Editor's Note: The following is a guest post by Joel Holland, CEO of VideoBlocks. VideoBlocks is a Reston-based provider of royalty-free stock audio video and images with a subscription model for greater access to its enormous catalog. Here Holland talks about how technology is changing the creative market and what the future holds for artists and content-users.
2015 promises to be a coming of age kind of year for digital video as two macro trends will dominate the ecosystem - a new “Mass Creative” class will take center stage, and artists will demand more control over the content they create.
The “Mass Creative” Market Has Arrived
For many years, the equipment and knowledge necessary to create, edit and distribute your own videos was not widely accessible. Cameras cost tens of thousands of dollars, and editing required specialized software and years of study. Make no mistake about it, the best cameras are still incredibly expensive, and it can take a lifetime to master the craft, but there are more entry level options making it easier for people to join the video creation ranks.
There have been dozens of articles written about how the rapidly declining cost of digital cameras and storage has driven a revolution in how people capture images and videos. The GoPro Hero4 is a great example. It was unimaginable just a couple years ago that you could buy a 4K camera for under $500. The “Mass Creative” revolution certainly started gathering momentum as powerful, affordable hardware became widely available.
Hardware ended up being necessary but insufficient to spark a revolution in video creation, however. While all you need is a camera to shoot images, video often requires a more complex editing process before you have a finished project. This is where companies like Adobe have stepped up to help empower more creators with great editing tools. Adobe recently announced that it has added 3,400,000 Creative Cloud subscribers since the service launched in June 2013. The growth is accelerating, and Adobe now adds more than 50,000 new creators to its subscription base every week. Each one one of those subscribers have access to a suite of software that previously cost thousands of dollars, and as a result effectively priced all amateurs and hobbyists out of the market.
Online learning has also democratized the skills required to use video equipment and editing software. Sites like Lynda.com have helped distribute the knowledge necessary to make great videos. A quick search yields over 4,000 results for Adobe Premier, After Effects and Final Cut tutorials. As YouTube has evolved, it has become an incredible source of free information related to the video ecosystem. Channels like VFXBros and IceFlowStudios have amassed hundreds of thousands of subscribers, all who willingly consume a seemingly endless supply of how to material geared toward the Mass Creative audience.
Put these three key inputs together - better entry-level equipment with increased access to editing tools and more distributed knowledge - and the number of people creating high quality content will grow at an exponential rate in 2015.
Artists Will Demand More Control Over Their Content
As the number of relatively sophisticated creators grows, and as more and more of them turn to online platforms to share and monetize their work, the relationship between artists and businesses will change. Specifically, artists will demand more control over their content and in the process control a larger (and more appropriate) share of the profits from their work.
The last couple years have seen dozens of different new companies emerge that help artists monetize their content. Everything from YouTube Multi Channel Networks to fingerprinting for digital music - wherever creative content is distributed, new technology that helps artists maintain control over how it’s used has followed.
As the number of options has proliferated, artists become less and less reliant on one particular distribution channel. This will give talent the confidence to demand a greater share of the profits being generated from their creations. They will balk at onerous contracts and exclusivity requirements. They will demand a greater commission when their goods are sold in a marketplace. They assume all the risk associated with investing their time and money buying equipment and creating the material, and now that they have more ways to earn a living they will claim a share that is more in line with the risks they shoulder. All in all, it is shaping up to be an incredible year in the video ecosystem. Ultimately a vibrant community of creators leads to better content for all of us, and better results for our businesses. Will be exciting to track these two major trends as they play out in 2015.
