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Poll

With new earning structure made by Shutterstock will you disable your portfolio?

Disable photo and video
130 (47.3%)
Disable only photo
15 (5.5%)
Disable only video
21 (7.6%)
Disable nothing
76 (27.6%)
Quit Shutterstock
33 (12%)

Total Members Voted: 263

Author Topic: With new earning structure made by Shutterstock will you disable your portfolio?  (Read 56470 times)

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« Reply #75 on: May 29, 2020, 07:03 »
+5

I'd imagine they looked at what happened when Getty shafted iStock. Some people left, some people became indie, some people stopped contributing but left their files onboard, some people joined. They're probably guessing the same will happen for them.

And be clear, after the Getty/iS fiasco, everyone was all over SS. Now lots of these same people are all over Adobe - just how long will they resist the 'profits above everything' scenario? (I have no crystal ball and don't offer an opinion on this, but some people on here were 'sure' that SS would never sink to Getty levels of grasping.) Kelly Thomson was tasked with increasing profit, and the new SS CEO has a similar remit. The suppliers are ususally the ones who are shafted, in retail and in stock.

I agree with you. People put now faith on Adobe and the story will repeat again in the future. Why? Adobe is a public stock that has to show growth and value for their investors. Right now they have an impressive growth because of their shift to subscription, but at some point this will slow down,stop or reverse and then you will have the pressure to look where to trim costs. If the main market competitors go away with a median of 20% to contributors why should they pay 35%. It only diminishes their competitive advantage.

The only real sustainable models are business like Stocksy or companies not on the stock market that care for long growth. The problem is that there are not many alternatives out there. Stocksy is a great business but with a restricted community of contributors. At some point I hope something similar comes out but not so much narrowed down in style and membership. Diverse but at the same time strict on content spamming that has hit Shutterstock for a long time.

Stcok is a very mature market with little growth. It has been tougher for a long time and this is only accelerating. Very little maneuvering possibilities.......


« Reply #76 on: May 29, 2020, 07:16 »
+3
Just be careful about disabling your images and videos I did that three days ago
and as a test tried to re-enable my portfolio yesterday and today and I'm just getting

"You have changed your settings too many times today. Please try again later"

Seems like once you disable they aren't letting you back in
Not my case.
Before disabling both photo & video portfolios I wanted to figure out how the system works, so I only disabled then re-enabled videos. It took about 36 hours for first and 48 h for second step, without any problem.
I compared the search ranking, before/after disabling,  of 3 files and the placement were better but it could be "new" file boost and not "real" ranking.
As I'm lazy and don't want to calculate my new commissions I will disable my portolios on 3rd of june to have some numbers before.

« Reply #77 on: May 29, 2020, 07:59 »
+3
So, how much is 15% of  three cents?

You know that's where they're going. 

Chichikov

« Reply #78 on: May 29, 2020, 10:08 »
+7
5000 contributors disabling a port of 5000 images on average is still only 7 or 8 % of the database, which is extremely competitive and loaded with similar images of the same subject anyhow. We can discuss how many contributors will leave and how big or small their portfolio's are, but don't think Shutterstock didn't do the math and didn't calculate the risk or effect. Plenty of people left who don't disable, and prefer earning less instead of getting nothing at all (some really need the money), and of course plenty of people left willing to sell out for 10$c commissions.

That said, gotta stay true to yourself, and for the sake of giving a message and easy my mind by little acts of protest, mine goes down on 1st of June.

Maybe you missed a crucial point here.
It's not 5000 contributors who will deactivate their portfolio, but 5000 of the most prominent contributors, because in the end those are the ones who have the most to lose, especially those who produce quality videos.
When Shutterstock has lost this quality content then the deal could change.

Do you think that top contributors will leave on 1st of June, or stop uploading, considering they are already in the higher earning tiers meaning the price cut hurts them less significantly? I don't think so. I think they will wait and see. They make business decisions based on facts and not on emotions, and disabling their ports will lead to an immediate and very significant loss in their income stream. Would be a foolish decision.

