Author Topic: Useful article on microstock (Read 4155 times)

ChasingMoments · « **on:** June 24, 2009, 12:04 »

Here: http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/06/24/microstock-photography-is-getting-big-istockphoto-projects-200-million-in-revenues/

Interestingly, IS and FT are viewed as "competitors" and other agencies are not mentioned.

GeoPappas · « **Reply #1 on:** June 24, 2009, 12:29 »

It definitely is an interesting article.

Here is what I have gleaned from it:

- The article states that IS revenues have increased from $23 to $200 million (or about 9x) in the last 3 years. I doubt that many contributors earnings have increased by the same amount over that period of time. I wonder where all of that extra money is going? Is it just being spread out to the crowd-sourced masses? Or is it going into the IS profit coffers? Either way it doesn't bode well for the contributor.

- IS reports that purchases for print are declining and purchases for web are increasing. In other words, smaller sizes are being bought more and more. Once again, this doesn't bode well for the contributor.

- The article mentions that the new Best Match is going live today. I thought that it went live previously, but I could be wrong.

ChasingMoments · « **Reply #2 on:** June 24, 2009, 12:44 »

Quote from: GeoPappas on June 24, 2009, 12:29

It definitely is an interesting article.

Here is what I have gleaned from it:

- The article states that IS revenues have increased from $23 to $200 million (or about 9x) in the last 3 years. I doubt that many contributors earnings have increased by the same amount over that period of time. I wonder where all of that extra money is going? Is it just being spread out to the crowd-sourced masses? Or is it going into the IS profit coffers? Either way it doesn't bode well for the contributor.

- IS reports that purchases for print are declining and purchases for web are increasing. In other words, smaller sizes are being bought more and more. Once again, this doesn't bode well for the contributor.

- The article mentions that the new Best Match is going live today. I thought that it went live previously, but I could be wrong.

I wonder if the revenue increase is partly due to the video/audio collection? When was that launched?
I really wish IS was...eeeeh... a bit more user-friendly

I only have a fraction of all my images there, but it's getting close to my top earners in revenues. Go figure.

PixelBytes · « **Reply #3 on:** June 24, 2009, 12:59 »

Interesting that they didn't mention istock's exclusive collection or the fact that Vetta is all exclusive images.

Is istock no longer marketing that fact?

cmillc22 · « **Reply #4 on:** June 24, 2009, 16:38 »

I like the fact that IS predicted to make $200 million and the payout is about $91 million to the contributors, sales last year (2008) have been reported to be $150 million so IStock is looking to add another $50 million in 2009. I think they are planning on making that $50 million from the lower commision fees that they will pay to the contributors

GeoPappas · « **Reply #5 on:** June 24, 2009, 17:00 »

Quote from: cmillc22 on June 24, 2009, 16:38

I like the fact that IS predicted to make $200 million and the payout is about $91 million to the contributors...

Where did you get your figure from?

According to the article, payouts to contributors were around $62 million (or $1.2 million/week). Royalties range from 20% (for independents) to 40% for crown-wearing exclusives. $62 million (out of a total $200 million revenue) would be about 31%, which seems like a good ballpark figure, although I think that is even a little optimistic.

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Author Topic: Useful article on microstock (Read 4155 times)

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