Author Topic: In all seriousness - don't you think video stock is saturated market? (Read 39606 times)

yuumee · « **on:** June 11, 2015, 07:44 »

Just looking at few big selling stock video sites and their contributors.

Things I observed:

- 80% of all videos never been purchased/downloaded
- there are only small % of contributors who make a living from it
- lots of videos published are "blind shoots" of what might sell, a bit of mess, often with quantity and not quality in mind

This all make me feel that its hard for a new contributor to come and make a living from it even in a long term.

I would love to hear your thoughts - both from new and experienced contributors

eburlingham · « **Reply #1 on:** June 11, 2015, 10:33 »

Stock footage is a 500 million dollar a year industry. Shoot what people want to buy and you can make a living. The tricky part is figuring out what that is and doing it well.

yuumee · « **Reply #2 on:** June 11, 2015, 10:44 »

@eburlingham - do you have any data to back these numbers?

Hows your success in stock video industry so far?

Mantis · « **Reply #3 on:** June 11, 2015, 10:49 »

Quote from: eburlingham on June 11, 2015, 10:33

Stock footage is a 500 million dollar a year industry. Shoot what people want to buy and you can make a living. The tricky part is figuring out what that is and doing it well.

This is correct and if i had that formula I wouldn't share it here nexessarily unless it isnhard and expensive to replicate.

eburlingham · « **Reply #4 on:** June 11, 2015, 11:01 »

Yuumee, that number is something I read on the internet somewhere... Probably someone's estimate, but I believe it is probably around that or more.

I will say that you can make more money from 10 good clips than you can from 10,000 mediocre clips. I don't believe it's about volume.

MatHayward · « **Reply #5 on:** June 11, 2015, 11:42 »

I think it is far from a saturated market. The demand for video content is growing every day at a very fast rate. I would be very interested to see some statistics showing how many people bought video footage a year ago compared to today and then to see those numbers a year from now. Based on the trends I've seen I would be willing to bet the jump is huge in comparison.

-Mat

WeatherENG · « **Reply #6 on:** June 11, 2015, 12:07 »

Maybe not saturated but saturated in some areas, have to keep in mind styles and trends change on a dime these days and we have to find out who our customers are and advertise our work to them in addition to the promotion that agencies do for us.

In TV news, not long a go it was unthinkable to use hand held home video camera vis unless it was a major story and one had the incident happening on camera and even then they used to slap "amateur video" on it. Today? round after round of layoffs of camera operators due to free home video content from the public using their cell phones, they are HD now, quality is better but it's still hand held home video but guess what?, the standards have changed, TV stations use it as if it was shot by professional camera ops and it's free which helps and they even call it UGC or user generated content.

My content is less than prefect, it's news/weather news and on campus events at college and university and a lot of my less than perfect stuff sells, need to quadruple sales now but that's another story.

Could buyers be making do with more and more content that is not perfectly produced?.

My worry is the smartphone use expanding and putting us right out of business.

Saw large posters in the transit shelters in Toronto for the streetcars at Bathurst and King the other day, huge posters, the photography normally done by a professional photographer working for the ad agency, these were done with an iphone6, there was a fine print note on each poster. The quality and at that size? amazing.

M
www.pond5.com/artist/WeatherENG

Holmes · « **Reply #7 on:** June 11, 2015, 13:20 »

I got into video about a year ago with about 200 clips at a few sites.
The sales have been much less than anticipated. Ya hear all the hyperbole about VIDEO IS THE NEW HOT THING but i just don't think the stats back that up. It would be good to see real world numbers for the sale of video clips.

And the upload issues with bandwidth is a concern for these large files. I have to do it overnight and often i find an error message in the morning and have to do it again. Often many times to get files loaded. I will have a new fiber optic install in my home next year with 50 mbps both ways so will start loading more then.

But overall, considering the file sizes, keyboarding, shooting, equipment and sales... it has been a disappointment but it is fun to shoot.

spike · « **Reply #8 on:** June 11, 2015, 13:50 »

Quote from: MatHayward on June 11, 2015, 11:42

I think it is far from a saturated market. The demand for video content is growing every day at a very fast rate. I would be very interested to see some statistics showing how many people bought video footage a year ago compared to today and then to see those numbers a year from now. Based on the trends I've seen I would be willing to bet the jump is huge in comparison.

