IStockphoto
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- The correct title of this article is iStockphoto. The initial letter is shown capitalized due to technical restrictions.
iStockphoto is an online, royalty free, international stock photography provider operating using the micropayment business model. Images cost between $1 and $40 (depending on size). According to their website they are "the world's fastest growing collection of original, independent, royalty-free images." They helped to pioneer the microstock photography industry.
On February 9, 2006 iStockphoto was acquired by Getty Images for $50 million USD[1]. The iStockphoto CEO, Bruce Livingstone, promised that the site would continue "functioning independently with the benefits of Getty Images, yet, very importantly for them and us, autonomy. They will nurture and encourage our pioneering spirit so that our entrepreneurial culture will continue to thrive."
The online photo library contains (as of August, 2006) over one million images (up from 760,000 in April, 2006) contributed by over 23,000 photographers at the rate of 12,000 to 14,000 images per week. iStockPhoto.com is currently (1 dec 2006) ranked 256 on Alexa[2], and was recently described as the most visited stock photo site in the world.
Recent changes to the site help to bring it firmly into the global arena. The website can now be viewed in English, French, Spanish, and German. Keyword searches can also be performed in British English or American English, Portuguese, Brazilian Portuguese, Russian, Italian, Japanese, Polish, Greek and even in Japanese and Cyrillic characters.
The company also supports the following international currencies: US dollar, Canadian dollar, Australian dollar, Euro, Yen, and British pound.
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[edit] History
The company was founded by Bruce Livingstone in May, 2000. Originally iStockphoto was a free stock imagery website. Over the course of time, however, with its increasingly large collection of high-quality images it transitioned into its current micropayment model. The website was originally supported by Livingstone's web development firm, Evolvs Media, but now exists as an independent corporation. In February 2006, it was acquired by Getty Images for the sum of $50 million.
On September 18, 2006 iStockPhoto saw the first fruits of Getty's labor [3]. A new system called "Controlled Vocabulary" was borrowed from Getty and installed on iStockPhoto to control and manage keywords and searches, and to provide multilingual searching abilities. Support for several languages in the site content, and support for multiple international currencies were also added.
[edit] Contributors
Contributing photographers must apply (via a short quiz regarding the website's policies and requirements, and basic photographic knowledge) before they are eligible to upload their images. The applicant's sample images are screened for quality and suitability before being approved.
Once approved, photographers can begin uploading their work through the website. They supply keywords, categorize the images, and submit them to the "inspection queue", where each and every image is examined to ensure that it meets the standards of quality, usefulness and copyright and trademark laws.
iStockphoto also sells vector graphics made in programs like Adobe Illustrator or Macromedia Freehand; Macromedia Flash elements and raster illustrations created in 3d graphics programs or bitmap editors like Adobe Photoshop.
Contributors receive a commission of between 20% and 40% of each sale, depending on whether or not they are "exclusive", and on their current "canister level." New canisters are awarded for various milestones such as 500 sales, 2,500 sales, 10,000 sales, 25,000 sales, and 200,000 sales. Only two photographers, lisegagne and hidesy, have passed the 200,000 point, while 84 (Diamonds list) members have passed the 25,000 level as of 2006-12-01 and received the coveted "diamond canister."
Contributing photographers who reach a minimum of 500 sales are offered the option of becoming exclusive to the company. If they do so, a bonus is added to their commission and they must not sell royalty-free stock images anywhere else. Rights managed sales are allowed off site even under the exclusivity contract.
[edit] Purchasing and Use
Each approved image is added to the searchable online database, where it can be found by purchasers. Depending on the original size of an image, it can be bought in Small, Medium, Large, XLarge and XXLarge sizes. These cost 1, 3, 5, 10 and 20/40 credits. Vector and Flash files also cost 1 to 40 credits, based on complexity.
Note: On December 4, 2006, Istockphoto announced a new pricing scheme to take effect in 2007. This includes the addition of a new image size, XSmall, and changes the cost of the other image sizes. The base price of credits is also rising to $1.20 per credit.
iStock credits are purchased ahead of time in any amount, and are worth $1 each. Bulk purchase gives up to 20% bonus credits.
Files can be downloaded immediately, and used in almost anything. The license agreement prohibits only a few uses, such as web templates, print on demand, adult materials, etc. Any print runs over 500,000 must pay additional royalties.
