Pure Reviews

123RF launches two new features to their site.  First up Audio is coming to the site and they will allow you to set your price points per a chart.  See below for how to upload your stock audio and the royalty breakdown.  Second they have announced a new image size of ML which will push everything up 1 credit from the Large price point.  A full chart is listed below.  Sign up for 123RF look for the link on the right size. Adding 'Audio Stock' to its list of endless digital creative content, 123RF is inviting Audio Composers and Authors to send in their audio clips, sound effects, music tracks and compilations to be included in its all-encompassing collection. You'll be able to access a worldwide clientele via the 123RF.com platform. 123RF can now be viewed as the ideal launch pad for audio professionals looking to market their projects to the creative industry. Contributors get 30% to 60% of the selling price. And the best part is, you get to decide how to ...

Press release from Shutterstock that now allows downloading images directly to your tablet or cell phone on apple products.  Check out the release below. We know our contributors are always interested in getting their work seen by as many customers in as many ways as possible. With that in mind, here’s an update on what we’ve been doing to help you promote and license your images on mobile devices — and let you track your results on the go, too. The Shutterstock App for iPhone and iPad — now with downloading! We recently updated our award-winning app to make it available on iPhone as well as iPad. Both versions let users search and explore images, scroll through a seamless mosaic of options, add selections to Lightboxes, and share them with colleagues. The apps have been a huge hit with customers — to date, over 300,000 users have downloaded and begun using them! This month, we released version 2.5 of the app, giving customers the ability to download images straight to thei...

YAY announces new partnership with Pond5, Zoomy & Photokore.  Read about it below. Hi, I hope you are doing well! We at YAY would like to give you a short update on the latest news. First, we're happy to announce three new partners in our partner program: Pond5, Zoomy and Photokore. You will find more information and opt-out at the API information page . We know some of you would like to get more information about your sales at YAY, as well as your partner sales. We've been running a bit behind on this, but plan to update the pages soon. Therefore we would like to know what information you find most important, and what features you are missing on our sales- and api-page. Other suggestions are welcomed as well. Sometimes it's a bit difficult to understand why an image has been rejected. To improve our review service the reviewers can now e-mail the photographer and explain the reason for rejections. If you have questions about rejections you can also e-mail us at  ...

iStock continues to upset their core contributors by devaluing their work and opening their images up for possible free use on Google drive.  This whole ordeal spurred a massive movement of removing images to their site.  This action has spurred a response from the corporation owned by Getty images.  See the report below that basically says they are just working on it, but don't plan on providing changes right away.  Will you close your portfolio on iStock ? Google Drive You may have already read our last update in the forums but once again, we'd like to thank you for your continued patience. To reiterate from previous posts, royalties have been paid in connection with the Google Drive usage based on all consideration received by Getty Images under the licensing agreement. We understand your concerns relating to the deal and we are making progress in a productive dialogue with Google about these concerns and potential solutions. As many...

Shutterstock updates their royalty rate for referrals.  Payout will increase by once sent and a referred person will be active for 2 years.  See the info below and if you wish to join Shutterstock click here .  SS is consistently one of the highest respected stock photography sites.

So Bigstock has announced that they are going to start doing subscription sales this year.  Joining what seems to be a new industry standard they are setting their royalty base at only $0.25.  Sadly this seems to be more and more common ( Fotolia , iStock , 123RF , etc).  The odd part of this announcement is that Bigstock was bought by Shutterstock so they could have pay as you go style site.  So this begs the question of why start moving your site to the SS formula with lower royalties.  How do you feel about the changes, comment below. As you know, we already offer Bigstock customers the flexibility of pre-paying with credits. Next week, we’ll be offering our customers an increasingly popular way to buy images:  subscriptions. How will this affect me? Subscriptions can generate higher download volumes, which can increase your total earnings from Bigstock. Here’s how you will earn royalties from Bigstock subscriptions: Eve...

  Fotolia did some minor tweaks this month that gives you two options for your portfolio.  First up you can now exclude video files from subscription sales.  Second they have changed the pricing for extended license files that now requires a minimum of 20 credits.  It also can't be lower then your highest price offering, so you cant have a 24 credit Standard XXL license and get the Extended License under 24 credits.  Log in and check out the changes.

