all this

I mean, the part of you as an entrepreneuer that conceived, and help build out and grow this company from a startup, to see what is happening, and guessing where thos will all lead to, must in some way be a very sad thing to witness

But i guess the other part, the billionaire business man part, might be saying, meh what happens, happens, im set for many lifetimes
Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: PixelBytes on December 02, 2015, 22:31
I wonder what Oringer thinks about all this

I mean, the part of you as an entrepreneuer that conceived, and help build out and grow this company from a startup, to see what is happening, and guessing where thos will all lead to, must in some way be a very sad thing to witness

But i guess the other part, the billionaire business man part, might be saying, meh what happens, happens, im set for many lifetimes

^^ That.
Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: Jo Ann Snover on December 02, 2015, 23:49
...However, as far as this forum is concerned, the main complaint against SS is the excessive rejection rate.

So, a high rejection rate is OK when applied to a beginner, but not OK when applied to an established contributor. Hmm.....

I can't speak for anyone else, but my complaints are not about the quantity of rejections, but the inconsistency and ignorance (white balance rejections for sunrise or sunset shots, for example).

Shutterstock's review process is seriously flawed and it's the flaws, not the rejection numbers, that are the problem.

Fine, I get that.
But then what makes you believe that the same flawed rejections are not applicable to the first 10 photos, denying access to some really good photographers?
Following the same logic as in the previous post, are the flawed rejections only applicable to established contributors?

 I guess not.

Then the talk should be about flawed rejections in general, be it for the first 10 or the next 990 and not about removing the admission test, which is flawed by your definition, therefore irrelevant.

I don't know anything about the process of reviewing the initial 10, but I'm assuming that it is given more individual attention than the reviews of accepted content. I don't think it's any more logical to assume it's the same process (which at other agencies it isn't) that to assume it's different.

And as far as talking about the flawed review process, that's been done. Nothing will happen until Shutterstock decides to focus on something other than cutting costs.
Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: Zero Talent on December 03, 2015, 01:01
...However, as far as this forum is concerned, the main complaint against SS is the excessive rejection rate.

So, a high rejection rate is OK when applied to a beginner, but not OK when applied to an established contributor. Hmm.....

I can't speak for anyone else, but my complaints are not about the quantity of rejections, but the inconsistency and ignorance (white balance rejections for sunrise or sunset shots, for example).

Shutterstock's review process is seriously flawed and it's the flaws, not the rejection numbers, that are the problem.

Fine, I get that.
But then what makes you believe that the same flawed rejections are not applicable to the first 10 photos, denying access to some really good photographers?
Following the same logic as in the previous post, are the flawed rejections only applicable to established contributors?

 I guess not.

Then the talk should be about flawed rejections in general, be it for the first 10 or the next 990 and not about removing the admission test, which is flawed by your definition, therefore irrelevant.

I don't know anything about the process of reviewing the initial 10, but I'm assuming that it is given more individual attention than the reviews of accepted content. I don't think it's any more logical to assume it's the same process (which at other agencies it isn't) that to assume it's different.

And as far as talking about the flawed review process, that's been done. Nothing will happen until Shutterstock decides to focus on something other than cutting costs.

Right, you don't know anything about the initial review and the whole debate is only based on assumtions and speculations.

My assumption is that the same reviewers review the first 10 as any other 10.
This is even in the spirit of cutting costs.

A more thorough review probably means that the first 10 are thrown once more in the reviewing pool, for a second opinion.

If we safely assume that the review process is flawed, the first 10 will have twice the chance to be badly reviewed than any other 10 photos from an established contributor.

Leaving aside the fact that this is double unfair for beginners, SS has probably observed that the admission control virtually stopped new blood from flowing into the system and decided to fully open the valves.
They probably even removed the second opinion requirement.

The first 10 are now treated the same way as the next 990.

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Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: StockPhotosArt.com on December 03, 2015, 01:17
So, a high rejection rate is OK when applied to a beginner, but not OK when applied to an established contributor. Hmm.....

I don't understand the need you have to distort what others are saying.

Getting upset for having a good image lost in the middle of tenths of thousands of poor quality images is not fearing the competition, like you said, because in fact we're not facing competition in that sense, just fighting an avalanche. Even the most experienced Everest and K2 climbers fear avalanches, since they have nothing to do with their skills, except for the fact that they may know that they should stay away from where they are more likely.

And I like many others, are not upset about the rejections since we dealt with them since day one. I only get upset when they are illogical, make no sense and especially for the wrong reasons.
Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: Chichikov on December 03, 2015, 01:21
I think that their next step will be to accept any crap, like did iStock about one year ago…
Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: Zero Talent on December 03, 2015, 01:37
So, a high rejection rate is OK when applied to a beginner, but not OK when applied to an established contributor. Hmm.....

I don't understand the need you have to distort what others are saying.

Getting upset for having a good image lost in the middle of tenths of thousands of poor quality images is not fearing the competition, like you said, because in fact we're not facing competition in that sense, just fighting an avalanche. Even the most experienced Everest and K2 climbers fear avalanches, since they have nothing to do with their skills, except for the fact that they may know that they should stay away from where they are more likely.

And I like many others, are not upset about the rejections since we dealt with them since day one. I only get upset when they are illogical, make no sense and especially for the wrong reasons.

I'm not distorting. I'm trying to be impartial and objective.

Otherwise, I belive that good images make it to the top much faster on SS, than on any other agency.

The avalanche of mediocrity, is not caused by beginners, but by those established contributors who belive that volume matters more than quality.

Even if you don't want to admit it, that avalanche of mediocrity IS your competition.



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Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: skyfish on December 03, 2015, 02:51
Their criteria are changing. Now not only in title of the image should not be "foreign" text, they rejected image of a church with latin text on the external wall. Which language is not foreign for this reviewer? In the same time they send e-mail that they want a free image and requested personal data from photographer. Thanks, ss, your e-mail is in trash.
Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: anathaya on December 03, 2015, 03:10
Their criteria are changing. Now not only in title of the image should not be "foreign" text, they rejected image of a church with latin text on the external wall. Which language is not foreign for this reviewer? In the same time they send e-mail that they want a free image and requested personal data from photographer. Thanks, ss, your e-mail is in trash.

Normally SS accept them as editorial images.
Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: skyfish on December 03, 2015, 04:30
Thank you for your reply, but in editorial section such type of images has much less value, and reupload to them is just a waste of time. Others accepted and it will stay with them.
Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: Karen on December 03, 2015, 04:47
I think that their next step will be to accept any crap, like did iStock about one year ago…

You mean this crap?
http://www.shutterstock.com/portfolio/search.mhtml?gallery_landing=1&gallery_id=1256674&page=1&safesearch=1&sort_method=newest (http://www.shutterstock.com/portfolio/search.mhtml?gallery_landing=1&gallery_id=1256674&page=1&safesearch=1&sort_method=newest)
Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: Microstock Posts on December 03, 2015, 05:46
It took me several attempts over 2 years to get on to ss :-\. I guess the floodgates are open now.

Please vote in the poll at the link below on why shutterstock made this move.

Poll (http://www.microstockposts.com/is-shutterstock-opening-the-floodgates-to-new-contributors)
Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: Chichikov on December 03, 2015, 06:19
I think that their next step will be to accept any crap, like did iStock about one year ago…

You mean this crap?
[url]http://www.shutterstock.com/portfolio/search.mhtml?gallery_landing=1&gallery_id=1256674&page=1&safesearch=1&sort_method=newest[/url] ([url]http://www.shutterstock.com/portfolio/search.mhtml?gallery_landing=1&gallery_id=1256674&page=1&safesearch=1&sort_method=newest[/url])


Until cannabis is legalised, users will risk brain damage…
Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: Mantis on December 03, 2015, 08:13
One key question of debate is whether the new acceptance criteria is also a factor of a "new normal inspection process". This is to say that if they are easing contributor acceptance it is a good indicator that they might then ease daily content acceptance.  This is the real thing we must worry about because then many of these reasonable comments have more weight of concern in my opinion, such as having a good selling image get buried in a now taxed search engine around a cloud of mediocracy. 

I will also say that since mediocracy sells, the problem of being found is exacerbated.
Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: cathyslife on December 03, 2015, 09:04
I think that their next step will be to accept any crap, like did iStock about one year ago…

You mean this crap?
[url]http://www.shutterstock.com/portfolio/search.mhtml?gallery_landing=1&gallery_id=1256674&page=1&safesearch=1&sort_method=newest[/url] ([url]http://www.shutterstock.com/portfolio/search.mhtml?gallery_landing=1&gallery_id=1256674&page=1&safesearch=1&sort_method=newest[/url])


OMG. At first I thought that was broccoli. LOL.

Quote
I will also say that since mediocracy sells, the problem of being found is exacerbated.


Yes, it is just going to cause buyers to have to do more wading to find what they want. That is never a good thing.
Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: Difydave on December 03, 2015, 09:36
OMG. At first I thought that was broccoli. LOL.


Good luck with using that excuse in court! :-)


Makes you wonder where the guy is based for that to be legal. Netherlands?


At a guess all the agencies lowering standards are working on the principle that you can't sell what you don't have.
I always thought personally that accepting anything is a disservice to buyers for the reasons you give.
Whatever there is obviously something in it for the agencies.



Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: Nikovsk on December 03, 2015, 09:37
Very sad news. SS has been corrupted from within.
Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: etudiante_rapide on December 03, 2015, 09:47
i agree with jo ann (more like rejecting everything ...like is) and
disorderly (not sure it's a bad thing).

yes, there is some sort of automation going on, as evident in the instant rejection or approval.
not sure how they do it; must be based on histogram or whatever technical genius created by Brainiac
. or perharps it is based on ratio of approval/rejection historically of our portfolio.

disorderly , you're right in that there is a review after that initial auto-review.
i think it will do the new contributors a lot good too, in that , those who take the rejection seriously
will quickly learn the ropes of what ss wants and not want.

as opposed to having them submit their best 10 to get in with 7/10. we all know that even we too
still sometimes submit the wrong stuff and fail 6/10 even after so many years,
or when we try to get on a new niche and experiment which ss may or may not think it's something
they like to have.

still, consider that ss is still our best and by far biggest earner, i will not say it's a bad thing.
the more rejections they get with the new contributors; they better we look to them  ;)
Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: Shelma1 on December 03, 2015, 09:48
OMG. At first I thought that was broccoli. LOL.


Good luck with using that excuse in court! :-)


Makes you wonder where the guy is based for that to be legal. Netherlands?

According to his/their Stockfresh port, he/they are based in "Montclair, USA."

https://stockfresh.com/gallery/jeremynathan
Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: Difydave on December 03, 2015, 10:04
OMG. At first I thought that was broccoli. LOL.


Good luck with using that excuse in court! :-)


Makes you wonder where the guy is based for that to be legal. Netherlands?

According to his/their Stockfresh port, he/they are based in "Montclair, USA."

https://stockfresh.com/gallery/jeremynathan (https://stockfresh.com/gallery/jeremynathan)


None of my business of course. I just wondered. Illegal here in the UK, and lots of other places.
Legal for medicinal use in some places in the States I believe?
Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: disorderly on December 03, 2015, 10:14
None of my business of course. I just wondered. Illegal here in the UK, and lots of other places.
Legal for medicinal use in some places in the States I believe?

Legal in about half the US states for medicinal purposes, and legal for recreational use in four states and the District of Columbia.  Some things change.
Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: Difydave on December 03, 2015, 10:19
None of my business of course. I just wondered. Illegal here in the UK, and lots of other places.
Legal for medicinal use in some places in the States I believe?

Legal in about half the US states for medicinal purposes, and legal for recreational use in four states and the District of Columbia.  Some things change.
Thanks. Very sensible too I think. I never really saw the point in it being illegal anywhere. Politics rather than common sense.
Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: stockastic on December 03, 2015, 12:10
Very sad news. SS has been corrupted from within.

That's the elephant in the room.  There's no way these thousands of junk photos made it through the 'official' inspection process.  They were back-doored.
Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: MisterElements on December 03, 2015, 12:30
Geeeez... I feel Shutterstock is so very corrupt!
Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: marthamarks on December 03, 2015, 12:36
Very sad news. SS has been corrupted from within.


That's the elephant in the room.  There's no way these thousands of junk photos made it through the 'official' inspection process.  They were back-doored.


I agree. And I bet there will be even more back-dooring when the entry bar is dropped to the floor.

Like the 1962 Chubby Checker song:

"Limbo Rock"

Every limbo boy and girl
All around the limbo world
Gonna do the limbo rock
All around the limbo clock

Jack be limbo, Jack be quick
Jack go unda limbo stick
All around the limbo clock
Hey, let's do the limbo rock

Limbo lower now
Limbo lower now
How low can you go?

