Dear TurboSquid Artists,
2020 was a year where the earth shifted. Our 3D community grew significantly, and the world began to notice the importance of 3D (and interactivity) to the future. New customers and new companies want to move into this world of 3D that we have known and loved, for 20 years at TurboSquid alone.
The team here understands that so many of you depend on your incomes from the marketplace, and we continually grow the business to improve everyone’s ability to share in the marketplace’s success.
Today, we have big news: TurboSquid is about to join Shutterstock. We believe this will bring enormous benefits to the community. You can read more about this exciting acquisition in the press release here.
It was clear from the start of our conversations that the Shutterstock team weren’t looking at 3D as “just another stock medium.” They share our enthusiasm and passion for the potential of 3D, and by all areas of the business, including PixelSquid and Kraken. It honestly would have been a tough sell for our team if we didn’t feel like they had the same vision for 3D.
I will continue to lead TurboSquid as a group within Shutterstock, and will report up to Shutterstock’s CEO, Stan Pavlovsky. It’s a joy and an honor to work with everyone, the staff, the artists, and our customers. I love my job and I’m not giving it up.
Two things I’d like you to consider:
- Shutterstock has made enormous investments in cutting edge technology. Delivering an effective search algorithm alone is a huge undertaking. Their marketplace generated over $650,000,000 in the last twelve months of reporting, and that creates resources to focus on technology innovation in a way that TurboSquid just cannot do alone.
- Selling to big companies is hard. We do it, but it is a complex undertaking that is quite different from selling on a website. Shutterstock has over 200 sales people and a vast customer base, with a firehose of web traffic. There is immense opportunity here.
A question likely on your mind is whether the royalty rates will change. This was personally important in the TurboSquid team’s decision to join forces. There are no plans to change the royalty rates — our focus is on growth and continuity.
While I’ve had time to process the change for a little while, I know this will be fresh for all of you. I ask that you hold faith in us, Shutterstock, and the future. Your work and creativity is why TurboSquid exists. It’s something special, and if we do this right, the next 20 years will change the world more than we can all imagine.
I look forward to continuing the journey with you.
Matt