About a month ago you may remember I wrote an article that talked about how 500px was releasing a new “Prime” program and they planned on selling images on their site and giving the photographers only 30% in return. The community showed its HUGE discontent and 500px actually announced they have changed their stance and will be giving the photographers 70% instead.
In their blog post, 500px says words for word “We are launching 500px Prime and giving photographers 70% of revenue from every sale.” I think it is safe to agree that there is no tip toeing around this. It is great to see a company of their size listening to the community and adjusting their plans. Sure, some may disagree and say that 500px is still a bad company for even thinking originally they were going to be successful with only a 30% revenue to the photographers but I am pretty surprised by what they did and I applaud their actions. I really thought they were going to hold strong to the 30% commission and have more of a "deal with it" attitude but I was very wrong.
“We want to give all photographers, amateur and professional, an opportunity to be fairly compensated for their work.” In my original post, I mentioned that I actually felt their plans seemed to “NOT reach out to the professional artists trying to make a living, but instead, reach out to the people shooting for fun looking for some extra cash they did not need in the first place.” I also did not agree with the original 30% commission idea. It seems they have acknowledged a lot of others feeling this way and now are making it clear they want to be used by not just amateurs but the professionals who make a living off of photography as well.
Earlier this week we posted that Getty announced their images would be free to use on sites and I think with this new update to the 500px prime, we may see a lot of Getty photographers jumping ship and moving over. The photography community has two different plans on the table and now we get to pick a side and see the results.
If you want more information about 500px Prime, you can visit their website by clicking here.
How do you feel about the new commission rate 500px is planning to implement?
[via 500px]
See, the issue is that everyone wants everything for free! I would be curious to see posted sales # instead, to see "who" makes sales, and "what" actually sells.
This would be great to see.
Yeah, I mean, people keep taking photos on top of photos, but nobody keeps track or sales you know? "Likes" don't buy anything.
When you start selling you can see exactly who bought what, for what, and what they paid...
Are you referring to 500px, or in general.
General... on other stock agencies. Im sure they will make the information available on 500px as well.
That would be good, because these days if you want to research your local market it is really hard to find reports on what sells, since most don't charge/report taxes etc.
I really like 500px, as a community to showcase own work, but also gain inspiration from.
Hopefully this whole 'Prime-thing' doesn't destroy the vibe of the platform. And we still get to see great work and not just 'random' stock images....
But they pay $250 for lifetime rights for any medium.
So you sign away rights for +/- $200, forever.
No option on the price, no option on the terms, no option on usage.
Still a bad deal, even after their "generous" about face.
agreed. Some instances could net you thousands for a single image.. but with 500px the buyer can now get it for incredibly cheap.
@IAM_THE_KGB:disqus, I'm Alex, I work at 500px. Royalty-free isn't for everyone, and we know that. But we think $250 is a fair price compared to the competition for what we're offering and 70% is a great royalty for photographers. To clarify, it is one license per client, non-transferrable and can't be sub-licensed. Ownership remains with the photographer, always.
@agour:disqus The $250 license can be sold to multiple buyers, earning the photographer royalties each sale. We do offer a limited time exclusive-use option too, which would cost considerably more (generally several thousand dollars).