First you spread your limbo feet
Then you move to limbo beat
Limbo ankolimboneee
Bend back like a limbo tree

Jack be limbo, Jack be quick
Jack go unda limbo stick
All around the limbo clock
Hey, let's do the limbo rock

La, la, la
La, la, la
La, la, la

Get yourself a limbo girl
Give that chic a limbo whirl
There's a limbo moon above
You will fall in limbo love

Jack be limbo, Jack be quick
Jack go unda limbo stick
All around the limbo clock
Hey, let's do the limbo rock

Don't move that limbo bar
You'll be a limbo star
How low can you go?



To paraphrase Chubby Checker: SHUTTERSTOCK, HOW LOW CAN YOU GO?

For those youngsters among us who weren't around in the '60s and don't remember this classic, here it is:   (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gq7pxUgjLz0#)
Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: Difydave on December 03, 2015, 12:44
^The worrying thing is, that to quote the song from Bachman Turner Overdrive
"You ain't seen nothing yet"
And that goes for this whole business!
Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: cathyslife on December 03, 2015, 12:58
OMG. At first I thought that was broccoli. LOL.


Good luck with using that excuse in court! :-)


Makes you wonder where the guy is based for that to be legal. Netherlands?

According to his/their Stockfresh port, he/they are based in "Montclair, USA."

https://stockfresh.com/gallery/jeremynathan (https://stockfresh.com/gallery/jeremynathan)

There's a Montclair in Oregon, where it is legal. Maybe that's where he is from?  8)
Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: Shelma1 on December 03, 2015, 13:17
There are also Montclairs in Nj and CA. Probably one or two in every state. ;)
Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: MxR on December 03, 2015, 13:33
Istock makes this mistake two years ago... crap flood is coming... Shutter now is Istock and Shutter is Adobe.
Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: fiftyfootelvis on December 03, 2015, 13:51
I don't think it is good for anybody. As a purchaser of stock it is getting harder and harder to sift through all of the really bad or just mediocre images. Often there will be 20 or 30 bad images from the same shoot, just slightly different from each other. They would never have all been accepted in the past.
And as a contributor, I think it just lowers the image of microstock across the board.
As a purchaser, even though clients don't like spending the money and I don't like the hassle, I am being driven back to Rights Managed just to more easily find quality images.
Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: Mrblues101 on December 03, 2015, 14:00
I think that this is part of the natural evolution of a microstock company, first they are flexible with aceptance because they need a huge number of images to compete in the market, but when they have a decent gallery, then they get more rigorous with the acceptance, and accept only the elite ones.

In the other hand, it is also a good way to control the exponential growing of contributors/images, and give everybody a decent income.

I really think that this is not a bad new at all.
Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: etudiante_rapide on December 03, 2015, 14:23
I think that this is part of the natural evolution of a microstock company, first they are flexible with aceptance because they need a huge number of images to compete in the market, but when they have a decent gallery, then they get more rigorous with the acceptance, and accept only the elite ones.

In the other hand, it is also a good way to control the exponential growing of contributors/images, and give everybody a decent income.

I really think that this is not a bad new at all.

if i understand you correctly, i too think it could work out better for ss.
we all started badly with the other right hand side column of agencies before we attempted
to join ss. and as someone once pointed out, even Yuri was not very good at the beginning
of his career.

so once again, letting the door open wider could work to their advantage of not losing
a potential good contributor to adobe,etc where it is easier to start.
or you can go Canva way to accept everything and then delete everything later.

Mrblues101, what's your opinion on that???
Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: etudiante_rapide on December 03, 2015, 14:25
I don't think it is good for anybody. As a purchaser of stock it is getting harder and harder to sift through all of the really bad or just mediocre images. Often there will be 20 or 30 bad images from the same shoot, just slightly different from each other. They would never have all been accepted in the past.
And as a contributor, I think it just lowers the image of microstock across the board.
As a purchaser, even though clients don't like spending the money and I don't like the hassle, I am being driven back to Rights Managed just to more easily find quality images.

you can be a follower of the ppl whose works you like. this way, you won't need to sift through everything that comes in. 
i noticed that with my "followers" as i see a regular downloading trend which i assumed
is due to these clients who FOLLOW me.
Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: Mrblues101 on December 03, 2015, 14:32
-
Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: etudiante_rapide on December 03, 2015, 14:42
Istock makes this mistake two years ago... crap flood is coming... Shutter now is Istock and Shutter is Adobe.

how do you figure that ??? i don't see Adobe asking for 7/10 to be a contributor
Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: ShadySue on December 03, 2015, 15:26
I think that this is part of the natural evolution of a microstock company, first they are flexible with aceptance because they need a huge number of images to compete in the market, but when they have a decent gallery, then they get more rigorous with the acceptance, and accept only the elite ones.

In the other hand, it is also a good way to control the exponential growing of contributors/images, and give everybody a decent income.

I really think that this is not a bad new at all.

But what's happening is the very opposite of what you suggest above.
First of all iStock had high standards, then dropped them almost totally, then SS had high standards, then their inspection was all over the place, now they are lowering the entry standard.
So I don't see how this can "control the exponential growing of contributors/images, and give everybody a decent income". Au contraire.
Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: Tryingmybest on December 03, 2015, 15:29
Lots of openings for human reviewers (See the Content category):

http://www.shutterstock.com/jobs/listings (http://www.shutterstock.com/jobs/listings)

 ???
Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: Difydave on December 03, 2015, 15:36
I think that this is part of the natural evolution of a microstock company, first they are flexible with aceptance because they need a huge number of images to compete in the market, but when they have a decent gallery, then they get more rigorous with the acceptance, and accept only the elite ones.

In the other hand, it is also a good way to control the exponential growing of contributors/images, and give everybody a decent income.

I really think that this is not a bad new at all.

But what's happening is the very opposite of what you suggest above.
First of all iStock had high standards, then dropped them almost totally, then SS had high standards, then their inspection was all over the place, now they are lowering the entry standard.
So I don't see how this can "control the exponential growing of contributors/images, and give everybody a decent income". Au contraire.
Agreed
Agreed

All this has nothing to do with contributors as such, and everything to do with with maximising their profits. Where something is obviously a success in doing that, and as iStock hasn't reinstated stricter inspections we can only assume that it is a success, and that the others will ultimately follow suit.
Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: ravens on December 03, 2015, 16:06
It's obvious. Aliens have invaded Shutterstock and it's on self destruct.
Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: cathyslife on December 03, 2015, 16:08
Lots of openings for human reviewers (See the Content category):

[url]http://www.shutterstock.com/jobs/listings[/url] ([url]http://www.shutterstock.com/jobs/listings[/url])

 ???


Interesting.
Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: searagen on December 03, 2015, 16:16
I think it's actually fairly simple. There are a number of threads that talk about the fact that long-standing contributors earnings start to slip as they can't add to their portfolio fast enough to outpace the total number of images from other contributors.

Well - the same law of numbers applies to the agencies themselves. If their total portfolio does not grow at a high enough rate, then ultimately, their sales growth will slow. Since Shutterstock has to report their numbers to the public, any slowing in their revenue impacts their stock price.

In short, I think that this is a simple response to try to get more submissions so that, even with reduced entry standards, they can continue to grow the entire database by just a few percent more and limit the revenue erosion. It will help for a year or two -- and then the same law of numbers will take effect and they'll have to try something else or diversify further.

No comment on the impact on ability of their software or reviewing staff as they have to accept more images and weed through them using whatever processes they need to manage this with. But, I expect that review times will start to increase until they improve their processes.
Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: PixelBytes on December 03, 2015, 22:22
I think that their next step will be to accept any crap, like did iStock about one year ago…

You mean this crap?
[url]http://www.shutterstock.com/portfolio/search.mhtml?gallery_landing=1&gallery_id=1256674&page=1&safesearch=1&sort_method=newest[/url] ([url]http://www.shutterstock.com/portfolio/search.mhtml?gallery_landing=1&gallery_id=1256674&page=1&safesearch=1&sort_method=newest[/url])


Until cannabis is legalised, users will risk brain damage…


I think they are at more health risk from the fried potatos!
Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: PixelBytes on December 03, 2015, 22:25
Very sad news. SS has been corrupted from within.

That's the elephant in the room.  There's no way these thousands of junk photos made it through the 'official' inspection process.  They were back-doored.

Beginning to think we are all being 'back-doored'.
Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: PixelBytes on December 03, 2015, 22:30
I think that this is part of the natural evolution of a microstock company, first they are flexible with aceptance because they need a huge number of images to compete in the market, but when they have a decent gallery, then they get more rigorous with the acceptance, and accept only the elite ones.

In the other hand, it is also a good way to control the exponential growing of contributors/images, and give everybody a decent income.

I really think that this is not a bad new at all.

But what's happening is the very opposite of what you suggest above.
First of all iStock had high standards, then dropped them almost totally, then SS had high standards, then their inspection was all over the place, now they are lowering the entry standard.
So I don't see how this can "control the exponential growing of contributors/images, and give everybody a decent income". Au contraire.

Yes.  Exactly.  They are getting LESS selective and the whole thing is going to s*it.
Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: PaulieWalnuts on December 03, 2015, 23:29
Well, this doesn't absolutely mean the review standards have changed. They're just allowing more people to submit.

Either way, this will mean a spike in collection growth which may be a good thing for some contributors. If SS gets flooded with mediocre images more buyers may be headed back to macro sites and spend more money to save time and frustration.

Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: ravens on December 04, 2015, 02:52
Well, this doesn't absolutely mean the review standards have changed. They're just allowing more people to submit.

Either way, this will mean a spike in collection growth which may be a good thing for some contributors. If SS gets flooded with mediocre images more buyers may be headed back to macro sites and spend more money to save time and frustration.

It is good for those who leave Shutterstock. SS  are choosing quantity over quality which is the last thing anybody needs. The world is saturated with low quality images and SS is becoming a cheap store,  losing its credibility.

....Because obviously they want a LOT of images and then they will sell them cheaply  in HUGE subscription packages. 
Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: PZF on December 04, 2015, 04:06
"....Because obviously they want a LOT of images and then they will sell them cheaply  in HUGE subscription packages "

and since many/most will be produced by newbies for 25c a throw, that'll make shareholders even happier....

We are doomed, I tell you, doomed.......!
Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: Microstockphoto on December 04, 2015, 04:10
this doesnt upset me at all, the review process is still the same so if you manage to crap out one good image and get accepted, it could still be that your next 1000 will all be rejected
Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: stock-will-eat-itself on December 04, 2015, 06:26
If SS gets flooded with mediocre images more buyers may be headed back to macro sites and spend more money to save time and frustration.

SS has always been flooded with mediocre images, difference was a few years ago it was viable for pro's to submit work to Micro and get a decent return on investment within a year or two. Today is a very different story, high production images are simply not paying for themselves anymore. Your right but the effect will be two fold, buyers heading to Macro to save time, and the talent moving work to Macro due to the broken business model.

SS pricing strategy has always been pretty ruthless, personally I can't see how this business model has any longevity for buyers or suppliers.
Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: cathyslife on December 04, 2015, 07:34
If SS gets flooded with mediocre images more buyers may be headed back to macro sites and spend more money to save time and frustration.

SS has always been flooded with mediocre images, difference was a few years ago it was viable for pro's to submit work to Micro and get a decent return on investment within a year or two. Today is a very different story, high production images are simply not paying for themselves anymore. Your right but the effect will be two fold, buyers heading to Macro to save time, and the talent moving work to Macro due to the broken business model.

SS pricing strategy has always been pretty ruthless, personally I can't see how this business model has any longevity for buyers or suppliers.

The business model for microstock was always that amateur photographers could submit images and get paid for them (for not a lot of money). Pro photographers shooting high production images was never part of the business model, it was pro photographers who decided to cash in on the exposure to the market, not the business model of microstock. So really, not so surprising that pros can't make a decent return any more.

I disagree that this business model doesn't have any longevity...there are still small to medium sized companies who still can't afford to spend $60-100 per image; in fact, with the decline in the overall economy, even less so today than 9 years ago. But it will present a problem in terms of time spent wading through the crap just to find a decent image.
Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: stock-will-eat-itself on December 04, 2015, 08:56
I disagree that this business model doesn't have any longevity...there are still small to medium sized companies who still can't afford to spend $60-100 per image; in fact, with the decline in the overall economy, even less so today than 9 years ago. But it will present a problem in terms of time spent wading through the crap just to find a decent image.

Who will upload and keyword images in the future and why?

If only zero production cost images go up they'll hit a saturated pool of images that won't justify the time and expense it takes even for amateurs. Even a tomato on white a background has an initial expense of the camera, computer, software and the tomato, people will just be burning money and wasting their spare time better spent hanging out with family and friends. Newcomers will reach this conclusion pretty fast in todays climate.

