Microstock Photography Stats – Earnings and Downloads from 2002-2009
Posted on January 5th, 2010 in Uncategorized | 5 Comments »
Happy New Year everyone! We’ve been crunching through millions of microstock transactions and over the next few weeks will be sharing some of our findings. Here is an annual summary of earnings, downloads and earnings per download from 2002 to 2009.
Earnings and Downloads from 2002 – 2009
I think some of the key takeaways from this chart are:
- Strong growth in total earnings and downloads overall
- Rapid expansion in Earnings per Download
- Significantly slower rate of growth in Downloads from 2008-2009
- I can’t wait to see what will happen in 2010!
Your opinion of microstock will determine how you interpret this data. On the one hand, it is true that the heady growth rates of the early years are no longer present today. On the other hand, this is somewhat normal and expected as an industry expands. Also, from a business perspective, the fact that you can raise prices and move more units, especially during a downturn, is very impressive. Regardless of your point of view, 2010 is going to be a fascinating year.
I’d love to hear your perspectives and predictions in the comments. We’ll be diving into more data shortly, so stay tuned.
5 Responses
same to you Luis!
Thanks Rahul, another smidgen of insight from the vastly rich data source of the LookStat database. Always appreciated and well received.
Given iStockphoto was the only player in 2002, I guess the $0.05 RPD was the commission from the $0.20, which I'm told was the first fee. That's certainly some historically cool data you've got there!
Also, it would be great to know how many contributors' accounts were used to create this data. I realize that might be giving away some sensitive information, but the perspective it would lend to the data would be invaluable. Specifically, is the total earnings line averaged out by the quantity of accounts active in each year to account for the different length of time each contributor has been active?
Also, is the total earnings chart showing annual RPI on the same scale (i.e. $3 in 2009) or is the scale for that chart just not shown?
I'm inspired by the RPD growth. Most agencies are raising prices and simultaneously cutting commissions but that line shows the net benefit to contributors is definitely positive.
Hi Lee,
Thanks for the comments and the historical insight!
This is not user adjusted data. That is coming soon and has some interesting wrinkles of its own. Also, the y axis for total earnings & downloads is intentionally omitted.
Rahul
Hey Rahul,
nice to see that kind of curve!
I'd also like to know how many contributors was "crunched" to get your chart. Let's see what the new year will bring us… and waiting for new great Lookstat insights!
Best,
roberto
[...] Last week I wrote about total earnings and downloads and the trends associated with pricing, downloads and earnings. In this post, I looked at the same data and adjusted for active users in that year to get an [...]