04 Dec 2015 Shutterstock Entry Exam Requirement Now 1 of 10 Accepted Instead of 7

On Wednesday Shutterstock announced they’ve modified the standards for their initial test for new contributors, lowering the acceptance bar from 7 to 1 image approved, out of 10 submitted.

The announcement says in their experience the previous 7 out of 10 rule no longer works well for the contributor experience. With this change they aim to better educate new contributors after they’re onboard, instead of motivating improvement by rejection.

They also state that all the other standards for the initial submission review process remain unchanged, the only modification is in the amount of approved images needed to get on board.

They say their goal with this is to simplify access for new artists and improve the contributor experience.

Existing contributors are questioning whether this will translate into longer review times as the quantity of contributors and submitted files will no doubt skyrocket.

Others speculate on the negative impact this may have for Shutterstock’s marketplace, pointing to rising talk of buyers valuing curation over a massive collection size, despite Shutterstock’s assurances that review standards will not be changed.

Whatever the impact on review workload and collection quality, Shutterstock will now be spending a lot more resources nurturing new photographers.