SS will survive for a good few years but eventually it'll hit the buffers as buyers get tired of the aesthetic. As someone else mentioned they're trying to keep the share price up for a little while longer by ingesting new content, but we all know from our own data the return on investment and time just isn't there anymore.
Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: Mantis on December 04, 2015, 09:03
If SS gets flooded with mediocre images more buyers may be headed back to macro sites and spend more money to save time and frustration.

SS has always been flooded with mediocre images, difference was a few years ago it was viable for pro's to submit work to Micro and get a decent return on investment within a year or two. Today is a very different story, high production images are simply not paying for themselves anymore. Your right but the effect will be two fold, buyers heading to Macro to save time, and the talent moving work to Macro due to the broken business model.

SS pricing strategy has always been pretty ruthless, personally I can't see how this business model has any longevity for buyers or suppliers.

The business model for microstock was always that amateur photographers could submit images and get paid for them (for not a lot of money). Pro photographers shooting high production images was never part of the business model, it was pro photographers who decided to cash in on the exposure to the market, not the business model of microstock. So really, not so surprising that pros can't make a decent return any more.

I disagree that this business model doesn't have any longevity...there are still small to medium sized companies who still can't afford to spend $60-100 per image; in fact, with the decline in the overall economy, even less so today than 9 years ago. But it will present a problem in terms of time spent wading through the crap just to find a decent image.

One thing to consider is that the proportion of demand to growth is not equal and that mediocracy sells.  As collection size grows dramatically and demand remains relatively flat (maybe a slight uptick) we will see erosion of sales. It is inevitable. Those small companies will indeed keep leveraging MS but our ROI will continue to be negatively impacted over time, even if we keep uploading.
Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: Copidosoma on December 04, 2015, 09:25
Lots of openings for human reviewers (See the Content category):

[url]http://www.shutterstock.com/jobs/listings[/url] ([url]http://www.shutterstock.com/jobs/listings[/url])

 ???


Imagine the turnover (from the high rate of alcoholism and suicide) in that job after a bunch of new contributors who can only get 10% of their images past initial review get in.
Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: etudiante_rapide on December 04, 2015, 11:00
Lots of openings for human reviewers (See the Content category):

[url]http://www.shutterstock.com/jobs/listings[/url] ([url]http://www.shutterstock.com/jobs/listings[/url])

 ???


not surprising.  this is as i said, no one is , not even adobe , is asking for 7/10 admission criterion.
ss is not lossening the reins, but more in retaining market exposure and preventing the runoff to
adobe.  if anyone can submitting everything to fotolia, and gawd, i took a look at my work
which i used to have at fotolia and i am shocked today i could even do such bad work
that passed ft and failed rightly so at is and ss. and that was years ago before adobe.

now, there is a need for human reviewers at ss, in order to trim the larger incoming works of new people. as for the old established ppl who already have maintained a high %age of approval,
i see the auto-review being used.

this , or else, you risk losing new contributors to adobe. so, i see this as a smart move
for ss. and also a smart move for contributors too. as i said, with a higher competition of newbies and oldies, you can only profit from this if ss do not lose out to adobe.

why waste time wishing ss lose to adobe? you did that once with canva, veer, stocksy,etc..
none of these have the resume history of earning money like ss does for us.

i still go where the money is now... and it is still ss. love or hate them...only ss puts $$$ in my pocket each month.
Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: MisterElements on December 04, 2015, 12:08
After Shtterstock's new agreement update nothing really matters if you upload images onto Shutterstock as a contributor.   I will never put another new image or file on Shutterstock for as long as I live. I've been on there 9 years and I'm not letting a couple hundred each month lure me into uploading any new images onto such an evil company!  Good luck to anyone uploading onto Shutterstock.
Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: marthamarks on December 04, 2015, 12:13
After Shtterstock's new agreement update nothing really matters if you upload images onto Shutterstock as a contributor.   I will never put another new image or file on Shutterstock for as long as I live. I've been on there 9 years and I'm not letting a couple hundred each month lure me into uploading any new images onto such an evil company! Someday someone braver then me will spill the beans. Good luck to anyone uploading onto Shutterstock.

Evil???  No.
Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: Zero Talent on December 04, 2015, 13:21
After Shtterstock's new agreement update nothing really matters if you upload images onto Shutterstock as a contributor.   I will never put another new image or file on Shutterstock for as long as I live. I've been on there 9 years and I'm not letting a couple hundred each month lure me into uploading any new images onto such an evil company!  Good luck to anyone uploading onto Shutterstock.
Great! Thank you!

Sent from my SM-N910T using Tapatalk

Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: Hannafate on December 04, 2015, 13:39
It's based on Fotolia's  model.

With this easy entry, many new submitters will wind up with very small portfolios.  Even with the reduced minimum payout, this will mean long periods of Shutterstock getting to keep the royalties for a long time.

Let's face it, punters who can only get one out of 10 will be thrilled to have a few puny sales.  "Look, I'm a professional now!"


Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: Zero Talent on December 04, 2015, 14:34
Guys, the fact that we all passed a lousy 7 out 10 exam, doesn't give us a special status nor does it certify us as artists. This is really only an easy, tiny milestone in your career as photographer.

It shouldn't give anyone a sense of entitlement and reasons to discriminate between us, the "certified contributors", who only produce high quality stuff, vs them, the newbies, who will bring SS quality down.

Even is the entry exam is tougher, it doesn't guarantee quality on subsequent submissions. As we can see, SS is flooded with crap produced by well established contributors.

If most of people posting here are concerned with the quality of the SS collection,
then we should fight for tougher review standards and a better curation, instead of fighting the initial access into the system.

Better curation, tougher standards applied systematically, a higher rejection rate makes the initial exam obsolete and will be the only way to improve the overall collection quality.

Be fair and ask SS to be tougher on you, not only on beginners.

Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: marthamarks on December 04, 2015, 15:26
As we can see, SS is flooded with crap produced by well established contributors.

Hey, speak for yourself!  8)
Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: Zero Talent on December 04, 2015, 15:44
As we can see, SS is flooded with crap produced by well established contributors.


Hey, speak for yourself!  8)


??? Who are you defending? Yourself  ;) or ALL "established contributors"?  :o

I was under the impression that most people agree with the statement below.

You mean this crap?
[url]http://www.shutterstock.com/portfolio/search.mhtml?gallery_landing=1&gallery_id=1256674&page=1&safesearch=1&sort_method=newest[/url] ([url]http://www.shutterstock.com/portfolio/search.mhtml?gallery_landing=1&gallery_id=1256674&page=1&safesearch=1&sort_method=newest[/url])


Are you defending this very "established contributor" with ~40k photos on line?

 ;D
Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: marthamarks on December 04, 2015, 15:53
??? Who are you defending? Yourself  ;) or ALL "established contributors"?  :o

I'm not defending anybody. Just pulling your chain… and very successfully, it seems.

LOL!!!! ;D
Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: Tryingmybest on December 04, 2015, 16:04
39084 of weed. This is a conspiracy. Obviously someone at the top at SS LOVES marijuana and all such pictures will be approved. I think I'm going to make a series of marijuana people, animals and nature backgrounds—which will include variations as website buttons.

Sorry to change the subject.  8)

I think that their next step will be to accept any crap, like did iStock about one year ago…

You mean this crap?
[url]http://www.shutterstock.com/portfolio/search.mhtml?gallery_landing=1&gallery_id=1256674&page=1&safesearch=1&sort_method=newest[/url] ([url]http://www.shutterstock.com/portfolio/search.mhtml?gallery_landing=1&gallery_id=1256674&page=1&safesearch=1&sort_method=newest[/url])


OMG. At first I thought that was broccoli. LOL.

Quote
I will also say that since mediocracy sells, the problem of being found is exacerbated.


Yes, it is just going to cause buyers to have to do more wading to find what they want. That is never a good thing.
Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: etudiante_rapide on December 04, 2015, 16:26
After Shtterstock's new agreement update nothing really matters if you upload images onto Shutterstock as a contributor.   I will never put another new image or file on Shutterstock for as long as I live. I've been on there 9 years and I'm not letting a couple hundred each month lure me into uploading any new images onto such an evil company! Someday someone braver then me will spill the beans. Good luck to anyone uploading onto Shutterstock.

Evil???  No.



evil??? no!!!  weed is not evil  ;)
in a nutshell, how do you expect someone on weed to pass 7/10 ???
they want weed photos. they like weed. the more weed contributors the merrier the office will be,
and the less anal the reviewer like atilla and family will be.

so all in all, a win for ss, a win for reviewer atilla and family, a win for you and me 8)
there will be less need to weed out the good and the bad and the ugly  ;D
Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: etudiante_rapide on December 04, 2015, 16:30
39084 of weed. This is a conspiracy. Obviously someone at the top at SS LOVES marijuana and all such pictures will be approved. I think I'm going to make a series of marijuana people, animals and nature backgrounds—which will include variations as website buttons.

Sorry to change the subject.  8)

it's not a conspiracy.  john used to call it a "revolution"...
but he really meant "revelation"... but he was too stoned to pronounce "revelation"...so it came out
as "revolution". ;D ;D ;D

psst. actually the marijuana dude is a major shareholder... who owns a cash crop  ;)
Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: Mackie on December 04, 2015, 19:00
I actually think this is a good thing. But it would make more sense if they make their review process consistent.

Or if they are planning to take nearly everything like istock, then they should have some kind of way of sorting incoming content by style. So customers looking for design elements can find them quickly and those looking for artistic content get their own feed they can browse.

We will see what happens, I am not worried about them.

this basically comes down to there being a need for an improved image SEARCH tool out there. Totally what I think, too, @cobalt. The "finding them quickly" is increasingly the point these days -- pretty similar to web search in the early days of the internet, until websites started coming along in volume!

We (and content buyers/editors/media pros) definitely do need a better search process, one that really works for finding specific images without losing hours on end wading through irrelevant "results"!
Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: Jo Ann Snover on December 05, 2015, 13:36

...this basically comes down to there being a need for an improved image SEARCH tool out there. Totally what I think, too, @cobalt. The "finding them quickly" is increasingly the point these days -- pretty similar to web search in the early days of the internet, until websites started coming along in volume!

We (and content buyers/editors/media pros) definitely do need a better search process, one that really works for finding specific images without losing hours on end wading through irrelevant "results"!

A good search tool is really important, but it depends, in part, on good keywording. There is some really awful keywording, largely because the agencies don't want to spend the money to police spam effectively. There's also some terrible keywording where important keywords are omitted, either by those new to the stock business or those who can't keyword in their native language and whose English is limited.

Keywording that doesn't allow for phrases - DT splits everything into individual words leading to all sorts of problems - is a barrier to getting good results as well

SS, and other agencies are looking to trim or hold the line on costs, so I'm not expecting to see major changes here.
Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: Justanotherphotographer on December 05, 2015, 14:59
I asked it an another thread and got no response.  Can anyone tell me what the terrible changes with the new agreement are? Just a link to the thread discussing it would suffice. Thanks.
Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: Copidosoma on December 05, 2015, 15:06
I asked it an another thread and got no response.  Can anyone tell me what the terrible changes with the new agreement are? Just a link to the thread discussing it would suffice. Thanks.


http://forums.submit.shutterstock.com/topic/87314-change-to-our-initial-review-process/?pl=SubGF (http://forums.submit.shutterstock.com/topic/87314-change-to-our-initial-review-process/?pl=SubGF)

"terrible" might be a bit strong. I think that alot of people are concerned with the idea of essentially eliminating any sort of quality control on new submitters. Based on what has been submitted to the review forum from new contributors who have a minimal grasp on photography let alone stock photography you could expect that there will be many more really poor images being thrown on the pile. This wouldn't be as big of a problem if the review process was consistent and robust but it isn't. Personally, I would have preferred SS working on improving the review process even if that involves lower overall acceptance rates. This change appears to indicate that they are taking the exact opposite approach. Having an increase in low quality images can't help reviewers do their jobs better.
Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: etudiante_rapide on December 05, 2015, 15:39
I asked it an another thread and got no response.  Can anyone tell me what the terrible changes with the new agreement are? Just a link to the thread discussing it would suffice. Thanks.