 A few changes to note that have gone into effect at a few sites. Dreamstime : Dreamstime has launched a mobile image section allowing you to submit cell phone photos and digital model releases.  To celebrate this new feature their next assignment will be mobile shots.  Also their is now a new category called "Mobile."  Other requirements are 3 MP minimum resolution still applies and we will not accept upsampled images.  DT is accepting model releases from: Model Release, ASMP Release and Easy Release (on both iOS and Android).  Join today ! Shutterstock : SS has launched a new features called Portfolio Pages that allows contributors to show off their work via personalized URL's.  Another feature on your portfolio page is allowing you to create public sets.  So log in and and set up your today or join Shutterstock here . Bigstock : Bigstock has launched a new partner system that will open their collection to other companies with ...

Alamy has adjusted their contributor contract for the coming year.  The biggest change was a 10% increase on commissions to Alamy from the Photographers side.  Alamy still has one of the highest payouts rates to photographers, but still following the trend of dropping royalty rates in the industry.  See Alamy writeup below. The latest version of the Alamy Contributor contract, published on 20th November 2012, included some important changes to our terms. For Contributors who registered before 20th November 2012, the new contract came into force on 5th January 2013, 45 days from the notification date of 20th November 2012. For Contributors who registered from 20th November 2012 onwards, the new contract was in force from the point of registration. What changed? The most important changes to our terms were increased Alamy commission on direct and third-party distributor sales. All key changes are summarised below, for...

Great news over at Pocketstock!!!  They have dropped their payout rate to $30 instead of the ultra high old rate.  For a new company whose sales could be slow at first it is good to know that the $30 mark is in striking distance and more in line with the industry standard.  Below is the write up of what is new at the company. Here is your update on the latest news from Pocketstock. Some of you may not be aware that although we have been actively seeking new content since April, Pocketstock was launched to customers in August, meaning our images have been available for sale for a relatively short time. Since August we have been hard at work building our customer base, which takes time. Progress has been relatively slow but that is something to be expected when a new company enters into such an aggressively competitive marketplace that is driven by discounting, offers and subscription. Over the last two weeks, as part of our drive to sell to the top global brand...

Shutterstock launched on NYSE yesterday with a strong opening.  As of closing today (10.12.12) it was priced at $22.00 with ticker as SSTK.  See the write up below from the CEO/Founder Jon Oringer Dear Shutterstock Community, Today was a very exciting day for Shutterstock – a day that wouldn’t have been possible without each of you. This morning, Shutterstock became a publicly traded company on the New York Stock Exchange. This milestone is the result of many years of hard work and innovation, and perhaps most importantly, the incredible talent of each of our contributing artists. Together we have built a thriving, diverse, global creative marketplace that spans more than 150 countries. I can still remember the day I started Shutterstock in 2003, out of my apartment. I was trying to solve a business need I had for quality stock photos at an affordable price. Before I knew it, demand for these images surpassed what I could provide an...

Veer launched this week a new collection of highly stylized and eye catching images called Veer Royale.  As several of the stock photography companies image count grows it is getting harder and harder to find some of those outstanding images.  As a new trend companies are creating top class collections on their sites to help put the best of the best in front of their customers.  Check out the info below. Today we are excited to share with you some sweet news: the launch of Veer Royale – a new collection of images and illustrations designed to highlight the best of Veer . Stretching across a variety of subjects, our editors have been on the lookout for content that is unique and highly stylized with strong aesthetic appeal. Royale is designed to help customers looking for eye-catching imagery find a filtered set of results with just a click. Some of you may already see a few of your images in the collection, and if you don't, keep sending us your best and there's a c...

Below is the layout of iStock's 2013 Royalty rates.  Overall there are very few changes from last year.  All the percentages are the same, but some of the redeemed credit categories have dropped.  For example for non exclusive last year the credits where 2,000 and are now 1,500.  Where do you fall on the chart below? 2012 Redeemed Credit Targets Below are the 2012 Redeemed Credit targets for iStockphoto contributors. We know that this news is behind schedule and we apologize for the long wait. Other projects and factors, both at iStockphoto and within the wider Getty Images business, have delayed our ability to definitively publish these numbers. We are happy to announce that there is no increase in any of the RC targets over the previous year — all redeemed credit targets for all file types will stay the same for 2012. These targets will determine your starting/minimum royalty rate for 2013. If you reach a new target during the remainder of ...

