Shutterstock

I wonder how the music side of things is affected...anyone ever sell music on SS?

Since I'm a still photographer who makes the occasional video clip, I'd like to think that the purchase of P5 by SS might be good for photo sales, which are currently dismal here (unfortunately). Somehow, though, I think that quite the opposite will happen -- i.e. our images and videos will eventually end up on SS selling for pennies. Hopefully I'm wrong about this, but It's difficult to envision another scenario since SS probably just wants to gobble up P5's content. What other reason could there be for the purchase?

I just cant see SS sticking to the very fair Pond5/contributer model - I will not sign up to any future changes in a contract that removes my ability to set my own prices. As soon as this happens then i'm gone & will remove my portfolio. There is absolutely no way I can stomach seeing my hard work & effort sold for pennies.

I have more than 6 thousands of visuals in my portfolio (and much more to upload). I will delete my account and search for a new platform to work in case I lose 1% of my exclusive 60 or the right to set my own prices (and I Know I m not the only one). We built pond5 and we will take it down if it turns to an unfair place like SS. So no worries, I m sure there will be new ways to sell our media and get paid well.

I just deleted 1500 files from my portfolio. It was sad but I don't want to work with shutterstock.
Thank you all for destroying the platform without asking the members.

Good day all, just wanted to dive into this from the FAQ ..

Will my content now appear on Shutterstock?
We expect to distribute some content through Shutterstock’s marketplace. If your Pond5 content is distributed through Shutterstock, you will still receive payment through Pond5 (the same way our other reseller partnerships function).

Note the word "some" in my mind here is how that works, if you, like me, upload to both, videos and images and those images and videos were rejected on SS and accepted on Pond 5 then I am sure SS will use those same filters. Not everyone is looking for realistic editorial content and often gets shot down on SS, I have 7500 plus videos online on Pond 5, I have 2 accounts, I have 1300 on SS, so I imagine nothing will change for me, SS still says my videos suck but the buyers on Pond 5 disagree.

That is the reason I doubt much will change here, if anything we get more exposure.

As good as iPhone cameras are now, it is a tougher environment. I say this because most of the media I sell is from my iPhone 12. Anyone can get these shots with access. However, access is still king, not everyone can access what I can and vice versa so my words of wisdom are film extremely unique clips that only YOU can film, well for the most part but it's unlikely many around you are doing this. I live in a large city and I am almost the only one who has bothered to document it.
I can go on and on and I may in a video later but for now I am not going to overreact and cut myself short on cash flow baby.. I GOT to have all of it!

Did you know SS also owns Bigstock? Yep It is a complete different experience for me on both, different sales and all.

The FAQ about this partnership is here.. https://contributor.pond5.com/2022/05/11/everything-you-need-to-know-about-pond5-shutterstock/


GLWS
Billy

Thanks for the link, Billy. The info is a bit vague, so I guess we'll just have to wait and see what happens next.

If any P5 content is distributed via SS's portal, then it will be at the mercy of the very wide pricing structure which SS currently operates. Yes, there are single downloads still to be had, which will often net the contributor $20 plus. However, plenty of SS sales nowadays are subscriptions, which typically earn the contributor just a couple of dollars.

But, putting the occasional single download plus subscription sales to one side, this leaves videos which are bought to be played back - possibly multiple times - within a buyer's third party system - but which can't be downloaded. SS refers to these as API sales, and they net the contributor a flat $0.25 each. If the past couple of years since SS unveiled its new initiatives is anything to go by, those API sales are proving to be much more prolific than single downloads and subscription sales.

So, in short, videos which sell on the P5 platform, which generally net the contributor tens of dollars, might easily be sold for $0.25 if they also appear on the SS platform. This assumes that SS does not take steps to avoid this happening.

There is no legal way for a p5 media appearing in SS without an all new agreement be signed, especially with different prices and license. This is is why
SS will need to make one with p5 contributors. SS bought a business of uploading and selling media (with the existing terms) Not the media. There are no contributors that will accept to sell their work with different terms without their permission. And if there are, I’m not one of them.

Interestingly enough has Bigstock also abysmal ratings at Trustpilot, just like Shutterstock, while Pond5's ratings until now were very positive. They re not only scamming their contributors (without whom they wouldn't have a business) but also their customers. Hopefully the new CEO will try to change that...