We’re excited to introduce image subscriptions, a new way to license photos and illustrations on iStock. Based on the Thinkstock subscription product that has been one of the fastest growing parts of our business since its launch, our new image subscriptions allow us to better serve customers with high volume licensing needs.
And it's clear that there are a lot of customers who love the ease and simplicity of the subscription model. Combining the right subscription offering with the amazing content at iStock will benefit both customers and contributors, so that's exactly what we're planning to do.
Some of you may know that we already have a subscription offering on iStock based on credits. The added complexity of credit pricing makes this subscription less friendly to new customers who are looking for a simple solution for their high volume licensing needs. When we launch the new subscription offering we will no longer promote the existing credit subscription on our website, and new iStock subscription customers will only be able to purchase this new image subscription.
For the time being, customers who have an active Credit Subscription will be able to keep using their existing subscription.
What is being offered in the new subscription model?
Clients will be able to choose between a Monthly and Annual Image Subscription, which are offered in two tiers. One tier gives customers access to the Main collection only, and the other gives access to the Main, Signature, and Signature+ collections. Image Subscriptions include Photos and Illustration only (excluding Vetta).
In order to make sure that our Exclusive Contributors can adequately participate in both Image Subscription tiers, we will be moving some of the more basic images that are underperforming in Signature, to Main. We think they will compete more effectively that way and have the added benefit of exposure to new customers through Image Subscription. We want to be sure our exclusive contributors have an opportunity to participate in the full range of products we offer at iStock.
What is the difference between the current credit subscription model and the new image subscription model?
The credit-based subscription model we launched in 2008 includes access to all of our files and provides clients with a limited number of credits to use each day. These credits can be used to purchase any file on iStock, and expire daily, at midnight MST.
Our new Image Subscription model allows our customers to download a specific number of Photos or Illustrations, of any size, monthly, from our Main, Signature, and Signature+ collections, depending on the tier.
What does this mean for contributors?
When someone licenses your content using an Image Subscription, we pay a flat royalty for each file based on your exclusivity and the collection your file belongs to, with a royalty of $0.28 for non-exclusive contributors and a minimum of $0.34 for exclusive contributors.
Here is a full breakdown of the Royalty Rates for Image Subscriptions:
Non-exclusive: All Collections: $0.28/download
Main (exclusive): $0.34/download
Signature (exclusive): $0.75/download
Signature+ (exclusive): $2.50/download
We’ve made an adjustment to the Royalty Rate Schedule to reflect the new Image Subscription offering that will be effective when we launch Image Subscriptions. You will notice a new tab between Flash and the Partner Program:
Updated Rate Schedule
Royalties will be reported monthly, not in real time. Initially we will be reporting these royalties under the Partner Program.
The existing Credit Subscription royalties are unaffected by this change. Any downloads made under Credit Subscription shall continue to pay royalties at the rates set out in the photo/illustration tab of the rate schedule.
How does the licensing work?
All files licensed under the new Image Subscription fall under our Standard License Agreement. One difference for subscription licenses vs. images licensed with credits or cash is that customers are required to use the images they download within the term of their subscription. If they don’t use the image, the right to use that image terminates when the subscription terminates. For example, if a customer has a one-month subscription, they must use the images they download within that same month in order to continue using that image following the end of the subscription term.
Will Image Subscription downloads go toward contributor Redeemed Credit totals?
No. Image Subscription downloads aren’t purchased with credits so we will not be calculating RCs with these downloads. However, we will be revisiting the concept of allowing Image Subscriptions to apply to RC accumulation in the future.
Our intent is to provide customers with as many purchase options as possible to keep existing customers engaged with iStock and to attract new customers, leaving no reason for them to look elsewhere for the right content and workflow. Our new Image Subscription offering will allow us to accommodate all of our customers’ purchase preferences be they cash sales, credits, or subscription – or in many cases, a combination of one or more options.
We will be launching Image Subscriptions in early April 2014.
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