Getty ( and iStockphoto ) is sold to new investors, but contributors should notice very little change from the transaction.  See below for the official writeup. About the Sale of Getty Images: Since they acquired us in 2008, Hellman & Friedman have been committed to our business. Their goal has always been to grow and strengthen Getty Images and then sell the company, when the time is right. We and Hellman & Friedman have identified a new owner to take the business into its next phase. We’ve now formed a new partnership between The Carlyle Group, the Getty family and Getty Images management to acquire Getty Images from H & F. We believe this new partnership is in the best interest of our Company as a whole, our employees and our contributors and image partners. This new ownership is a positive move in the continued growth and success of Getty Images. Carlyle has an investment philosophy that is very similar to Hellman & Friedman, and we are conf...

I would like to take give a quick shout out to Sonos who is running a great promotion on a Wireless HiFi System at Target.  If you love music and want to stream your whole collection via WiFi then you really need to look into one of these systems as they are very cool and sleek looking.  I am always glad to see a well designed and modern looking item for mass consumers.  Check out the video below which explains the Sonos system.  Also remember fathers day is coming up and this would make a great deal. Right now through June 16th, 2012 at Target you will get a free $30 Target gift card when you by the Play 3 unit or a $40 Target gift card when you by the Play 5 unit.  Happy shopping Disclaimer:  I participated in this campaign as a member of  One2One Network  and I'm eligible for a prize drawing.  All opinions stated in the post are my own.

Below is the chart featuring the commission numbers for the month of May.  The three top stock sites this month where Dreamstime , Shutterstock , 123RF .  The chart only features sites I had a sale with and for a full list of stock sites my work is at see the right column of the screen.

Dreamstime launched their new level schedule for image pricing.  The new prices went live at the end of April.  Below is a image of the new chart classification comparing the 2011 levels with the 2012 levels.  Sign up here . In short terms, what will happen starting tomorrow is that new files will be automatically allocated to level 1, instead of level 0. All existent files that have downloads will shift with one level up. New files (or existent files) that didn't sell for more than 24 months will be level 0. In order to keep the royalties the same, we had to decrease them one per level. Because files went up one level they will actually bring you the same royalties, with the only drawback being that level 5 files have seen a cut. I hope this to be minimal though, thanks to the decrease in the number of downloads required (25 from 50d.). We have decided to keep the same royalties structure for subscriptions, as well as for exclusive contributors . This...

Dreamstime adds another element to your profile known as "Photographer Genre".  You can select up to five genre's that classify you as a personal photographer and your portfolio.  This will allow clients to search a type of photographer instead/or in addition to the standard Keyword or category search.  So head over to your profile and give it an update.  New to Dreamstime , join here as its one of the top stock agencies.

123RF launched their new royalty rates that will go into effect on Jan. 1st, 2013.  Originally they stated that a new rate would be fore new contributors, but it looks like that might have been abandoned for this new system at the end of this year.  They are leaving plenty of time between now and the end of the year to hear the feedback.  Below is their breakdown of how your rates will be give.  Join 123RF here .  It will be hard to swallow $0.216 for the lowest sub sales in the industry.  123RF.com will be changing its Contributor Commission Payout on January 1, 2013. From now till then, 123RF.com shall continue paying our Contributors at a rate of: 50% net value for credits $0.36 per download for subscriptions From January 1, 2013 onwards – 123RF shall adopt the new Contributor Commission Payout schedule depicted in the table below :      123RF shall round the monthly cumulative earnings to the nearest $0.01. ...

Shutterstock launches a sensitive use license that will allow an increase of sales of up to $75 per image.  Unlike several other companies, SS is going to let you opt out of this feature which will keep your models from being featured in sensitive ads for healthcare or other topics.  This is a great new revenue stream and also gives photographers great control of how their photos should be used. To Our Valued Contributors, We would like to tell you about an important update with great potential to increase sales for you. We are updating our Contributor Terms of Service (“TOS”) to enable new sales with a royalty of up to $75 per image download. Shutterstock services both small and large buyers. In addition to our standard and enhanced licenses, we provide custom licenses to buyers such as large advertising agencies. These agencies require more rights and some flexibility in how an image might ultimately be used. That flexibility may include "sensitive uses." ...