[url]http://forums.submit.shutterstock.com/topic/87314-change-to-our-initial-review-process/?pl=SubGF[/url] ([url]http://forums.submit.shutterstock.com/topic/87314-change-to-our-initial-review-process/?pl=SubGF[/url])

"terrible" might be a bit strong. I think that alot of people are concerned with the idea of essentially eliminating any sort of quality control on new submitters. Based on what has been submitted to the review forum from new contributors who have a minimal grasp on photography let alone stock photography you could expect that there will be many more really poor images being thrown on the pile. This wouldn't be as big of a problem if the review process was consistent and robust but it isn't. Personally, I would have preferred SS working on improving the review process even if that involves lower overall acceptance rates. This change appears to indicate that they are taking the exact opposite approach. Having an increase in low quality images can't help reviewers do their jobs better.


just as paulie said back there, no need for 7/10 application does not mean lax reviewing. it only means ss is going to be accepting anyone to submit images . after all, which other site does 7/10 initial application? not even adobe does that.

to assume ss is going to accept anything, i guess we will have to start uploading again
to test see if they indeed are going to accept crap (as chichikov think they are going to accept).
other than weed , i do not think anti non-weed crappola images will be passed through without
rejection possibility at the gate.

but we will have to see if this is true but reading the ss forum or here to see if 100% crap
will now be accepted.  i don't think so, as they are looking to hire new ppl for reviewing team
Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: Copidosoma on December 05, 2015, 15:44
I asked it an another thread and got no response.  Can anyone tell me what the terrible changes with the new agreement are? Just a link to the thread discussing it would suffice. Thanks.


[url]http://forums.submit.shutterstock.com/topic/87314-change-to-our-initial-review-process/?pl=SubGF[/url] ([url]http://forums.submit.shutterstock.com/topic/87314-change-to-our-initial-review-process/?pl=SubGF[/url])

"terrible" might be a bit strong. I think that alot of people are concerned with the idea of essentially eliminating any sort of quality control on new submitters. Based on what has been submitted to the review forum from new contributors who have a minimal grasp on photography let alone stock photography you could expect that there will be many more really poor images being thrown on the pile. This wouldn't be as big of a problem if the review process was consistent and robust but it isn't. Personally, I would have preferred SS working on improving the review process even if that involves lower overall acceptance rates. This change appears to indicate that they are taking the exact opposite approach. Having an increase in low quality images can't help reviewers do their jobs better.


just as paulie said back there, no need for 7/10 application does not mean lax reviewing. it only means ss is going to be accepting anyone to submit images . after all, which other site does 7/10 initial application? not even adobe does that.

to assume ss is going to accept anything, i guess we will have to start uploading again
to test see if they indeed are going to accept crap (as chichikov think they are going to accept).
other than weed , i do not think anti non-weed crappola images will be passed through without
rejection possibility at the gate.

but we will have to see if this is true but reading the ss forum or here to see if 100% crap
will now be accepted.  i don't think so, as they are looking to hire new ppl for reviewing team


Having some sort of standard that shows that you can put together 7 good images out of a batch of 10 is actually useful in determining if someone has a basic understanding of how to use a camera or what a stock image "is". What other sites do is irrelevant. SS is in a different league as far as sales go in my experience. I'd rather they not go the route of everyone else.

I"m not saying that review standards will drop (i.e. that they will accept anything)> However, if you have a large number of new submitters who are unable to hit a 7 of 10 mark I don't see how it will help the review process (unless of course they do start accepting everything which will not be good for anyone in the long term).

Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: Rinderart on December 05, 2015, 17:00
OK, a lot of you know that in 10+ years and 47,000+ Posts with 90% being on the critique forum and Let me add selling My Images for 30 Plus years, Involved in stock Longer than any employee at SS. I completely disagree with this Move. The overall Talent Level as I see it has dropped tremendously in the last year, Big time in last 3/6 months and Im sure no One at SS has tracked this....I have. These changes and others are simply Not the SS I knew and supported. They were a "Class act" and something folks worked Hard for to be part of. It's all Going away.



"It sends out a clear message that they are not interested in pro photographers at all. iStock seem to be coming to the same conclusion that pro's will migrate to Macro and the rest can be sold off cheap."

+1
Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: stockmn on December 05, 2015, 18:11

"It sends out a clear message that they are not interested in pro photographers at all. iStock seem to be coming to the same conclusion that pro's will migrate to Macro and the rest can be sold off cheap."

+1

Maybe that's the way it should be? In my opinion, microstock should never have been anything other than low to medium quality images. Using thousands of dollars worth of camera equipment to make pennies per sale has always been unsustainable for photographers. It's reality time.
Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: marthamarks on December 05, 2015, 19:08
Having some sort of standard that shows that you can put together 7 good images out of a batch of 10 is actually useful in determining if someone has a basic understanding of how to use a camera or what a stock image "is".

That's exactly how I see it too.

When you consider how many thousands of contributors have generated tens of millions of images… it sure doesn't seem like the "high" 7/10 standard has kept many contributors from getting in up to this point.
Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: PaulieWalnuts on December 05, 2015, 19:14

"It sends out a clear message that they are not interested in pro photographers at all. iStock seem to be coming to the same conclusion that pro's will migrate to Macro and the rest can be sold off cheap."

+1

Maybe that's the way it should be? In my opinion, microstock should never have been anything other than low to medium quality images. Using thousands of dollars worth of camera equipment to make pennies per sale has always been unsustainable for photographers. It's reality time.

I'd agree. Not only equipment. What about the shot with a room full of model surgeons in the rented operating room. It's only a matter of time before contributors give up on this kind of stuff because the returns aren't there.

And this even applies to macro in some cases. I see these subscription macro deals come in that pay me micro level money. So when I see the "needs list" mostly requesting content that would cost a fortune to produce I don't bother with it. Unless prices stabilize to where there's a reasonable return it's not financially justifiable.



Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: etudiante_rapide on December 05, 2015, 22:06
OK, a lot of you know that in 10+ years and 47,000+ Posts with 90% being on the critique forum and Let me add selling My Images for 30 Plus years, Involved in stock Longer than any employee at SS. I completely disagree with this Move. The overall Talent Level as I see it has dropped tremendously in the last year, Big time in last 3/6 months and Im sure no One at SS has tracked this....I have. These changes and others are simply Not the SS I knew and supported. They were a "Class act" and something folks worked Hard for to be part of. It's all Going away.



"It sends out a clear message that they are not interested in pro photographers at all. iStock seem to be coming to the same conclusion that pro's will migrate to Macro and the rest can be sold off cheap."

+1

the question is ... which macro are you going to??? i don't know any macro who is not out to be doing what micro is paying. and the only macro i know is getty and i don't hear too many ppl being happy there either.

adobe , being fotolia , is not a threat to ss; anymore than what veers used to appear like some new messenger of good hope which we now came to nothing. same for canva.

as for accepting crap (to quote our fellow commentor before here), that is not going to help anyone
submitting crap. the issue is not getting approved but getting dl and i don't know any clients who is
going to pay for crap. do you???

like it or not, ss is still our only seller and earning of $$$. they can change the admission criteria
but that's not going to affect any of us. at least, the way i see it, sales have in fact gone up ...not down , even with the absence of $80, $102 single earnings.

don't know where ss is planning to go, but since we are already contributors, the only issue for me
is the large dl-able poorly watermark issue. the rest don't affect us ,really.
Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: cathyslife on December 05, 2015, 22:11

"It sends out a clear message that they are not interested in pro photographers at all. iStock seem to be coming to the same conclusion that pro's will migrate to Macro and the rest can be sold off cheap."

+1

Maybe that's the way it should be? In my opinion, microstock should never have been anything other than low to medium quality images. Using thousands of dollars worth of camera equipment to make pennies per sale has always been unsustainable for photographers. It's reality time.


Exactly. I dont think the microstock model was meant to support pro photogs using high end equipment and costly studio/model shoots.
Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: roede-orm on December 06, 2015, 02:41
Everyone thinks the world is ending, because Shutterstock facilitates the entrance test. But what about Fotolia?  They never had a test. And I think the quality of the image material is not so different.
Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: HughStoneIan on December 06, 2015, 03:12
I think that their next step will be to accept any crap, like did iStock about one year ago…

You mean this crap?
[url]http://www.shutterstock.com/portfolio/search.mhtml?gallery_landing=1&gallery_id=1256674&page=1&safesearch=1&sort_method=newest[/url] ([url]http://www.shutterstock.com/portfolio/search.mhtml?gallery_landing=1&gallery_id=1256674&page=1&safesearch=1&sort_method=newest[/url])


How could he get 39,000+ like those accepted? Must know (or be) someone on the inside. OY!!
Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: Copidosoma on December 06, 2015, 09:54
Everyone thinks the world is ending, because Shutterstock facilitates the entrance test. But what about Fotolia?  They never had a test. And I think the quality of the image material is not so different.

Given how inaccurate your first part of this statement is I'm not sure how seriously anyone should take the rest.

Concern over a change at a site which is far and away the top earner for many contributors is pretty valid as far as I'm concerned. I think you are misinterpreting what some (many) people are saying here.
Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: FlowerPower on December 06, 2015, 11:00
Everyone thinks the world is ending, because Shutterstock facilitates the entrance test. But what about Fotolia?  They never had a test. And I think the quality of the image material is not so different.

People upload the same pictures everywhere and the agencies take what they want. Entrance exam does nothing if the reviews are like they are on SS. Now people who can't pass will upload and get rejected and find out why they don't pass the exam.
Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: Mantis on December 06, 2015, 12:58
Everyone thinks the world is ending, because Shutterstock facilitates the entrance test. But what about Fotolia?  They never had a test. And I think the quality of the image material is not so different.

People upload the same pictures everywhere and the agencies take what they want. Entrance exam does nothing if the reviews are like they are on SS. Now people who can't pass will upload and get rejected and find out why they don't pass the exam.

As I mentioned earlier, the question is really "why" they are doing this.  If in the end no more images make it into their collection due to tough inspections, why lower the criteria? There is cause and effect built into this decision, meaning there is an end game as to why they changed the criteria. In my mind they are trying to encourage more contributors to apply in order to grow their collection. Why on earth would they loosen the acceptance criteria if their inspections block most new content? So, I have several theories but the most obvious one is probably to let in more newbies so they pay out less. It's about revenue and operating income. How better to reduce payouts than simply cutting our royalties when they can dilute long term contributor income with contributors getting 25 cents a download or whatever. Looks very good on the financials when they can say we added X new contributors, X number of images and gross margins are up 10%. 
Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: roede-orm on December 06, 2015, 15:29
Everyone thinks the world is ending, because Shutterstock facilitates the entrance test. But what about Fotolia?  They never had a test. And I think the quality of the image material is not so different.

People upload the same pictures everywhere and the agencies take what they want. Entrance exam does nothing if the reviews are like they are on SS. Now people who can't pass will upload and get rejected and find out why they don't pass the exam.

As I mentioned earlier, the question is really "why" they are doing this.  If in the end no more images make it into their collection due to tough inspections, why lower the criteria? There is cause and effect built into this decision, meaning there is an end game as to why they changed the criteria. In my mind they are trying to encourage more contributors to apply in order to grow their collection. Why on earth would they loosen the acceptance criteria if their inspections block most new content? So, I have several theories but the most obvious one is probably to let in more newbies so they pay out less. It's about revenue and operating income. How better to reduce payouts than simply cutting our royalties when they can dilute long term contributor income with contributors getting 25 cents a download or whatever. Looks very good on the financials when they can say we added X new contributors, X number of images and gross margins are up 10%.
Sounds pretty convincing,. What else is possible?
Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: marthamarks on December 06, 2015, 15:32
It's about revenue and operating income. How better to reduce payouts than simply cutting our royalties when they can dilute long term contributor income with contributors getting 25 cents a download or whatever. Looks very good on the financials when they can say we added X new contributors, X number of images and gross margins are up 10%.

BINGO!!!!
Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: etudiante_rapide on December 06, 2015, 16:07
Everyone thinks the world is ending, because Shutterstock facilitates the entrance test. But what about Fotolia?  They never had a test. And I think the quality of the image material is not so different.

People upload the same pictures everywhere and the agencies take what they want. Entrance exam does nothing if the reviews are like they are on SS. Now people who can't pass will upload and get rejected and find out why they don't pass the exam.

finally, we agree !!! ;)
Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: LesPalenik on December 06, 2015, 16:44
The problem is not so much that the inspections are strict, but more that they are inconsistent. Which means that thousands of inferior and blatantly similar images will still squeeze through.
Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: stockastic on December 06, 2015, 17:51
While it's hard to say what the real effect of this change will be, it's even harder to imagine the intent.  Things seemed to have stopped making sense, from a contributor's viewpoint, a long time ago. 

The bar is low. Some time goes by.   Ooops, now the bar is high, everything is rejected for 'lighting'.  Now it's really, really high, and your photos have LCV. But look, here are 10,000 nearly identical icons. And 10,000 dopey photos of a bag of pot.  Guess there isn't any 'bar'.  And now, the entrance exam has been made really easy.  How does that fit in?   Who knows. And, speaking for myself: at 36 cents a sale, who cares anymore.
Title: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: stock-will-eat-itself on December 06, 2015, 18:37

"It sends out a clear message that they are not interested in pro photographers at all. iStock seem to be coming to the same conclusion that pro's will migrate to Macro and the rest can be sold off cheap."