-Mat

Will Fotolia offer 4k video soon? Almost all my videos are 4k, and I don't feel like downsizing just for one agency.

jjneff · « **Reply #9 on:** June 11, 2015, 14:10 »

Been full-time stock video producer for over 5 years now. Love my job and have to work harder and harder to keep up but I don't mind. Still the best job in the world to me. If I was just starting out today it would be a lot harder!

KB · « **Reply #10 on:** June 11, 2015, 15:31 »

Quote from: MatHayward on June 11, 2015, 11:42

I think it is far from a saturated market. The demand for video content is growing every day at a very fast rate.

It doesn't surprise me that the demand for video content is growing every day at a very fast rate. However, as someone who started as a video contributor long ago, it is equally clear that the supply of video content is also growing every day at a very fast rate. I noticed a clear market saturation in certain areas well over a year ago, based on my drop in sales (relative to my portfolio size).

I think the video market is somewhere around 2012, relative to where the photo market was then. I bet the demand for photo content continues to grow every day at a very fast rate as well, however most individual contributors cannot keep their portfolio growing at a fast enough rate to keep up with the much larger growth rate in supply. The video market isn't there yet, but will be in another year or two (just my own WAG).

yuumee · « **Reply #11 on:** June 11, 2015, 23:02 »

Thank you all for your constructive insights!

Quote from: KB on June 11, 2015, 15:31

Quote from: MatHayward on June 11, 2015, 11:42
I think it is far from a saturated market. The demand for video content is growing every day at a very fast rate.
It doesn't surprise me that the demand for video content is growing every day at a very fast rate. However, as someone who started as a video contributor long ago, it is equally clear that the supply of video content is also growing every day at a very fast rate. I noticed a clear market saturation in certain areas well over a year ago, based on my drop in sales (relative to my portfolio size).

I think the video market is somewhere around 2012, relative to where the photo market was then. I bet the demand for photo content continues to grow every day at a very fast rate as well, however most individual contributors cannot keep their portfolio growing at a fast enough rate to keep up with the much larger growth rate in supply. The video market isn't there yet, but will be in another year or two (just my own WAG).

What are these "certain areas" you think the footage type is saturated ?

Quote from: jjneff on June 11, 2015, 14:10

Been full-time stock video producer for over 5 years now. Love my job and have to work harder and harder to keep up but I don't mind. Still the best job in the world to me. If I was just starting out today it would be a lot harder!

Why will be harder to start now?

Lets keep conversation going!

KB · « **Reply #12 on:** June 11, 2015, 23:28 »

Quote from: yuumee on June 11, 2015, 23:02

What are these "certain areas" you think the footage type is saturated ?

The flippant answer is "just about anything I shoot". The more helpful answer is landscapes, landmarks, and nature. The "easy" stuff. It's hardly surprising, given the proliferation of video capabilities across the entire line of digital cameras. When I started, you needed to have either a dedicated camcorder, or a 5D Mark II dSLR. Now you need only a newish camera of almost any kind.

cobalt · « **Reply #13 on:** June 12, 2015, 05:26 »

If i look at video sites from a buyers perspective, i find nearly everything i need is missing.

Mostly short, generic clips, that you can drop anywhere into your own presentation videos and that are easy to mix with your own product materials.

A lot of the videos are much too specific, they are often "too finished " for me to use.

Some of the material from high quality producers is also too slick and professional, it wouldn't work with what we would have done for our own business. We would not have been able to mix it into our own shots, which would be done on location and often come from employees and partners without professional gear.

And then there is the endless amateur content, often coming from photographers who do not pay attention to the quality of the movements or how to match the movement of the camera to the scene.

There is a lot to learn with video.

So yes, I believe it is a very interesting market and millions of clips are missing, but from what I see coming in, it seems to be much harder for photographers than I thought it would be.

jjneff · « **Reply #14 on:** June 12, 2015, 05:38 »

The bar is higher now, if you are a good producer then the sky is the limit.

Johnski2015 · « **Reply #15 on:** June 19, 2015, 12:20 »

I've just started uploading files and I find it very interesting to generate moving image. The key of course is getting the right content i.e. that sells.

I enjoy the freedom of shooting what I want though...

Uploading and Storage are a pain though..

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Author Topic: In all seriousness - don't you think video stock is saturated market? (Read 39606 times)

yuumee

eburlingham

yuumee

Mantis

eburlingham

MatHayward

WeatherENG

Holmes

spike

jjneff

KB

yuumee

KB

cobalt

jjneff

Johnski2015

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