According to aerial stock agency
HOsiHO it is becoming harder and harder for video images creators to earn enough to support themselves. See its appeal to Stock Image Banks
here.
There has been a decline in assignments and prices for the use of video clips have declined so much that professional independent videographers are finding it difficult to justify continued production.
Many professional image creators have already given up and moved on to other ways to earn their living. Stock agencies and Image Banks are at risk of having to rely on amateurs and semi-professionals to supply them with new work. There is big question as to whether these new suppliers will be able to provide the kind of imagery customer are asking for and expect, given what they will be paid for their efforts.
Shutterstock has added 57 million images to its collection in the last 12 months. Units licensed have declined 5.5% at a time when customers are using more stock images due the limitations Covid has placed on shooting assignments. See
here. More images alone don’t automatically lead to growth. They must be the kind of images customers really need.
Getty has plans to release an
incentive program to IStock exclusive contributors in the near future. See what iStock contributors on the Microstockgroup website have to say about that program. It seems unlikely this effort will produce the results Getty hopes for.