+1

Maybe that's the way it should be? In my opinion, microstock should never have been anything other than low to medium quality images. Using thousands of dollars worth of camera equipment to make pennies per sale has always been unsustainable for photographers. It's reality time.


Exactly. I dont think the microstock model was meant to support pro photogs using high end equipment and costly studio/model shoots.

Microstock did support pros producing high quality work until recently and you can bet the SS sales teams chasing the profitable corporate clients are showing them exactly these high production images. They won't be closing sales from backyard shots.
Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: etudiante_rapide on December 06, 2015, 20:34
While it's hard to say what the real effect of this change will be, it's even harder to imagine the intent.  Things seemed to have stopped making sense, from a contributor's viewpoint, a long time ago. 

The bar is low. Some time goes by.   Ooops, now the bar is high, everything is rejected for 'lighting'.  Now it's really, really high, and your photos have LCV. But look, here are 10,000 nearly identical icons. And 10,000 dopey photos of a bag of pot.  Guess there isn't any 'bar'.  And now, the entrance exam has been made really easy.  How does that fit in?   Who knows. And, speaking for myself: at 36 cents a sale, who cares anymore.

i get what you mean. to me, it makes a lot of sense that there is one specific reviewer
who will reject everything you give as "poor lighting" , even the good ones with "poor composition"...
simply because your work has nothing to do with marijuana  8)

as for the rest of the reviewers, i find it consistent. you get rejections which you knew was iffy
when you uploaded it, but you just wanted to push the envelope and add something different for your portfolio.  but for the majority, it still get approved because there is nothing wrong with any of them.
... and yes, they sell too.

i know that, because lately, i quietly wait a little while, and resubmit without that "previously submitted " note, and they all got approved.
but what i still haven't figured out is when this marijuana reviewer works, so i can time it nicely
and not have to waste my time re-submitting when the bozo is not working.
Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: stockastic on December 06, 2015, 23:02
...what i still haven't figured out is when this marijuana reviewer works, so i can time it nicely
and not have to waste my time re-submitting when the bozo is not working.

Let me know when you figure that out.  Since he obviously can't recognize duplicates, I'll just submit all my photos a second time, and double the size of my portfolio.
Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: Stockmaan on December 07, 2015, 01:23
"Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review." and now reject almost every my new photos!?
I do not understand.


Very very nice job SS!
Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: Deyan Georgiev Photography on December 07, 2015, 02:18
When enter many new "photographers" as they are not experienced in stock photography they will shot a lot of not good sellable content, but content which will fill many niches in the Shutterstock's collection and this overall will return more complex search results to the client and from there more satisfied customers.
Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: Nikovsk on December 07, 2015, 06:23
The "new" search is already a complete mess, an ocean of low quality spam. If I'm a buyer looking for new content that has never been used before, I would be completely frustrated. You have to type at least 3 keywords to find relevant images, imagine what it will look like in a couple years.

Shutterstock is just looking for a cheap way to increase margins in the short term, but the lack of long term thinking will prove disastrous not only for contributors, but for the company itself. Of course by the time SHTF, SS managers won't be holding their stocks anymore.
Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: Justanotherphotographer on December 07, 2015, 06:40
Or they could be increasing the value of their premium service. The more junk there is to wade through the more sense it will make for buyers to pay the extra for help searching. We could even see the search engine get worse so they can keep the best algorithm for their own premium team.
Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: PaulieWalnuts on December 07, 2015, 07:23
Or they could be increasing the value of their premium service. The more junk there is to wade through the more sense it will make for buyers to pay the extra for help searching. We could even see the search engine get worse so they can keep the best algorithm for their own premium team.

That's a possibility. Buyers used to pay a couple thousand dollars to license one image for a single project. Now they can pay a couple thousand dollars a year and get up to almost 10,000 images. I'm sure some of them would gladly pay extra to save time by not dredging through a bazillion images of varying usefulness.
Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: Zero Talent on December 07, 2015, 07:48
"Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review." and now reject almost every my new photos!?
I do not understand.


Very very nice job SS!
This proves that the lousy 7/10 exam is obsolete.
You must be able to continously produce quality, not only during your first submission.

Sent from my SM-N910T using Tapatalk

Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: Stockmaan on December 07, 2015, 08:07
"Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review." and now reject almost every my new photos!?
I do not understand.


Very very nice job SS!
This proves that the lousy 7/10 exam is obsolete.
You must be able to continously produce quality, not only during your first submission.



Sent from my SM-N910T using Tapatalk


Less than 2k port on SS. Little less 1k earnings/month.

I produce, I think, quality not quantity.
Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: Zero Talent on December 07, 2015, 08:09
"Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review." and now reject almost every my new photos!?
I do not understand.


Very very nice job SS!
This proves that the lousy 7/10 exam is obsolete.
You must be able to continously produce quality, not only during your first submission.



Sent from my SM-N910T using Tapatalk


Less than 2k port on SS. Little less 1k earnings/month.

I produce, I think, quality not quantity.
Still, your "quality" must be accepted by SS.
Will you be able to pass an 1/10 exam, now, if SS rejects almost everything you produce?

Sent from my SM-N910T using Tapatalk

Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: cathyslife on December 07, 2015, 09:42
Or they could be increasing the value of their premium service. The more junk there is to wade through the more sense it will make for buyers to pay the extra for help searching. We could even see the search engine get worse so they can keep the best algorithm for their own premium team.

I think you are on to something here. Companies must constantly find ways to provide greater value, which equals more money, in their product offerings. This would be an excellent way for them to do it.

There is already a lot of junk to wade through. I was searching last week for an image, and search results, for the first two pages, was 1 design, just the background had changed colors. For two pages of search results. And that is getting more and more common.
Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: stockastic on December 07, 2015, 11:04
Or they could be increasing the value of their premium service. The more junk there is to wade through the more sense it will make for buyers to pay the extra for help searching. We could even see the search engine get worse so they can keep the best algorithm for their own premium team.

That's a possibility.  My own cynical point of view is that at this stage in the life cycle of a public company, every decision is ultimately based on the stock price, which in turn is based on big "numbers" put up in front of  investors.  So SS wants to be able to announce that they've increased the size of the collection by some ungodly amount, and also signed up more customers for premium search, and those two goals fit together.   

They also want to announce that they've increased the number of contributors by some large number, and this could explain the lowering of the entrance bar.  I think it's actually just that simple.
Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: Pixart on December 07, 2015, 12:03
Maybe their new policy is to refuse 90% of all uploads so they had to lower the entry or there would be no new talent!
Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: marthamarks on December 07, 2015, 12:47
Or they could be increasing the value of their premium service. The more junk there is to wade through the more sense it will make for buyers to pay the extra for help searching. We could even see the search engine get worse so they can keep the best algorithm for their own premium team.

That's a possibility.  My own cynical point of view is that at this stage in the life cycle of a public company, every decision is ultimately based on the stock price, which in turn is based on big "numbers" put up in front of  investors.  So SS wants to be able to announce that they've increased the size of the collection by some ungodly amount, and also signed up more customers for premium search, and those two goals fit together.   

They also want to announce that they've increased the number of contributors by some large number, and this could explain the lowering of the entrance bar.  I think it's actually just that simple.

IMO, these theories offered by Justanotherphotographer and stockastic are actually the best anybody has come up with yet. Either separately or together, they make all kind of sense.
Title: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: stock-will-eat-itself on December 07, 2015, 13:28
One things for sure they'll never curate or raise the prices, it's a subs or nothing approach.

After all the fanfare around SS and trying them out for a few years I feel a bit disappointed with them. I can understand Yuri's frustration with them. I'm not feeling any passion for photography from SS.
Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: etudiante_rapide on December 07, 2015, 18:32
Or they could be increasing the value of their premium service. The more junk there is to wade through the more sense it will make for buyers to pay the extra for help searching. We could even see the search engine get worse so they can keep the best algorithm for their own premium team.

That's a possibility.  My own cynical point of view is that at this stage in the life cycle of a public company, every decision is ultimately based on the stock price, which in turn is based on big "numbers" put up in front of  investors.  So SS wants to be able to announce that they've increased the size of the collection by some ungodly amount, and also signed up more customers for premium search, and those two goals fit together.   

They also want to announce that they've increased the number of contributors by some large number, and this could explain the lowering of the entrance bar.  I think it's actually just that simple.

i think i understand what both of you say, but excuse me if i don't. what you miss me is that premium service or premium search. what is that???
is this still with ss or is it offset?

another thing is maybe ss wants clients to go to offset so they can start paying higher prices, and contributors earn higher too. but wonder if we too can move to offset and offer higher cost images.

for now, with ss, i think we maybe see an opportunity too, a challenge of us old guys ...
by coming up with quality stuff . if as everyone say the dilution of inventory, then it will be obvious clients will notice you if your work stand out over those who come in without 7/10.

only trick is being seen by the clients. i think once the client find our portfolio there can be an
opportunity for increased sales once the quality dilution begins.
Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: PixelBytes on December 07, 2015, 22:03

"It sends out a clear message that they are not interested in pro photographers at all. iStock seem to be coming to the same conclusion that pro's will migrate to Macro and the rest can be sold off cheap."

+1

Maybe that's the way it should be? In my opinion, microstock should never have been anything other than low to medium quality images. Using thousands of dollars worth of camera equipment to make pennies per sale has always been unsustainable for photographers. It's reality time.


Exactly. I dont think the microstock model was meant to support pro photogs using high end equipment and costly studio/model shoots.

Microstock did support pros producing high quality work until recently and you can bet the SS sales teams chasing the profitable corporate clients are showing them exactly these high production images. They won't be closing sales from backyard shots.

Completely agree!  I am also thinking that in the very near future your screen name will have to become Stock-has-eaten-itself.
Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: Mantis on December 08, 2015, 09:00

"It sends out a clear message that they are not interested in pro photographers at all. iStock seem to be coming to the same conclusion that pro's will migrate to Macro and the rest can be sold off cheap."

+1

Maybe that's the way it should be? In my opinion, microstock should never have been anything other than low to medium quality images. Using thousands of dollars worth of camera equipment to make pennies per sale has always been unsustainable for photographers. It's reality time.


Exactly. I dont think the microstock model was meant to support pro photogs using high end equipment and costly studio/model shoots.

Microstock did support pros producing high quality work until recently and you can bet the SS sales teams chasing the profitable corporate clients are showing them exactly these high production images. They won't be closing sales from backyard shots.

Completely agree!  I am also thinking that in the very near future your screen name will have to become Stock-has-eaten-itself.

The other thing SS has going for them (like other sites) is that they have A LOT of excellent contributors who simply don't pay attention to what's really happening or are in areas where a little money means a whole lot. That segment of suppliers probably isn't going away.  If everyone who knows what's happening were to pull their ports, it would not make much difference to the collection because there is plenty of good stuff to replace deletions. It unfortunate but it's a fact.
Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: etudiante_rapide on December 08, 2015, 18:00

"It sends out a clear message that they are not interested in pro photographers at all. iStock seem to be coming to the same conclusion that pro's will migrate to Macro and the rest can be sold off cheap."

+1

The other thing SS has going for them (like other sites) is that they have A LOT of excellent contributors who simply don't pay attention to what's really happening or are in areas where a little money means a whole lot. That segment of suppliers probably isn't going away.  If everyone who knows what's happening were to pull their ports, it would not make much difference to the collection because there is plenty of good stuff to replace deletions. It unfortunate but it's a fact.

not sure which if i edited correctly , if not, sorry.
but this is the thing that seems to be prevelant here on msg. inconsistency .
what i mean is , only not long ago when rejections were high, many old guys were up with their pitchforks saying "the bar lifted too high already, for the kind of money you pay us".

so now, they lower the bar to very low, and still the voice is shouting saying "the bar is too low".

like cathy, i think , says, micro was never meant for "pros" using expensive cameras to shoot.
if not the cameras, but more the cost of production.  i also remember how someone also said we should be smarter at what we upload as it would be insane to upload works that cost an arm and a leg to produce.
but really, we all know it was never meant for any of us to be paid a lot of money from micro,
so we are flipping back and forth on our own expectation from ss.

i think until someone else comes along to give us as often dls and payout as ss,
i would hold my breath on going to macro or anyone who has not proven they can even be as
productive as dreamstime;  and we know how reliable that is.

looking on the right side, we still see all those long existing agencies still barely hitting past 30 .
so i won't be expecting anyone coming out or coming up to compete against ss.

for now, i will keep my own bar high, and use this lowering of the bar as a chance to actually
stand out above the rest. it's like the real world, you know.. when you see lots of ppl not caring about getting a good job. we still don't say, "oh... that's bad for me... if so many of them doing care
about aiming higher" . same applies to ss, you know. what worry what the others do...
it's really only us, what we do, if we earn more or less in 2016 with ss... with millions of 1/10 entries
and thousands of marijuanas ...
don't really matter anyway.
..should it???
Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: Rainer123 on December 08, 2015, 19:34
Best comment on this topic for now
Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: PixelBytes on December 09, 2015, 00:39
I agree about keeping our own personal bar high.  I am not afraid of competing with the quality of the new entrants.  I worry that the mass quantity of largely dross will make my higher quality and more expensive - for SS - images much harder to find.