I'm not a top contributor, but if I was one, I would not pull out. I would try to adapt by finding an alternative without compromising my income stream more than necessary. Additionally, as a top contributor, I would think I have a bit more leverage than many others and I would have the guts to contact their account management and try to make a better deal for myself. I can hardly imagine that top contributors (which are companies themselves) are not already having a different agreement or receive special treatments.

I agree with you on the risk of SS losing quality content in the long term, but long term thinking is not what stock market listed companies care about.
Their only concern is the next quarterly result.

EDIT: of course, I hope I'm wrong, and some top contributors stand up and call SS out on their crap by hurting them where they feel it the most: loss in content, loss in customers, loss in earnings and a horrible reputation as cherry on the sour cake.

I am one of those who think it would probably be wiser to wait a month to see how things really look and how they evolve.
But I am also one of those who give meaning to the word "solidarity", and for me solidarity is more valuable than money.
For this reason, the first of June, I will disable my whole portfolio.

(The real question now is: for how much time?)

« Reply #79 on: May 29, 2020, 10:47 »
0
People keep saying (hoping) that customers will go to Adobe. They will go to Istock and Getty, unfortunately. There is bigger possibility for that, it's a bigger stock company.

« Reply #80 on: May 29, 2020, 11:22 »
0
So once you opt out of sales... is there is any chance SS can still make your images available to the clients? What happens if images were lightboxed or they were already hoping / planning to use some of them for upcoming projects?

If I opt out sales - will the completely shut down the possibility of the clients acquiring the images?

Also do you think they can do anything regarding payouts if you reach the threshold and opt out today?

Does anything think they will remove the opt out options in the settings?

SpaceStockFootage

  • Space, Sci-Fi and Astronomy Related Stock Footage

« Reply #81 on: May 29, 2020, 22:14 »
+1
People keep saying (hoping) that customers will go to Adobe. They will go to Istock and Getty, unfortunately. There is bigger possibility for that, it's a bigger stock company.

Why would they go anywhere?

« Reply #82 on: May 30, 2020, 00:12 »
+3
I will disable my portfolio June 1st. I haven't uploaded much lately for other reasons, but I won't upload anything to SS.

In addition to tweets about the change, I thought I'd also try highlighting images that would be #GoneJune1 as part of #boycottShutterstock. I haven't put links to Adobe Stock in tweets yet, but might mix tweets about #Shutterstock slashing royalties with "go here instead" messages.

https://twitter.com/joannsnover/status/1265672584315547649

I think the messaging should be simple - to try and get the general point across. Especially on twitter, you don't want lengthy explanations of the details.

https://twitter.com/joannsnover/status/1265693477007851521
Jo Ann, as far as I know, this vector set of mine: https://www.shutterstock.com/image-vector/vector-set-calligraphic-design-elements-page-65754793 still is Shutterstock's most often sold image *ever*. (32,956 downloads so far on a single file.) And I'm going to disable it (and several others) on the first of June. Feel free to use this any way you want - both info and image! :)
« Last Edit: May 30, 2020, 10:34 by Anja_Kaiser »

« Reply #83 on: May 30, 2020, 02:03 »
+6
People keep saying (hoping) that customers will go to Adobe. They will go to Istock and Getty, unfortunately. There is bigger possibility for that, it's a bigger stock company.
No they won't go to Istock, because they can't get my amazing files there  8) ;D

Chichikov

« Reply #84 on: May 30, 2020, 02:19 »
0
People keep saying (hoping) that customers will go to Adobe. They will go to Istock and Getty, unfortunately. There is bigger possibility for that, it's a bigger stock company.

Right. Most of the contributors take their desires for a reality...

I know different people who went from Shutterstock to iStock, not Adobe.
Buyers go where they think it's more convenient for them, and frankly they don't give a dаmn about our "little problems" as contributors!
« Last Edit: May 30, 2020, 02:21 by Chichikov »

SA

« Reply #85 on: May 30, 2020, 02:29 »
+2
Yeah i will quit shutterstock on June 1st, 3500 photos they will never see again.... We need to send a strong message! Im doing quite well on Adobe, Deposit Photos and Pond5 so wont be such a big deal and wasn't going to get so much from Shutterstock now anyways...

