A recent study by U.K. research firm Futuresource sheds light on the numbers of potential entrants into the online stock image and video licensing market: 85% of survey respondents upload stills and video to the Internet. The 16 to 34-year-old group accounts for the most uploads.
Though the sample of the Futuresource study is relatively small—1,000 people—the number of people uploading content to personal and photo-sharing Web sites is staggering. Video uploads are nearly as high as stills, with 70% of survey respondents sharing personal videos online. People under 34-years-old are most likely to share footage and favor Web sites over PCs or laptops as the primary sharing tool.
Futuresource’s study focuses on personal photo and video sharing. However, it aptly demonstrates that the overwhelming majority of the population has the means to produce visual content and post it online. While most of such content will not be commercially viable, and not all salable material will find its way to buyer outlets such as Flickr or microstock Web sites, even a small fraction of this content competing with the production of specialized stock shooters explains much about the current state of the industry.
Further, there is no reversal in sight. Even the most technophobic demographic groups have gotten on the band wagon: Futuresource says that one in three 55-year-olds has uploaded visual content to the Internet. Consequently, the amount of material available for sale as stock will continue to grow. The only remaining question is how much of the remaining traditional business will be cannibalized by these new entrants, which tend to flow into the lowest-price end of the market.