On the high bar issue, while I will keep my quality high, I can no longer afford expensive shoots.  I forsee a future of shooting more food and objects and way less pro models or paid locations.
Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: Copidosoma on December 09, 2015, 01:13
The problem is not that the bar is high or the bar is low. The biggest problem is that the bar (for image reviews) is changing constantly depending on which reviewer you get. You can get an entire batch 100% rejected, resubmit and get them 100% accepted. Something is wrong with that.

If anyone can explain to me how reducing the initial review requirements is going to improve the review process, go ahead. What I see is that more submitters who really have no idea how to use their camera will be accepted (along with some good contributors no doubt). This is going to result in even larger piles of crap for the reviewing staff to deal with. What are the odds that that is going to help them do a more consistent job? What are the odds that SS will be able to do real quality control on reviewers if they need to hire a bunch more just to wade through the garbage that gets submitted?

I don't think this is the end of the microstock world (700 thousand new images per week will do that eventually). I just don't see how it actually improves anything except the numbers that upper management can sell to shareholders.
Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: Mantis on December 09, 2015, 08:49
The problem is not that the bar is high or the bar is low. The biggest problem is that the bar (for image reviews) is changing constantly depending on which reviewer you get. You can get an entire batch 100% rejected, resubmit and get them 100% accepted. Something is wrong with that.

If anyone can explain to me how reducing the initial review requirements is going to improve the review process, go ahead. What I see is that more submitters who really have no idea how to use their camera will be accepted (along with some good contributors no doubt). This is going to result in even larger piles of crap for the reviewing staff to deal with. What are the odds that that is going to help them do a more consistent job? What are the odds that SS will be able to do real quality control on reviewers if they need to hire a bunch more just to wade through the garbage that gets submitted?

I don't think this is the end of the microstock world (700 thousand new images per week will do that eventually). I just don't see how it actually improves anything except the numbers that upper management can sell to shareholders.


It won't. What I do believe is that their proprietary auto inspection software has been vetted (in their eyes anyway) and they feel that now they can take on more images with a lower scalable number of inspectors. That means the number of images inspected per inspector, overall, goes down (in pure time).

http://www.nasdaq.com/markets/ipos/filing.ashx?filingid=8226787 (http://www.nasdaq.com/markets/ipos/filing.ashx?filingid=8226787)

"Each of our images has been vetted by a member of our review team for standards of quality and relevance. We also leverage proprietary review technology to pre-filter images and enhance the productivity of our reviewers. Less than 20% of contributor applicants who applied in 2011 were approved as contributors to shutterstock.com, and less than 60% of images uploaded by approved contributors in 2011 satisfied our rigorous acceptance requirements. "

What's funny is that they are touting how much they reject. If they maintain these rejection numbers as a differentiator then they would need to have a higher flood of images to grow their collection and still claim high image rejection. The contributor application metric is out the door though. That will definitely change.
Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: Microstockphoto on December 09, 2015, 09:32
for a long time now it is clear to me that ss is talking from their asses, they do one thing and tell us something else, or ignore completely
Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: PaulieWalnuts on December 09, 2015, 09:34
The problem is not that the bar is high or the bar is low. The biggest problem is that the bar (for image reviews) is changing constantly depending on which reviewer you get. You can get an entire batch 100% rejected, resubmit and get them 100% accepted. Something is wrong with that.

If anyone can explain to me how reducing the initial review requirements is going to improve the review process, go ahead. What I see is that more submitters who really have no idea how to use their camera will be accepted (along with some good contributors no doubt). This is going to result in even larger piles of crap for the reviewing staff to deal with. What are the odds that that is going to help them do a more consistent job? What are the odds that SS will be able to do real quality control on reviewers if they need to hire a bunch more just to wade through the garbage that gets submitted?

I don't think this is the end of the microstock world (700 thousand new images per week will do that eventually). I just don't see how it actually improves anything except the numbers that upper management can sell to shareholders.


It won't. What I do believe is that their proprietary auto inspection software has been vetted (in their eyes anyway) and they feel that now they can take on more images with a lower scalable number of inspectors. That means the number of images inspected per inspector, overall, goes down (in pure time).

[url]http://www.nasdaq.com/markets/ipos/filing.ashx?filingid=8226787[/url] ([url]http://www.nasdaq.com/markets/ipos/filing.ashx?filingid=8226787[/url])

"Each of our images has been vetted by a member of our review team for standards of quality and relevance. We also leverage proprietary review technology to pre-filter images and enhance the productivity of our reviewers. Less than 20% of contributor applicants who applied in 2011 were approved as contributors to shutterstock.com, and less than 60% of images uploaded by approved contributors in 2011 satisfied our rigorous acceptance requirements. "

What's funny is that they are touting how much they reject. If they maintain these rejection numbers as a differentiator then they would need to have a higher flood of images to grow their collection and still claim high image rejection. The contributor application metric is out the door though. That will definitely change.


Agree. Based on that automated review statement it seems they're lowering the entry standards and letting the pre-filter software take on a higher volume of individual image screening. This makes sense because I'm sure there are plenty of people who produce decent work but get wholesale rejected on the application review due to some images being questionable. These people will now be let in and the pre-screening software will handle the review at the image level.

The result will be that these new contributors will reject themselves. Meaning, if the pre-screening software constantly rejects a high percentage of someone's submissions they'll either improve their work or will stop submitting.

I think this change simply means that SS has become confident enough in the pre-screen software that the entry review is no longer relevant.

So the image quality requirements may not have changed but this definitely will cause a spike in new image volume.   
Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: w7lwi on December 09, 2015, 13:05
Another possibility is that SS is positioning themselves for another sale.  They already have millions of images, so by admitting more contributors, they can claim they not only have many millions more images than their competition, but they now also have several times more contributors than all other agencies.  The combination of a gigantic portfolio and tens of thousands of contributors can appear appealing to potential buyers/investors.  Just one more supposition as what could motivate them to take this seemingly counterproductive action (to us contributors anyway).    :-\
Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: etudiante_rapide on December 09, 2015, 17:48
Agree. Based on that automated review statement it seems they're lowering the entry standards and letting the pre-filter software take on a higher volume of individual image screening. This makes sense because I'm sure there are plenty of people who produce decent work but get wholesale rejected on the application review due to some images being questionable. These people will now be let in and the pre-screening software will handle the review at the image level.

The result will be that these new contributors will reject themselves. Meaning, if the pre-screening software constantly rejects a high percentage of someone's submissions they'll either improve their work or will stop submitting.

I think this change simply means that SS has become confident enough in the pre-screen software that the entry review is no longer relevant.

So the image quality requirements may not have changed but this definitely will cause a spike in new image volume.

agree to all and before.
there is definitely an auto review based on some technical level, not sure what, but i suspect this is like the histogram we refer when we shoot to check if our exposure etc is good or now.
also there could be a reference as to each of our own ratio of approval vs rejection. those of us who edit ourselves have i am sure high ratio of approval, which will no doubt help us through the auto review.
those who have been complaining about 100% rejection etc could well be those who upload as many images daily as i do in months, or as someone mentioned here "gawd i don't even upload that many in a year, how do you manage to upload this many in a week"| or something like that.

the other thing is also, ss stand to lose out to adobe if they let some genius slip by with the 7/10. as i said before, we all know how bad we were at the beginning. .. or even the yuri arcurs,etc.
we know how easy it is to upload to fotolia (adobe), so to say adobe is the new ss, is absolute bollocks .

it's more about gaining new contributors and also keep the existing contributors who can change with the times. we all know the same old same old does not apply anymore.
because the clients have already got so many of those same old same old in their inventory
why would they be looking for more?  also, there could be a new market player in the globe
and north america may not be the main buyers now for ss.
so a new mentality could be needed if we intend to sell more or maintain our monthly sales figures.
Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: Alfa156Melb on December 10, 2015, 17:46

"It sends out a clear message that they are not interested in pro photographers at all. iStock seem to be coming to the same conclusion that pro's will migrate to Macro and the rest can be sold off cheap."

+1

The other thing SS has going for them (like other sites) is that they have A LOT of excellent contributors who simply don't pay attention to what's really happening or are in areas where a little money means a whole lot. That segment of suppliers probably isn't going away.  If everyone who knows what's happening were to pull their ports, it would not make much difference to the collection because there is plenty of good stuff to replace deletions. It unfortunate but it's a fact.

not sure which if i edited correctly , if not, sorry.
but this is the thing that seems to be prevelant here on msg. inconsistency .
what i mean is , only not long ago when rejections were high, many old guys were up with their pitchforks saying "the bar lifted too high already, for the kind of money you pay us".

so now, they lower the bar to very low, and still the voice is shouting saying "the bar is too low".

like cathy, i think , says, micro was never meant for "pros" using expensive cameras to shoot.
if not the cameras, but more the cost of production.  i also remember how someone also said we should be smarter at what we upload as it would be insane to upload works that cost an arm and a leg to produce.
but really, we all know it was never meant for any of us to be paid a lot of money from micro,
so we are flipping back and forth on our own expectation from ss.

i think until someone else comes along to give us as often dls and payout as ss,
i would hold my breath on going to macro or anyone who has not proven they can even be as
productive as dreamstime;  and we know how reliable that is.

looking on the right side, we still see all those long existing agencies still barely hitting past 30 .
so i won't be expecting anyone coming out or coming up to compete against ss.

for now, i will keep my own bar high, and use this lowering of the bar as a chance to actually
stand out above the rest. it's like the real world, you know.. when you see lots of ppl not caring about getting a good job. we still don't say, "oh... that's bad for me... if so many of them doing care
about aiming higher" . same applies to ss, you know. what worry what the others do...
it's really only us, what we do, if we earn more or less in 2016 with ss... with millions of 1/10 entries
and thousands of marijuanas ...
don't really matter anyway.
..should it???

Great comment.

I'm still new to Microstock having only been playing for 6 months or a bit less. I'm not all that good, but even so I'm making consistent sales here and with other sites so I'm happy.

If this does indeed lower the quality of SS content, it can only be good for those of us that are making sales and produce reasonable stuff.. we'll stand out more...

That said, it did stroke my ego getting accepted into SS - now it's no achievement at all.
Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: cathyslife on December 11, 2015, 13:50
Or they could be increasing the value of their premium service. The more junk there is to wade through the more sense it will make for buyers to pay the extra for help searching. We could even see the search engine get worse so they can keep the best algorithm for their own premium team.

Speaking of junk to wade through, SS isn't the only one with problems. There is 7+ pages of this. My search was for green and blue arrows.  ::)
Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: DrC on December 11, 2015, 14:54
This business is always good for the agencies and will gradually be bad for contributors. But there will come a day that it will blow up for everyone, agencies included. They know it and they will squeeze it all to the last drop.

- A couple years ago, allegedly, SS changed the search engine and search results so that images from newer contributors would show first than those from the older contributors already in the last .38 payment tier. As a result, me and many of us started to see that our new images uploaded were not being found and sold. Like this, SS would pay more commissions to the first tier than they would to the las tier. Less money paid, equally satisfied costumers.

- Many new contributors, happy with their sales, are motivated and keep uploading. Many last tier contributors, with good or great work, feel it's not worth to keep uploading because their new images don't sell. Many new contributors will reach the last tier one day too and will feel the same. SS doesn't give a s*it. There are always new contributors signing in every day.

-With this new 1/10 examination (LOL), hundreds or even thousands of no less than cellphone snapshooters will be able to build a portfolio of ...say... 10 images in one month. They will have one or two sales during the same time. Eventually they will give up because 0.50$ a month is not woth it to bother. These sales times hundreds or thousands of contributors that will not ever reach a payout, is always 100% profit for SS.

-One day, the quality of work will be so low that there will be no buyers interested and the business will collapse.

How am I doing as a profet? ;)
Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: noodle on December 11, 2015, 14:59
Or they could be increasing the value of their premium service. The more junk there is to wade through the more sense it will make for buyers to pay the extra for help searching. We could even see the search engine get worse so they can keep the best algorithm for their own premium team.

Speaking of junk to wade through, SS isn't the only one with problems. There is 7+ pages of this. My search was for green and blue arrows.  ::)

That is utterly pathetic
Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: Zero Talent on December 12, 2015, 10:00
This business is always good for the agencies and will gradually be bad for contributors. But there will come a day that it will blow up for everyone, agencies included. They know it and they will squeeze it all to the last drop.