« Reply #86 on: May 30, 2020, 03:37 »
+4
Originally I did not want to turn off my port, but now I will turn off video on June 1 for 15 days in protest. I will keep photos on initially to get some information and maybe will turn that off later. Or on June 15 make a switch, turn on video but turn off photos, we will see.

Beyond the whole reset to zero thing every year, what really gets me is the cruelty of abruptly cutting peoples income in the middle of a pandemic and global recession.

Many creatives have lost all their income from shooting weddings and events, have absoluely no graphic design projects left...etc...and in many countries there is no state run social security network.

The income from stock ports is the only income for many families struggeling in a horrible crisis.

Dreamstime is a tiny company but they have decided to support their creatives.

A huge company like SS that can easily pay out dividends, has good cash flow etc...they are the ones taking more of our income.


« Reply #87 on: May 30, 2020, 03:47 »
+5
I just clicked the box (I have only photos) hoping I'm out June 1.

4000 images, about $100,000 of lifetime earnings in 12 or 13 years. Makes me sad, but this is for the better. I did like Shuttertock, but now the feeling is gone... breaks my heart. I really hope a lot of contributors will do this, it would send SS and other agencies a signal. And if the buyers move somewhere like Adobe Stock or Alamy I wouldn't mind a bit.

Lately I have made only about $250 to $300 per month there (at best I used to make over $1,000 per month), after the new royalties I would most likely make just a $100 per month, so it's not that big of a deal to give that up.

I do leave the back door open, if people report the same earnings (or more! not likely!) I will return.
« Last Edit: May 30, 2020, 03:54 by Perry »

Justanotherphotographer

« Reply #88 on: May 30, 2020, 03:57 »
+4
I will disable my portfolio June 1st. I haven't uploaded much lately for other reasons, but I won't upload anything to SS.

In addition to tweets about the change, I thought I'd also try highlighting images that would be #GoneJune1 as part of #boycottShutterstock. I haven't put links to Adobe Stock in tweets yet, but might mix tweets about #Shutterstock slashing royalties with "go here instead" messages.

https://twitter.com/joannsnover/status/1265672584315547649

I think the messaging should be simple - to try and get the general point across. Especially on twitter, you don't want lengthy explanations of the details.

https://twitter.com/joannsnover/status/1265693477007851521

Jo Ann, as far as I know, this vector set of mine: https://www.shutterstock.com/image-vector/vector-set-calligraphic-design-elements-page-65754793 still is Shutterstock's most often sold image *ever*. (32,956 downloads so far on a single file.) And I'm going to disable it (and several others) on the first of June. Feel free to use this any way you want - both info and image! :)
I think this could get lost because of a typo making it all look like a quote and hiding Anja_Kaiser's response.

Just wanted to highlight it and say thanks to one of microstock's all time best selling artists!

Snow

« Reply #89 on: May 30, 2020, 05:18 »
+6
People keep saying (hoping) that customers will go to Adobe. They will go to Istock and Getty, unfortunately. There is bigger possibility for that, it's a bigger stock company.

Right. Most of the contributors take their desires for a reality...

I know different people who went from Shutterstock to iStock, not Adobe.
Buyers go where they think it's more convenient for them, and frankly they don't give a dаmn about our "little problems" as contributors!

And again what makes you think all agencies offer the same quality/concept/style or buyers don't care?

If all of us move to Adobe or any other agency besides iStock buyers will have to follow because they won't find what they are looking for at iStock.

It's weird that some of you think we're all robots providing the same stuff. There are a lot of contributors out there who have very high quality, unique concepts, etc whom cannot be replaced or replicated that easily.

