Jump to content

Recommended Posts

Having listened to the CEO in his latest video about the proposed changes in the Alamy commission structure and his positioning of Alamy as a Tier 2 stock agency as distinct from Tier 1.He styled Alamy as the only agency in Tier 2 that is not an outright Micro Stock agency. By inference then Alamy carries what is considered to be MicroStock content. What is Microstock and what makes Alamy.

 

A Wikipedia definition is that "Microstock photography,[citation needed] also known as micropayment photography, is a part of the stock photography industry. What defines a company as a microstock photography company is that they (1) source their images almost exclusively via the Internet, (2) do so from a wider range of photographers than the traditional stock agencies (including a willingness to accept images from "amateurs" and hobbyists), and (3) sell their images at a very low rate (from US$0.20 to $10 in the US) for a royalty-free (RF) image"

 

If this is an accutate description or definition does the recent shift in commission payments suggest a drift in Alamy towards becoming more microstock orientated.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

15 hours ago, Futterwithtrees said:

Having listened to the CEO in his latest video about the proposed changes in the Alamy commission structure and his positioning of Alamy as a Tier 2 stock agency as distinct from Tier 1.He styled Alamy as the only agency in Tier 2 that is not an outright Micro Stock agency. By inference then Alamy carries what is considered to be MicroStock content. What is Microstock and what makes Alamy.

 

A Wikipedia definition is that "Microstock photography,[citation needed] also known as micropayment photography, is a part of the stock photography industry. What defines a company as a microstock photography company is that they (1) source their images almost exclusively via the Internet, (2) do so from a wider range of photographers than the traditional stock agencies (including a willingness to accept images from "amateurs" and hobbyists), and (3) sell their images at a very low rate (from US$0.20 to $10 in the US) for a royalty-free (RF) image"

 

If this is an accutate description or definition does the recent shift in commission payments suggest a drift in Alamy towards becoming more microstock orientated.

 

I believe that definition is incomplete. I would add that a microstock agency is one that offers a monthly/yearly subscription service. I believe Alamy rolled something out at certain regions but unless they do a complete implementation they won't strictly be a microstock agency. Also the fact they offer the option of RM leads me to conclude that they aren't MS....yet!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Perhaps the real question is whether Alamy can define Alamy? 

The initial idea of an unedited collection with no curation was never sustainable. The result would be picture buyers trawling through thousands of similar and unsuitable images, becoming frustrated and heading to the big G. As this became a reality Alamy headed down both the subscription and semi-microstock routes in it's search for profitability, cutting prices and reducing it's viability for contributors in the wake. To continue this route is pure folly.

If Alamy would like to remain viable then they must amend their business model to curate the collection, assess every submitted image at least for saleability as other agencies do, weed out the crap (have been doing my own weeding recently), decide exactly where they want to be in the market, and grow some nuts - unreported use and image theft is pretty much tolerated if not accepted at Alamy.

To penalize suppliers for your lack of a clear business model is just not on.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Its good question, I think they are trying to work that out themselves and I also suspect they know a number of lower tier agencies are about to go to the wall again and Alamy themselves has less than stellar growth in income terms (2 to 3% a year). My decision has been made - I am retiring from stock (I left G last year as well) but being in that situation I tend to look at Alamy in an eye without prejudice (even though with some disappointment). 

I may be completely wrong but their latest move may have been to set their sails on a course that would distinguish them (maybe even their future survival).

 

What will Alamy have to become to survive is another question we need to consider.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 12/5/2018 at 21:40, Joe Gaul said:

Perhaps the real question is whether Alamy can define Alamy? 

The initial idea of an unedited collection with no curation was never sustainable. The result would be picture buyers trawling through thousands of similar and unsuitable images, becoming frustrated and heading to the big G. As this became a reality Alamy headed down both the subscription and semi-microstock routes in it's search for profitability, cutting prices and reducing it's viability for contributors in the wake. To continue this route is pure folly.

If Alamy would like to remain viable then they must amend their business model to curate the collection, assess every submitted image at least for saleability as other agencies do, weed out the crap (have been doing my own weeding recently), decide exactly where they want to be in the market, and grow some nuts - unreported use and image theft is pretty much tolerated if not accepted at Alamy.

To penalize suppliers for your lack of a clear business model is just not on.

 

 

Self-curation is probably the hardest part to get right. After all these years I'm constantly wrong in terms what I believe will sell well and what won't ever sell - perhaps others are better, but I'm utter crap at it - so my self imposed bar for submission is relatively low and I often see that images that I questioned for submission making sales - no rhyme no reason. So I agree that curation is important, that the open floodgates can be detrimental, but I don't know whom to trust to do the curation accurately, perhaps not the task of a human...which leads me on to

 

Most other (major) places have gone towards less and less curation, or automatised it. I do think AI/Machine Learning will be a great tool eventually in situations like this, offering personalised tailored search results - imagine it yourself, a search that gets to know you better and better in terms style, locality etc. that you're interested in and serves you up better and better results the more you use it/over time - an AI picture researcher. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Alamy is micro-stock! with a slight plus!..they cut commissions to be on par with micro-stock and they even snatch micro-stock photographers from forums like the MSG etc, etc!

 

I'm not worried but if I had 10.000 images plus!  yeah they I would be REALLY!!  woriied!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

16 hours ago, christian58 said:

Alamy is micro-stock! with a slight plus!..they cut commissions to be on par with micro-stock and they even snatch micro-stock photographers from forums like the MSG etc, etc!

 

I'm not worried but if I had 10.000 images plus!  yeah they I would be REALLY!!  woriied!

 

Chris, we both know that there is no meaning to the label "microstock" anymore. It used to be the crowdsourcing + low prices, whilst now they all are more or less crowd source and certainly all venture into what used to be regarded as microstock pricing - so Alamy is as much microstock as the traditional behemoth, as well as the young clueless one that doesn't know what to do with it's money.

 

For what it is worth at least RPD is higher (for me) here than elsewhere, which I choose to interpret as a much needed resistance/attempt from Alamy's side to completely give in and race to the bottom in terms of pricing. The ones with more clout could have done more in this area, but total greed on their behalf prevented that. So call me a fanboy or whatever, but in terms of being most aligned with my interests I find Alamy, the same for the feeling of respect, element of humanity and very important to me (control freak) the ability to have full control over my images and it's metadata.

 

Best! /Fox

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 2018-12-08 at 10:25, Martin Carlsson said:

 

Self-curation is probably the hardest part to get right. After all these years I'm constantly wrong in terms what I believe will sell well and what won't ever sell - perhaps others are better, but I'm utter crap at it - so my self imposed bar for submission is relatively low and I often see that images that I questioned for submission making sales - no rhyme no reason. So I agree that curation is important, that the open floodgates can be detrimental, but I don't know whom to trust to do the curation accurately, perhaps not the task of a human...which leads me on to

 

Most other (major) places have gone towards less and less curation, or automatised it. I do think AI/Machine Learning will be a great tool eventually in situations like this, offering personalised tailored search results - imagine it yourself, a search that gets to know you better and better in terms style, locality etc. that you're interested in and serves you up better and better results the more you use it/over time - an AI picture researcher. 

 

Exactly!  and thats why finding a niche is so important!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.