Pond5, the pioneering online marketplace for stock media and creative components, announced today that the one-millionth clip had been added to its stock video collection, making Pond5 by far the largest and fastest-growing collection of royalty-free video on the Web. The site also offers millions of stock images, audio files, and other creative components for use as raw material in media productions of all types.
The millionth stock video, entitled Hong Kong Night Heavy Traffic (link,
https://www.pond5.com/stock-footage/10774515), is a timelapse shot uploaded by Hong Kong-based artist Pui Yuen Ng.
To celebrate, Pond5 will be paying its artists 100% royalties for all sales occurring on the day of the milestone, March 4. In addition, Pui Yuen Ng will receive 100% royalties for the next $1,000 of sales he receives. “Pond5 would be nothing without its artists,” said CEO Tom Bennett, “so this is a way to say thanks.”
Pond5 represents a fast-growing global talent pool of thousands of filmmakers, musicians, motion graphics designers, and other media makers, who are attracted by the site’s uniquely artist-friendly model: prices on Pond5 are set by the artists themselves, and they receive an industry-leading 50% cut on all sales. The result, says Bennett, is “the first truly dynamic marketplace for stock media and creative assets, offering the most comprehensive collection of fresh, high quality content, at the absolute best prices.”
The model is clearly working, as the site’s stock video offering has doubled in the past year, with sales following the same trajectory. Pond5 artists earned millions of dollars in royalties in 2011, and the company has been profitable since 2009.