Say I'm looking for a certain Beatles album at this store but can't find it, Will I go "Oh well I'll just get this other Beatles album then, or maybe even this Rolling Stones album instead since they don't have any Beatles".
Or will I check out this other store, maybe even pay a bit more and get an annoying sales person behind the counter but still get the Beatles album I wanted!

Now I know in Microstock buyers won't be that picky but do you know for sure? There are buyers out there that will only search the first few pages, maybe even first few rows because they are on a deadline or budget but certainly not all of them.
The high sales we get are from those who are looking for that certain Beatles album and to me those are the sales that count the most!

Imagine if we would single out a lot of agencies so there's almost no possibility anymore for buyers to shop elsewhere. Do you think they would stop buying? No they would follow even if it's more expensive or a worse experience then they are accustomed to.

We have to stop acting like hopeless victims that have no say in all this. I also see too many people going at each other while they don't realize we're all in the same boat, well most of us anyway. You also have to separate the groupies from the rest because those people will misguide you. Some of us also have to stop acting like little schoolgirls and make the right decision, together. Again guide the buyers, don't go spreading around like a bunch of zombies. Think it trough!

I will never forget Dreamstime because they sold my very fist stock image. I have left them a long time ago because of reviews (too strict similar policy at that time) and very low sales. Now they announced 10% extra. Does that mean I will jump on them? no because this won't have much effect on my earnings, to fill the gap SS will create. For me, and I repeat in my situation Adobe has the most potential to replace SS in earnings so my focus is on them. Sales ares till low because buyers haven't been guided properly yet. If we spread around like headless chickens then Adobe will never take off.
If I go join all the others again and spread my work around I'm not doing myself any favors and I will eventually be in the same situation as I am now. Dreamstime could be great, as any other agency but we still have to be realistic about it.
If you want to talk about contributor friendly agencies then GLStock (Graphic Leftovers) was the king but we never gave them a chance because we were too busy spreading our work around.

I'm not taking less then 30% from any agency (micro, macro, boutique, POD, etc) and that's it. Shutterstock has the right to do whatever they want and I respect that but so do I.
If Adobe or any other agency decides to cut my royalties to 29% tomorow then I'm out too, it's that simple. Do I have that luxury? hell no but I will still do it!

Take care peeps and at least make it a great weekend, do some other stuff besides stock to get your mind of things, I will do the same. We'll see what happens next week!

« Reply #90 on: May 30, 2020, 05:31 »
+4
You are right. They don't give a * about contributors,nor do they care a coma about Shutter Istock or blablastock, they only follow our content. That is the only thing that matters. Istock/Getty lost its predominant position not because of prices or because they weren't the coolest kid in the neighbourhood anymore. They lost it because clients could find similar content anywhere else. Once P5 or Adobe have a better selection of content at attractive prices Shutter will loose their leadership too. Give it time and it will happen.

Their bosses will get their nice fat bonuses the same as Hellman & Friedman sucked Getty dry. But if I had to bet on Shutter in a 5 years timeframe my position would be definitely bearish.........Once you f.ck up your suppliers in such a disripectful way they have done trust is broken forever and people will move out the same way they did with Getty.

People keep saying (hoping) that customers will go to Adobe. They will go to Istock and Getty, unfortunately. There is bigger possibility for that, it's a bigger stock company.

Right. Most of the contributors take their desires for a reality...

I know different people who went from Shutterstock to iStock, not Adobe.
Buyers go where they think it's more convenient for them, and frankly they don't give a dаmn about our "little problems" as contributors!

« Reply #91 on: May 30, 2020, 05:39 »
+1
People keep saying (hoping) that customers will go to Adobe. They will go to Istock and Getty, unfortunately. There is bigger possibility for that, it's a bigger stock company.

Why would they go anywhere?
Well, we hope they will. Because the whole idea behind boycott is to reduce a stream of fresh content on SS, so customers realize they can find better files elsewhere, and go. Haven't you realized that yet?
We also hope it will be Adobe. But, if it turns out to be Istock, the whole sacrifice and effort would be for someone elses benefit (istock and Istock exclusives). That would be almost tragicomical.
« Last Edit: May 30, 2020, 05:46 by pics2 »


« Reply #92 on: May 30, 2020, 06:01 »
+4
I have been looking at the weekly uploads to SS. Usually they get over 2 million new photos every week.