- A couple years ago, allegedly, SS changed the search engine and search results so that images from newer contributors would show first than those from the older contributors already in the last .38 payment tier. As a result, me and many of us started to see that our new images uploaded were not being found and sold. Like this, SS would pay more commissions to the first tier than they would to the las tier. Less money paid, equally satisfied costumers.

- Many new contributors, happy with their sales, are motivated and keep uploading. Many last tier contributors, with good or great work, feel it's not worth to keep uploading because their new images don't sell. Many new contributors will reach the last tier one day too and will feel the same. SS doesn't give a s*it. There are always new contributors signing in every day.

-With this new 1/10 examination (LOL), hundreds or even thousands of no less than cellphone snapshooters will be able to build a portfolio of ...say... 10 images in one month. They will have one or two sales during the same time. Eventually they will give up because 0.50$ a month is not woth it to bother. These sales times hundreds or thousands of contributors that will not ever reach a payout, is always 100% profit for SS.

-One day, the quality of work will be so low that there will be no buyers interested and the business will collapse.

How am I doing as a profet? ;)

The free market "invisible hand" will always find ways connect offer and demand.

For example, if searching becomes an issue, professional searchers will appear as middle man between agencies and customers.
Or, if SS collapses, as long as there is demand for good photos, somebody else will emerge to occupy the vacuum.

The only question you should ask yourself is if you are willing or able to compete in a free market, crowdsourced business.

Sent from my SM-N910T using Tapatalk
Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: BigBubba on December 12, 2015, 11:05
Yes we can!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: etudiante_rapide on December 12, 2015, 11:08

Great comment.

I'm still new to Microstock having only been playing for 6 months or a bit less. I'm not all that good, but even so I'm making consistent sales here and with other sites so I'm happy.

If this does indeed lower the quality of SS content, it can only be good for those of us that are making sales and produce reasonable stuff.. we'll stand out more...

That said, it did stroke my ego getting accepted into SS - now it's no achievement at all.

welcome to the great anal mythology of making millions with micro  8)
which is partly true though ... ss make millions we make peanuts  ;D


seriously, i tell you i got in many years a go on 2nd try. but for many months although i got good ratio of approval my dls were not 7/10 at all. so really, it s not the 7/10 approval that is an achievement
but the 10/10 daily downloads that matters.
and as i said, even though these days i do get daily dls, i still manage to make millions of peanuts
cumulative..
so really, to walk around bragging we all got 7/10 or more to be with ss is really no big stuff
Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: stockastic on December 12, 2015, 13:26
This business is always good for the agencies and will gradually be bad for contributors. But there will come a day that it will blow up for everyone, agencies included. They know it and they will squeeze it all to the last drop.

- A couple years ago, allegedly, SS changed the search engine and search results so that images from newer contributors would show first than those from the older contributors already in the last .38 payment tier. As a result, me and many of us started to see that our new images uploaded were not being found and sold. Like this, SS would pay more commissions to the first tier than they would to the las tier. Less money paid, equally satisfied costumers.

- Many new contributors, happy with their sales, are motivated and keep uploading. Many last tier contributors, with good or great work, feel it's not worth to keep uploading because their new images don't sell. Many new contributors will reach the last tier one day too and will feel the same. SS doesn't give a s*it. There are always new contributors signing in every day.

-With this new 1/10 examination (LOL), hundreds or even thousands of no less than cellphone snapshooters will be able to build a portfolio of ...say... 10 images in one month. They will have one or two sales during the same time. Eventually they will give up because 0.50$ a month is not woth it to bother. These sales times hundreds or thousands of contributors that will not ever reach a payout, is always 100% profit for SS.

-One day, the quality of work will be so low that there will be no buyers interested and the business will collapse.

How am I doing as a profet? ;)

Except for the mis-spelling of "prophet" I would give you a score of 10 out of 10.   :-)
Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: YadaYadaYada on December 12, 2015, 21:25
This business is always good for the agencies and will gradually be bad for contributors. But there will come a day that it will blow up for everyone, agencies included. They know it and they will squeeze it all to the last drop.

- A couple years ago, allegedly, SS changed the search engine and search results so that images from newer contributors would show first than those from the older contributors already in the last .38 payment tier. As a result, me and many of us started to see that our new images uploaded were not being found and sold. Like this, SS would pay more commissions to the first tier than they would to the las tier. Less money paid, equally satisfied costumers.

- Many new contributors, happy with their sales, are motivated and keep uploading. Many last tier contributors, with good or great work, feel it's not worth to keep uploading because their new images don't sell. Many new contributors will reach the last tier one day too and will feel the same. SS doesn't give a s*it. There are always new contributors signing in every day.

-With this new 1/10 examination (LOL), hundreds or even thousands of no less than cellphone snapshooters will be able to build a portfolio of ...say... 10 images in one month. They will have one or two sales during the same time. Eventually they will give up because 0.50$ a month is not woth it to bother. These sales times hundreds or thousands of contributors that will not ever reach a payout, is always 100% profit for SS.

-One day, the quality of work will be so low that there will be no buyers interested and the business will collapse.

How am I doing as a profet? ;)

If review standards haven't changed, who gets to submit their rejected photos doesn't matter. The only changes I can tell is everybody can try to get their photos accepted/rejected, instead of wasting time passing a flawed and irrelevant 7 of 10 exam to get rejected. End of the broken exam to get in.

Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: Zero Talent on December 12, 2015, 22:33
This business is always good for the agencies and will gradually be bad for contributors. But there will come a day that it will blow up for everyone, agencies included. They know it and they will squeeze it all to the last drop.

- A couple years ago, allegedly, SS changed the search engine and search results so that images from newer contributors would show first than those from the older contributors already in the last .38 payment tier. As a result, me and many of us started to see that our new images uploaded were not being found and sold. Like this, SS would pay more commissions to the first tier than they would to the las tier. Less money paid, equally satisfied costumers.

- Many new contributors, happy with their sales, are motivated and keep uploading. Many last tier contributors, with good or great work, feel it's not worth to keep uploading because their new images don't sell. Many new contributors will reach the last tier one day too and will feel the same. SS doesn't give a s*it. There are always new contributors signing in every day.

-With this new 1/10 examination (LOL), hundreds or even thousands of no less than cellphone snapshooters will be able to build a portfolio of ...say... 10 images in one month. They will have one or two sales during the same time. Eventually they will give up because 0.50$ a month is not woth it to bother. These sales times hundreds or thousands of contributors that will not ever reach a payout, is always 100% profit for SS.

-One day, the quality of work will be so low that there will be no buyers interested and the business will collapse.

How am I doing as a profet? ;)

If review standards haven't changed, who gets to submit their rejected photos doesn't matter. The only changes I can tell is everybody can try to get their photos accepted/rejected, instead of wasting time passing a flawed and irrelevant 7 of 10 exam to get rejected. End of the broken exam to get in.

Fully agree. This is a logical move. Tougher review standards make the entry exam obsolete.

But what do you do with all these offended egos, who realized their SS contributor "badge of honor" means nothing :) ?
Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: Microstockphoto on December 13, 2015, 07:39
money sitting in an account is money ss cannot touch, i doubt it will be on their balance sheet as a credit, im 99% sure it is on the debit side. especially since they are a publicly traded company
Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: ShadySue on December 13, 2015, 08:56
If review standards haven't changed, who gets to submit their rejected photos doesn't matter. The only changes I can tell is everybody can try to get their photos accepted/rejected, instead of wasting time passing a flawed and irrelevant 7 of 10 exam to get rejected. End of the broken exam to get in.
Quote
Yadayadayada
Fully agree. This is a logical move. Tougher review standards make the entry exam obsolete.
Hmm, one opinion that SS review standards haven't changed and one opinion that the review standards are now tougher, when what I'm reading consistently for months now is that inspections are inconsistent and unpredictable.

Whatever, what benefit is it to either SS or contributors to have wannabes who can only get one out of ten images up to an arbitrary standard submitting their backlibrary? Either they'll be lowering their standards to match those of iStock, which would be a very poor move, or the substandard images will clog up the inspection process -expensive if humans are involved - and holding up acceptances for everyone. Lose all round.

I do see the value in them having lots of accepted files from new contributors who earn less. I wonder if the post above that SS want to sell training to the substandard newbies is really the reason behind this. Would it be worthwhile? I haven't a clue.
Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: Zero Talent on December 13, 2015, 11:37
Hmm, one opinion that SS review standards haven't changed and one opinion that the review standards are now tougher, when what I'm reading consistently for months now is that inspections are inconsistent and unpredictable.

Whatever, what benefit is it to either SS or contributors to have wannabes who can only get one out of ten images up to an arbitrary standard submitting their backlibrary? Either they'll be lowering their standards to match those of iStock, which would be a very poor move, or the substandard images will clog up the inspection process -expensive if humans are involved - and holding up acceptances for everyone. Lose all round.

I do see the value in them having lots of accepted files from new contributors who earn less. I wonder if the post above that SS want to sell training to the substandard newbies is really the reason behind this. Would it be worthwhile? I haven't a clue.
SS standards are tougher since quite a while now. Note the endless stream of complaints in this forum.
You can also call them inconsistent, if you want, because there are rejection errors, no doubt about it. I had my fair share of those.

The fact of the matter is that SS rejection rate is significantly higher than what it used to be, let's say, 1 year ago.

So no, the standards have not changed when the entry exam has been abolished, because tougher standards were already in place.

I believe it was a deliberate decision made by SS, aiming to improve the collection quality. It might work or not, but that policy change really happened some time ago (when they removed the "note to the reviewer", maybe?)
The side effect of that decision was a much tougher entry exam (call it unpredictable or inconsistent, if you like) than the one YOU had, when you got accepted. And that killed the flow of new contributors in the system.

It is obvious that a certain % of contributors, proud of their "SS contributor badge", might not pass a 7/10 exam, now (see those complaints about whole batches being rejected), especially since I believe that the entry exam implied at least two green lights from different reviewers.

If the rejection standards are kept high or further toughened, in SS eyes, there is no risk of extra quality dilution, even with the entry exam abolished.

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Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: ShadySue on December 13, 2015, 12:39
It is obvious that a certain % of contributors, proud of their "SS contributor badge", might not pass a 7/10 exam, now (see those complaints about whole batches being rejected), especially since I believe that the entry exam implied at least two green lights from different reviewers.
I also see, from here and elsewhere, people having whole batches rejected, the accepted again when resubmitted without changes.
That would drive me to drink.
Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: Zero Talent on December 13, 2015, 12:42
It is obvious that a certain % of contributors, proud of their "SS contributor badge", might not pass a 7/10 exam, now (see those complaints about whole batches being rejected), especially since I believe that the entry exam implied at least two green lights from different reviewers.
I also see, from here and elsewhere, people having whole batches rejected, the accepted again when resubmitted without changes.
That would drive me to drink.
Sure, but someone who got the very first batch of 10 rejected, had to wait for 3 weeks, before trying again. Why would that be fair? Why do you want this injustice for a "wannabe" who had submitted perfectly acceptable photos?


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Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: etudiante_rapide on December 13, 2015, 12:45
But what do you do with all these offended egos, who realized their SS contributor "badge of honor" means nothing :) ?

badge of honor do mean nothing. it's not how many gets approved, or how 7/10 8/10,,9/10,10/10
got us inside...
it's how many dls we get daily that counts.
everything else is just noise.

money sitting in an account is money ss cannot touch, i doubt it will be on their balance sheet as a credit, im 99% sure it is on the debit side. especially since they are a publicly traded company

correct, it is A/P so it is not considered as their money but money owing to be paid out.

this one we should not even pick on ss because this applies to every one to the right column of
this page. i don't know how many other agencies owe me $1 to $99 or whatever i haven't reached payout in years that i have forgotten and gave up on.
to say ss is bad for this, we have to say everyone is bad for that too...
from istock down to photaki (the last one on the list) inclusive.

sure, we say ss makes millions,... but the other sites too... if they have $1 owing to a million ppl
is also a million .
Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: stockastic on December 13, 2015, 12:47
Watch for their next quarterly report to boast about how many new 'contributors' they've signed up.  That's all this is about.
Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: ShadySue on December 13, 2015, 12:48
It is obvious that a certain % of contributors, proud of their "SS contributor badge", might not pass a 7/10 exam, now (see those complaints about whole batches being rejected), especially since I believe that the entry exam implied at least two green lights from different reviewers.
I also see, from here and elsewhere, people having whole batches rejected, the accepted again when resubmitted without changes.
That would drive me to drink.
Sure, but someone who got the very first batch of 10 rejected, had to wait for 3 weeks, before trying again. Why would that be fair? Why do you want this injustice for a "wannabe" who had submitted perfectly acceptable photos?
They should have the entrance exam at the same standard or slightly higher, than the normal acceptance standard. If they know what that is.
Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: Zero Talent on December 13, 2015, 12:54
It is obvious that a certain % of contributors, proud of their "SS contributor badge", might not pass a 7/10 exam, now (see those complaints about whole batches being rejected), especially since I believe that the entry exam implied at least two green lights from different reviewers.
I also see, from here and elsewhere, people having whole batches rejected, the accepted again when resubmitted without changes.
That would drive me to drink.
Sure, but someone who got the very first batch of 10 rejected, had to wait for 3 weeks, before trying again. Why would that be fair? Why do you want this injustice for a "wannabe" who had submitted perfectly acceptable photos?
They should have the entrance exam at the same standard or slightly higher, than the normal acceptance standard. If they know what that is.
There is no need for an entry exam, as long as every subsequent upload is an exam.

