iStockphoto has announced the launch of its premium-quality Vetta video collection with clip prices that range from 55 to 150 credits (credit prices vary from $0.99 to $1.54 depending on the size of the credit package purchased). Currently there are over 300,000 video clips on iStock, but only a few thousand of the best are in the Vetta collection. However, it is expected that the Vetta collection will grow rapidly. Approximately 5,000 videographers have contributed clips to iStock.
In London at the recent iStockalypse event iStock Chief Operating Officer Kelly Thompson told Deep Tech’s Stephen Sharkland that video sales have been iStock’s fastest-growing category and last year surpassed 10% of revenue. iStock’s gross 2010 revenue has been estimated at about $300 million. Sources indicate that as much as 15% of iStock’s revenue may come from video clips.
For comparison purposes it should be noted that at the end of 2007 Goldman Sacks reported that footage and multimedia revenue for Getty Images was $42.88 million and by 2012 it was expected to be $83 million. However, this analysis was completed before iStock started selling footage and before the recession. Videographers marketing their work through Getty Images tell me that there has been no significant increase in the revenue generated by the Getty Images footage division since 2007.
It could be that sales to Getty’s traditional commercial and advertising customers have been relatively flat in the last few years. That would be consistent with what was happening in the early 2000s. The Goldman Sacks number may have been based on expectations of increasing video use online, but when it came time for online customers to buy they have gone to the less expensive iStock collection rather than to Getty Images. The growth rate iStock video is experiencing compared to the growth of the Getty footage collection is an indication of how rapidly online is becoming the major user of visual content.
iStock has been working to distinguish itself from rivals such as Shutterstock, Dreamstime, and Fotolia by offering higher-quality, higher-priced content. According to Thompson iStock expects to eventually offer high-end "2K" and "4K" video, which have roughly quadruple the resolution of mainstream 1080p video.
"Our videographers have been excited about the price point," Thompson said. "They're investing a lot more money into their shoots. They're looking at something where they could get a lot more return back." For more information about what iStock is looking for in its Vetta video collection check out the following
guidelines. Approximately 70% of the video clips are from exclusive contributors.
Related Statistics
In 2010 iStock’s revenue from outside of North America surpassed 50% for the first time. Right now, the company's archive of content (still images, video and illustration) is 1.4 petabytes and growing at a rate of 22 terabytes per month.