[edit] Community
iStockphoto's online community of 1,000,000 members includes internet forums, a creative-network for keeping track of friends, and peer review/rating system.
iStockphoto has a reputation for interacting with their member-base and discussing changes and new ideas openly before and after implementation.
The forums are a good place to get to know the rules and procedures, and to seek help understanding the site or improving one's skills. The forums have also spawned a number of iStockPhoto colloquialisms, such as "F5" (referring to the F5 key on a keyboard which refreshes the page in most browsers) which is used in conjunction with the announcement of a secret upgrade that will take place soon, leading users to refresh their browsers repeatedly in hopes that the change has occurred, and to post in lengthy "F5" threads devoted to the wait. Another colloquialism is the word "Wooyay", used to celebrate a personal victory, milestone, or public achievement, and often found in the seasonal "Wooyay threads."
iStockphoto get-togethers are occasionally held in various cities around the world, and are sponsored by the company. They are referred to as iStockalypses. Smaller, photographer organized events are put on in many cities are the world, and are called Minilypses.
These iStockalypses provide photographers of every stripe the opportunity to meet likeminded enthusiasts from all over the world, near and far, and connect in the spirit of sharing. Members often take major steps in their photographic development as a result of the support and experience to be gained at such events. Members share their knowledge and tricks and take away more than just technical info: friendships and connections are cemented through the common interest that is photography and creativity.
[edit] The Steel Cage
In 2005 iStockPhoto re-launched an old site feature, the Steel Cage [4]. The Steel Cage is essentially an organized game of Photoshop tennis, in which contestants battle against their opponents in a 5-round game. The players trade a Photoshop Document, containing an artful, weird, or crazy photo collage, back and forth, each time preserving at least one element and changing the rest to their heart's content. The battles are scored by judges appointed within iStockPhoto, and download credits are awarded in values of up to 50 credits.
[edit] Controversies
To critics of the micropayment stock photography market, iStockphoto represents a threat to an old and well established precedent. Stock photography has long been an expensive and elite market. Critics contend that the extremely low prices are undercutting and devaluing the stock photography market, by offering images vastly below accepted price standards. The commissions at iStockphoto (on the low end of the spectrum, and ranging between 20% and 45%) are below the industry norm of 50% and are based on much lower purchase fees (compared to typical fees in the hundreds of dollars) to begin with.
Critics also cite low earnings in comparison to expenses, if equipment costs, image processing, and contribution process are taken into account. With roughly 45 cents per download on a standard image, members could expect only a couple dollars per image over a years time, they say.
An informal poll conducted on iStockphoto's forums[5] found an average royalty of $11.01 USD per image per year. However, such data may reflect the self-selected nature of the respondents as heavily involved contributors. No official data about average royalties is released by Getty which owns the company.
Supporters of the iStockphoto system contend that a large portfolio, due to the vastly reduced prices, and equally increased sales numbers, yields the same, or higher, earnings as a traditional stock service would. Hard evidence to prove this is not available, and number-crunchers must content themselves with a handful of personal success stories. Additionally, many contributors are not professionals, but a new generation of skilled in-betweeners who find themselves above the skill level of a casual amateur, and not as serious as a professional.
Other complaints often refer to an elitist or cult-like community, and refer in particular to unyielding moderation on the iStockphoto forums, which are guarded by administrators and moderators. Allegations of censorship are often unfair, as the terms of service are posted and universally enforced.
[edit] iStockvideo
On July 31, 2006 iStockphoto announced the development of a new branch, iStockvideo, which will sell stock video clips in a variety of formats from web-size, through NTSC and PAL up to HDV and HD sizes. The collection is slated to open on September 5th, 2006, and clips (between 5 and 30 seconds) will range in cost from $5 USD to $50 USD, based on resolution.
This new branch of iStockphoto competes with motion stock collections already available from companies such as Getty, Artbeats, and Veer.
[edit] Competitors
The enormous success of iStockphoto has inspired a number of similar competing websites. They include Fotolia, Dreamstime and ShutterStock, among numerous others.
[edit] External links
- Industry News
- Industry Associations
- British Association of Picture Libraries and Agencies Trade association for stock agencies in UK.
- Coordination Of European Picture Agencies Trade association for stock agencies in Europe.
- Picture Archive Council of America Trade association for stock agencies in US.
- Stock Artists Alliance worldwide photographers’ trade organization