Somehow, you believe that a flawed review system becomes fair only when applied to "wannabes".
No it doesn't. It is the same.
Same reviewers review "wannabe" uploads, as well as "SS badge of honor" uploads.

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Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: ShadySue on December 13, 2015, 13:09
Somehow, you believe that a flawed review system becomes fair only when applied to "wannabes".
Where did I say that?
The review system apparently is flawed. That should be fixed and the entrance exam should match their standards.
It's no skin off my nose; I just keep an eye on what's going on elsewhere.
Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: panicAttack on December 13, 2015, 13:16
there should be new agency, image exclusive, slightly higher prices, for higher production and commercially higher quality images. Similar to stocksy,  but without that instagram retro look as requirement.

For high quality fashion, beauty, business, industry, medical, with many models in shoot or similar and also high quality landscape travel images (no snapshots taken from moving car). Also technically high standards in terms of focus, noise.

Most important of all, without those kind of crap images you have showed as example here. Same image with 100 different textual variation or things like that. It doesn't need to have 50 millions images, but to have high quality standard in terms mentioned above.

Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: BigBubba on December 13, 2015, 13:17

Watch for their next quarterly report to boast about how many new 'contributors' they've signed up.  That's all this is about.
True.


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Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: stockastic on December 13, 2015, 13:19
I can't see how anyone could spin a dropping of standards for new photographers, and the acceptance of tons of repetitious junk, as positives for a photo agency.  If you're thinking your photos will then look better by comparison, well, a needle looks nice and shiny compared to a haystack too.     

Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: Zero Talent on December 13, 2015, 13:36
Somehow, you believe that a flawed review system becomes fair only when applied to "wannabes".
Where did I say that?
The review system apparently is flawed. That should be fixed and the entrance exam should match their standards.
It's no skin off my nose; I just keep an eye on what's going on elsewhere.
I'm all for predictable, consistent and even tougher reviews for all uploads.
But again, this makes the initial "certification" obsolete.

This is the attitude I see from classic taxi drivers, asking governments to ban Uber, because their drivers are not certified, when every Uber customer systematically certifies every driver. And they do it much better than any government inspector.

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Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: ShadySue on December 13, 2015, 13:45
This is the attitude I see from classic taxi drivers, asking governments to ban Uber, because their drivers are not certified, when every Uber customer systematically certifies every driver. And they do it much better than any government inspector.

We don't have uber here, but I see a lot of problems reported due to their GPS, and I can understand that because our GPS systems often let us down. A driver who has done the knowledge might have a breakdown or get stuck in traffic, but they won't have problems with GPS. And certified drivers (here) are police checked and incidents with them (here) are very rare. I've read of attacks by uber drivers, e.g. http://www.whosdrivingyou.org/rideshare-incidents (http://www.whosdrivingyou.org/rideshare-incidents)
Also of interest: http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/uber-drivers-reveal-what-its-really-like-to-work-for-the-low-cost-taxi-company-a6769071.html (http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/uber-drivers-reveal-what-its-really-like-to-work-for-the-low-cost-taxi-company-a6769071.html)
Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: Zero Talent on December 13, 2015, 14:01
This is the attitude I see from classic taxi drivers, asking governments to ban Uber, because their drivers are not certified, when every Uber customer systematically certifies every driver. And they do it much better than any government inspector.

We don't have uber here, but I see a lot of problems reported due to their GPS, and I can understand that because our GPS systems often let us down. A driver who has done the knowledge might have a breakdown or get stuck in traffic, but they won't have problems with GPS. And certified drivers (here) are police checked and incidents with them (here) are very rare. I've read of attacks by uber drivers, e.g. [url]http://www.whosdrivingyou.org/rideshare-incidents[/url] ([url]http://www.whosdrivingyou.org/rideshare-incidents[/url])
Also of interest: [url]http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/uber-drivers-reveal-what-its-really-like-to-work-for-the-low-cost-taxi-company-a6769071.html[/url] ([url]http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/uber-drivers-reveal-what-its-really-like-to-work-for-the-low-cost-taxi-company-a6769071.html[/url])


When you'll get Uber, you will notice the difference, both in costs and quality.

What you don't read about or remember are the smelly cars and fully certified, but rude classic taxi drivers.
Somehow even those rude taxi drivers feel entitled to something, because they passed years ago, some certification.
I can understand they want job protection, but their job protection goes against consumers interrests.
Real competition drives quality up and costs down, not certifications.

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Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: etudiante_rapide on December 13, 2015, 14:03
It is obvious that a certain % of contributors, proud of their "SS contributor badge", might not pass a 7/10 exam, now (see those complaints about whole batches being rejected), especially since I believe that the entry exam implied at least two green lights from different reviewers.

If the rejection standards are kept high or further toughened, in SS eyes, there is no risk of extra quality dilution, even with the entry exam abolished.

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excellent comment. like the old drivers failing re-test due to failing eyesight, nerves, etc..that comes with old age  ;)
even that reviewer who sees everything as OOF or poor composition or wrong WB...
could do with an eye-examination  ;D
Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: Zero Talent on December 13, 2015, 16:22
We don't have uber here, but I see a lot of problems reported due to their GPS, and I can understand that because our GPS systems often let us down. A driver who has done the knowledge might have a breakdown or get stuck in traffic, but they won't have problems with GPS. And certified drivers (here) are police checked and incidents with them (here) are very rare. I've read of attacks by uber drivers, e.g. [url]http://www.whosdrivingyou.org/rideshare-incidents[/url] ([url]http://www.whosdrivingyou.org/rideshare-incidents[/url])
Also of interest: [url]http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/uber-drivers-reveal-what-its-really-like-to-work-for-the-low-cost-taxi-company-a6769071.html[/url] ([url]http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/uber-drivers-reveal-what-its-really-like-to-work-for-the-low-cost-taxi-company-a6769071.html[/url])


One more thing: you are relying on biased information from a website sponsored by TLPA.

We are an initiative of the Taxicab, Limousine & Paratransit Association (TLPA)

They don't like Uber's competition, and they spend lots of money lobbying against it.

Anyway, I have a different proposal. Let's go with what you want, and ask SS to re-instate that 7/10 admission criteria.
In the name of fairness, it should be identically applied to ALL uploads, including to those from previously "certified" SS  contributors.

So, if, by all actual standards, any "certified" contributor fails to get 7 out of the last 10 uploads accepted, a 3 weeks uploading ban should be automatically applied.

I can guarantee you that all "certified contributors" will think twice before trying their luck with borderline quality.
It will have a positive impact on the collection quality, addressing the main concern raised by this topic.

How does it sound?

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Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: ShadySue on December 13, 2015, 16:28
Anyway, I have a different proposal. Let's go with what you want, and ask SS to re-instate that 7/10 admission criteria.
I don't 'want' anything. I have no personal interest in SS.
I am puzzled by their inconsistent reviews, and bemused by the possibility of them lowering their standards to iStock's. That's all.
Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: PixelBytes on December 13, 2015, 17:56
I can't see how anyone could spin a dropping of standards for new photographers, and the acceptance of tons of repetitious junk, as positives for a photo agency.  If you're thinking your photos will then look better by comparison, well, a needle looks nice and shiny compared to a haystack too.   

I so agree!  Totally baffled anyone thinks this is a good idea for current contributors.   My money is on the quarterly report motive.
Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: Zero Talent on December 14, 2015, 10:00
Anyway, I have a different proposal. Let's go with what you want, and ask SS to re-instate that 7/10 admission criteria.
I don't 'want' anything. I have no personal interest in SS.
I am puzzled by their inconsistent reviews, and bemused by the possibility of them lowering their standards to iStock's. That's all.

Maybe I misread your statement and assumed that when you said "should have an entrance exam", it meant that you "want" an entrance exam. My bad, if you don't "want" an entrance exam.

They should have the entrance exam at the same standard or slightly higher, than the normal acceptance standard. If they know what that is.
Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: memakephoto on December 14, 2015, 10:51
This is a cost cutting maneuver pure and simple. Years ago they had to have human reviewers, that needed to be paid, to inspect each image for technical (and aesthetic) quality so they use the application test as a pre-screener to ensure that the submissions were at a certain standard.

By removing that test they know just as we all do that the flood gates will open for millions more images. They can't cut costs by hiring thousands of new reviewers but as has been stated, by me and many others in several threads, the technology exists, and is feasible, to pre-screen for the most common errors: focus, exposure, noise, white balance etc. using software. Software doesn't need to go on the payroll nor does it burn out from looking at crap all day.

Great cost cutting measure and great for people who own cameras and think they can make easy money. However as the old saying goes "you have to know the rules before you can break them" anyone trying to do anything other than the Yuri style of bright, generic stocky style of images may be in trouble.

Want to try some selective focus?
   Bot: [less than 41.42356% of image in acceptable focus: reject]

How about playing with the white balance for effect?
   Bot: [white balance is not at optimal: reject]

Maybe try to shoot something dark and moody?
   Bot: [histogram falls outside acceptable parameters: reject]

Time will tell but allowing so many images to be submitted by people who can't get more than 1 out of 10 past a human reviewer in the application will cost them a fortune in staffing unless they use pre-screening software which has no eye for aesthetics. Course I could be wrong :)
Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: stockastic on December 14, 2015, 11:13
Many of the new 'contributors' this change brings in will get discouraged very quickly and stop submitting; after that they cost SS nothing.
Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: Zero Talent on December 14, 2015, 11:18
This is a cost cutting maneuver pure and simple. Years ago they had to have human reviewers, that needed to be paid, to inspect each image for technical (and aesthetic) quality so they use the application test as a pre-screener to ensure that the submissions were at a certain standard.

By removing that test they know just as we all do that the flood gates will open for millions more images. They can't cut costs by hiring thousands of new reviewers but as has been stated, by me and many others in several threads, the technology exists, and is feasible, to pre-screen for the most common errors: focus, exposure, noise, white balance etc. using software. Software doesn't need to go on the payroll nor does it burn out from looking at crap all day.

Great cost cutting measure and great for people who own cameras and think they can make easy money. However as the old saying goes "you have to know the rules before you can break them" anyone trying to do anything other than the Yuri style of bright, generic stocky style of images may be in trouble.

Want to try some selective focus?
   Bot: [less than 41.42356% of image in acceptable focus: reject]

How about playing with the white balance for effect?
   Bot: [white balance is not at optimal: reject]

Maybe try to shoot something dark and moody?
   Bot: [histogram falls outside acceptable parameters: reject]

Time will tell but allowing so many images to be submitted by people who can't get more than 1 out of 10 past a human reviewer in the application will cost them a fortune in staffing unless they use pre-screening software which has no eye for aesthetics. Course I could be wrong :)

Valid points.

Nevertheless, it is hard to believe in a "flood" coming from people only able to pass 1/10 photos. I said it before, this is an endurance competition and many will give-up pretty soon, unable to cope with frustrations and low sales.

The "flood" is coming those "certified contributors" who uploaded 1 million tomato shots, 50.000 marijuana shots,  400.000 cloudscapes, 1.000.000 coffee shots, etc

But it is easier to blame others, to look down on beginners and call them "wannabes", than to acknowledge your own flaws.
Title: Re: Shutterstock will now accept new contributors with 1/10 passing review.
Post by: etudiante_rapide on December 14, 2015, 11:31
Valid points.

Nevertheless, it is hard to believe in a "flood" coming from people only able to pass 1/10 photos. I said it before, this is an endurance competition and many will give-up pretty soon, unable to cope with frustrations and low sales.

The "flood" is coming those "certified contributors" who uploaded 1 million tomato shots, 50.000 marijuana shots,  400.000 cloudscapes, 1.000.000 coffee shots, etc

But it is easier to blame others, to look down on beginners and call them "wannabees", than to acknowledge your own flaws.

excellent point yourself!!!  even those who do not belong to ss want a stringent entrance test...
i wonder why ;)
back to your point, looking from the thread on ss forum, you may be right, many 7/10-ers might not
pass the 1/10 test today ;D