At the moment it is 1.2 million.

I wonder if those who do not want to disable ports are perhaps ready to simply withhold uploads for a while?

Many people really need the income and prbably cannot afford to just shut of their ports with 6 days notice.

But withholding content for now and to bring that upload number visibly down, should be an easier sacrifice.

Also might bring some reality to out of touch admins who think the 1.2 million producer community is made up of upload monkeys that automatically upload no matter what the situation.

Overall agencies that pay badly, get very little content and and thenproducer community shifts upload streams very rationally and quickly elsewhere.

The customers tend to follow.

I sincerly hope SS can be made to see that cutting income drastically in the middle of a pandemic is not a good business move and bringing on an international online crap storm against their own company not an effictient marketing tool.

They should  just drop the new rate card, keep things as they are and revisit that idea middle of next year, when corona is over.


Look at the bottom of image home or footage home

https://www.shutterstock.com/

Chichikov

« Reply #93 on: May 30, 2020, 06:38 »
+1
People keep saying (hoping) that customers will go to Adobe. They will go to Istock and Getty, unfortunately. There is bigger possibility for that, it's a bigger stock company.

Right. Most of the contributors take their desires for a reality...

I know different people who went from Shutterstock to iStock, not Adobe.
Buyers go where they think it's more convenient for them, and frankly they don't give a dаmn about our "little problems" as contributors!

And again what makes you think all agencies offer the same quality/concept/style or buyers don't care? []

So, if we are speaking about microstock:
- Maybe the fact that most of the contributors have their images on at least 5 different platforms?
- Maybe the fact that no one is irreplaceable?

You know I have worked for decades for magazines and advertising agencies, as Art director, and when we couldn't find what we were looking for somewhere, we'd look for it somewhere else, and we'd (almost) always find it... it's as simple as that.
In cases where it was impossible to find a specific image, a photographer or illustrator was hired to do it.

When you get into the microstock business as a contributor, the first thing you have to do is stop thinking that you're the center of the world...

« Reply #94 on: May 30, 2020, 08:01 »
0
People keep saying (hoping) that customers will go to Adobe. They will go to Istock and Getty, unfortunately. There is bigger possibility for that, it's a bigger stock company.

Right. Most of the contributors take their desires for a reality...

I know different people who went from Shutterstock to iStock, not Adobe.
Buyers go where they think it's more convenient for them, and frankly they don't give a dаmn about our "little problems" as contributors!

And again what makes you think all agencies offer the same quality/concept/style or buyers don't care? []

So, if we are speaking about microstock:
- Maybe the fact that most of the contributors have their images on at least 5 different platforms?
- Maybe the fact that no one is irreplaceable?

You know I have worked for decades for magazines and advertising agencies, as Art director, and when we couldn't find what we were looking for somewhere, we'd look for it somewhere else, and we'd (almost) always find it... it's as simple as that.
In cases where it was impossible to find a specific image, a photographer or illustrator was hired to do it.

When you get into the microstock business as a contributor, the first thing you have to do is stop thinking that you're the center of the world...

Right. No one in this scene is irreplaceable. How I see it: customers are trying to find an image (or video) that helps them tell their story which is very seldom one very specific image. Shutterstock's database is meanwhile loaded with plenty of similar images about nearly every topic that's commercially relevant. They can take that hit. In fact, as someone mentioned before, a cleaner and less saturated database might actually be a good thing for as well customers (less floundering through similar images), remaining contributors (less competition, higher download volumes) and Shutterstock itself (more customer satisfaction, less operational costs in forms of storage and reviewing capacity).

