'Background Music' appears to have disappeared as an gig extra...

[terrygrantvo]

Might be a glitch, might be related to their attempt to integrate with stock media sites, but I noticed today that I can no longer add background music as an option to a custom order quote (nor is it available to buyers at my page).

 

Anyone else in VO seeing this?

[newsmike]

I still have it as a gig extra. 

[smashradio]

@terrygrantvo Several other sellers I've talked with have experienced the same. I suspect it's part of the transition to Shutterstock media in gigs. However, I haven't been able to confirm that yet. I've talked with Support, and they couldn't confirm nor deny, so it's being forwarded to the "relevant team". 

I think I got a junior support agent on my ticket (even though we're supposed to get senior support as TRS as far as I know). Here's what they had to say about it (TL;DR: "We don't know.")

"I understand that the background music may have been removed from your active extras and I am not entirely sure if it is connected with the Shutterstock transition. You do have the option to add custom extras to your Gig, so you can add the extra again if you wish."

Edited August 22, 2022 by smashradio

[terrygrantvo]

5 hours ago, smashradio said:

@terrygrantvo Several other sellers I've talked with have experienced the same. I suspect it's part of the transition to Shutterstock media in gigs.

Yeah, I got essentially the same reply from my SM. I have to think it's some accidental (or not) scorched earth policy related to the shutterstock thing.

 

Just seems weird that they'd do that and not tell me(?)... although now that I type that, it seems perfectly on brand for Fiverr. 🙂

[editorial_video]

Hey guys. Yoav here. I manage the creative verticals team here at Fiverr.

If you're referring to VO gigs, please try again, there was an issue which we fixed. 

[terrygrantvo]

12 hours ago, editorial_video said:

Hey guys. Yoav here. I manage the creative verticals team here at Fiverr.

If you're referring to VO gigs, please try again, there was an issue which we fixed. 

Hey Yoav, yep - it's back, thanks.

 

While I have you - why is it that every custom gig extra I've ever created shows up as available to add, when writing up a custom order quote? They don't exist anymore on the actual gig page, but they're all right there when I fire up the infernal custom offer pop up window.

[editorial_video]

Might be a change in product experience that was rolled out, not sure to be honest. Feel free to take it with customer support who'd be able to address it with the right team.

[terrygrantvo]

5 hours ago, editorial_video said:

Might be a change in product experience that was rolled out, not sure to be honest. Feel free to take it with customer support who'd be able to address it with the right team.

Yeah, I've tried that several times already. 🙂

 

thanks though

[stevemorris147]

On 8/23/2022 at 7:22 AM, newsmike said:

I still have it as a gig extra. 

To be fair you are a Grand Master, many of us will struggle to reach your levels or your greatness. I feel humbled and thank you for blessing us with your wisdom. 

[newsmike]

9 hours ago, stevemorris147 said:

To be fair you are a Grand Master, many of us will struggle to reach your levels or your greatness. I feel humbled and thank you for blessing us with your wisdom. 

Thank you. You may now kiss my ring. 

[torrelles]

 

On 8/22/2022 at 11:25 PM, smashradio said:

I am not entirely sure if it is connected with the Shutterstock transition.

I'm totally off the loop, and sorry if I derail this thread, but what is this "Shutterstock transition" all about? 

[smashradio]

2 hours ago, torrelles said:

 

I'm totally off the loop, and sorry if I derail this thread, but what is this "Shutterstock transition" all about? 

You can read about it here: https://www.fiverr.com/support/categories/8394132735121-Shutterstock-integration

[gussyscrotch]

Today, I received this email from Fiverr:

 

We're changing stock-related pricing factors in your packages

The pricing factors that will no longer be available in your packages are:

• Background music
• Premium quality image
• Stock image
• Stock footage

If you want to offer licensed media (including images, video footage, or music) in your Gigs, you can do so through our Shutterstock integration.

To include licensed media in your Gigs, switch to these pricing factors:

• Commercially licensed music tracks
• Commercially licensed video clips
• Commercially licensed images

 

Basically my interpretation is that they are going exclusively with Shutterstock. Meaning if I want to offer background music/images/video as an extra, it HAS to be from Shutterstock and Shutterstock only. So my interpretation is that they've done an exclusive commercial deal between themselves effectively shutting out Shutterstock's competition.

Unless I'm wrong, I find this pretty appalling and a seriously retrograde step. Shutterstock's pricing is outrageous compared to perfectly good alternatives and means pricing will go through the roof for clients. There are clumsy ways to bypass this but it really makes it all very unprofessional for a seller.

I'm not sure why Fiverr is so determined to drive Top Sellers to other sites now.

 

[newsmike]

3 hours ago, gussyscrotch said:

I'm not sure why Fiverr is so determined to drive Top Sellers to other sites now.

I've not yet received that email, but assume that even if they remove the "background music" gig extra, and give you an option to use a Shutterstock integration, you could always still offer your music via a custom gig offer, no? 

Even if Fiverr did remove the option to offer music outside Shutterstock, I would not fight that. There are many VO sellers who achieve TRS and continue to sell at very low rates and offer music at $5 per track or even free, not to mention that I'm sure a lot of music sold here is stolen and not properly licensed. This undermines the idea that successful TRS sellers should be offering premiere services and at high prices, otherwise what's the point? For example, as a PRO seller, I am not allowed to sell a service for less than $100. I can show you TRS VO sellers who have been here for years, have thousands of completed orders and are very busy, who remain at $10 for 200 words. 

My opinion is that with each level increase there should be a minimum price at which one can sell. For example, only zero level sellers should be able to sell at $5, Level 1 should be required to be $10, Level 2 at $25, and TRS at $50. Otherwise we just keep encouraging the race to the bottom. Raising prices is good for you and for Fiverr. 

TRS sellers pricing themselves as noobies makes no sense to me. 

 

Edited August 31, 2022 by newsmike

[smashradio]

I don't mind offering Shutterstock instead of other licensed media. What I do mind, is Fiverr not giving us the option to choose. Let's say a pro seller is working on a video. He needs some music, and he has a library of licensed assets that he can no longer use. I see why Fiverr is doing this, because theft is a real problem on the platform, but I'm just not sure if this is the right way to go about it. It certainly doesn't benefit the sellers, who get a meager 20% of the sale price. 

[newsmike]

1 hour ago, smashradio said:

I don't mind offering Shutterstock instead of other licensed media. What I do mind, is Fiverr not giving us the option to choose. Let's say a pro seller is working on a video. He needs some music, and he has a library of licensed assets that he can no longer use. I see why Fiverr is doing this, because theft is a real problem on the platform, but I'm just not sure if this is the right way to go about it. It certainly doesn't benefit the sellers, who get a meager 20% of the sale price. 

I don't see them banning other sources. I'm sure you can still select a file from any source, license it and make seller pay the license fee. 

[smashradio]

20 hours ago, newsmike said:

I don't see them banning other sources. I'm sure you can still select a file from any source, license it and make seller pay the license fee. 

The e-mail shared by @gussyscrotch appears to say just that: they are removing those options in favor of Shutterstock. 

But I haven't received that e-mail myself. In addition, I still have the option of adding in background music to my gig extras, and customer support confirmed that it was possible to add it back in, so I'm not sure what to believe.