Design Method
The disruption of the stock footage industry and rise of the creative class
As we reside in a digital age of hyper-change, it’s easy to forget just how much the world has changed in a relatively short amount of time. For example, it wasn’t too long ago that the thought of becoming an author or broadcaster was out of reach for most people. But, we are all creators now.
We have become a global community of bloggers, vloggers, and podcasters finding a way to make our authentic voice heard online. However, everybody also consumes content differently. Businesses, freelancers, and creatives are expected to produce visual, written, video and audio content if they want everybody to receive their message.
Despite this incredible transformation, the stock footage industry has remained largely the same. Big corporations will have the luxury of expensive subscriptions to Getty, Shutterstock, and Adobe, but where does that leave this next wave of creatives who are doing things very differently?
Tired and clichéd footage of men in white suits shaking hands in boardrooms no longer resonates with digital natives either. To stand out across a deluge of online content that bombards our timelines, people need eye-catching authentic images that both bring content to life and resonates with their audience too.
Joel Holland, a 30-year-old entrepreneur, had an idea that would challenge that status quo and built his Netflix-like stock media service platform from his RV. Videoblocks initially set out to level the playing field by giving everyone easy, affordable access to stock video, motion backgrounds, special effects and after effects templates.
“THE CHANGING PROFILE OF A CONTENT CREATOR IS CAUSING AN UNPRECEDENTED CHANGE IN THE DEMAND FOR CREATIVE CONTENT”
– VIDEOBLOCKS AND STORYBLOCKS CEO TJ LEONAR
The platform quickly evolved into a service that was turning into a one-stop shop for not only video but audio and images too. The platform recently rebranded to StoryBlocks. The simple concept of empowering the mass creative class of freelancers, small businesses, and marketers with studio-quality digital assets is rapidly becoming a game changer for the company.
Although StoryBlocks members are expected to make huge savings in stock footage, the platform also offers contributors 100% commission. Impressively the platform celebrated 100 million downloads earlier this year and has also paid content creators $6 million from Marketplace sales.
Creating a destination for both consumers and creators of content has helped Storyblocks add 10 million images to its new photo library. However, they are also adding around a million more per month as their inevitable collision with industry disruption gathers pace.
Whether we are in the office enjoying some much-needed downtime, the reality is that we are always online and like it or not we are all creators and publishers of content. Whether it be a holiday blog post, tweet or Facebook status, almost every action we perform is transformed into living breathing content that is delivered to an audience of friends, family, colleagues or even complete strangers.
The inconvenient truth for many is that any produced content also allows readers to judge and build a picture of their creator without their knowledge. The dramatic shift in content creation and consumption has created a need for high-quality creative assets regardless of budget.
These are just a few reasons why the stock media industry is ripe for disruption. In a digital world where we can secure a cab, table at a restaurant and hotel for the night within a few swipes of our phone, users are naturally searching for the one stop shop for all their creative needs.
As the creator profile evolves and we move forward into the digital transformation of everything, we are witnessing the rise of a creative class. To meet this demand, Storyblocks is offering a unique subscription model to give the power back to the freelancer, smaller businesses, and digital marketers.
Unlimited downloads of 115,000 HD videos, 400,000 images, and 110,000 audio tracks with royalty-free licenses has the potential to simplify both commercial and personal projects. The rise of StoryBlocks will certainly be on the radar of traditional stock footage providers. All eyes will now be on how they react to the chnaging profile of their clients.