That said, we'll have to wait and see how it turns out in the long term, because newer trends might suffer from less uploading to Shutterstock. I'm wondering how iStock/Getty database is really impacted by this. Crafted Shutter's channel (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwoU327B927MD49NNf16gxw/videos) mentioned this briefly in one of his video's, by claiming that newer trends are underrepresented on iStock/Getty compared to other agencies.

Snow

« Reply #95 on: May 30, 2020, 09:22 »
+3
Are we the center of the world? not by a mile!

Are we the center of Microstock? you bet we are!

SS can take a hit? good for them!
Can those high earners take a hit because you seem to forget on Jan 1st each year it's a reset for everyone, back to square one, well according to SS anyway because I know deals are being made between contributors and agencies, hell I even made one myself way back when I was still with a certain agency.

Stop acting like Cattle!

« Reply #96 on: May 30, 2020, 09:27 »
+1
Are we the center of the world? not by a mile!

Are we the center of Microstock? you bet we are!

SS can take a hit? good for them!
Can those high earners take a hit because you seem to forget on Jan 1st each year it's a reset for everyone, back to square one, well according to SS anyway because I know deals are being made between contributors and agencies, hell I even made one myself way back when I was still with a certain agency.

Stop acting like Cattle!


Except those high earners arent in the same class as the rest of the herd. They have leverage, and their earnings wont get reset because yes, they will make special deals. Shutterstock is culling the herd.

Snow

« Reply #97 on: May 30, 2020, 09:37 »
+1
Are we the center of the world? not by a mile!

Are we the center of Microstock? you bet we are!

SS can take a hit? good for them!
Can those high earners take a hit because you seem to forget on Jan 1st each year it's a reset for everyone, back to square one, well according to SS anyway because I know deals are being made between contributors and agencies, hell I even made one myself way back when I was still with a certain agency.

Stop acting like Cattle!
Except those high earners arent in the same class as the rest of the herd. They have leverage, and their earnings wont get reset because yes, they will make special deals. Shutterstock is culling the herd.

Which brings me back to why some of you think these high earners or factories got everything covered? similar quality, concept, style, location, models, editorial? close is good enough? They also have the capability to get into people's minds and copy their thoughts? I don't feel threatened by these factories or high earners because I know they copy but only get halfway. Halfway might be good for some buyers but far from good to others.

Anyway I've told people to take some time off from this mess so I will take my own advice ;)

Have a great weekend peeps n take care!
« Last Edit: May 30, 2020, 09:48 by Snow »

« Reply #98 on: May 30, 2020, 10:35 »
+2
I will disable my portfolio June 1st. I haven't uploaded much lately for other reasons, but I won't upload anything to SS.

In addition to tweets about the change, I thought I'd also try highlighting images that would be #GoneJune1 as part of #boycottShutterstock. I haven't put links to Adobe Stock in tweets yet, but might mix tweets about #Shutterstock slashing royalties with "go here instead" messages.

https://twitter.com/joannsnover/status/1265672584315547649

I think the messaging should be simple - to try and get the general point across. Especially on twitter, you don't want lengthy explanations of the details.

https://twitter.com/joannsnover/status/1265693477007851521

Jo Ann, as far as I know, this vector set of mine: https://www.shutterstock.com/image-vector/vector-set-calligraphic-design-elements-page-65754793 still is Shutterstock's most often sold image *ever*. (32,956 downloads so far on a single file.) And I'm going to disable it (and several others) on the first of June. Feel free to use this any way you want - both info and image! :)
I think this could get lost because of a typo making it all look like a quote and hiding Anja_Kaiser's response.

Just wanted to highlight it and say thanks to one of microstock's all time best selling artists!
Thanks for the heads-up! Just edited the original one. :)

« Reply #99 on: May 30, 2020, 10:53 »
+4
My video sales this year on Pond5 platform are 3x higher than on SS. Therefore, deleting all my videos from SS and moving to Pond5 Exclusive instead of accepting reduced pay rate of 15% makes sense to me.

On the other hand, my photo contributor level currently is 4 with pay rate of 30% and potentially 35% by the end of the year, therefore I will keep my portfolio active  :-\


 

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