The company originally launched as Footage Firm, but altered the brand name to VideoBlocks when the group switched from sending DVDs in the mail to an online video marketplace in 2011. While the company was originally founded by a videographer after realizing a school project would cost $3,000 just for b-roll footage, the company has since expanded to include audio as well as photographs under a separate website, GraphicStock.com.
The move allows the company to maintain its subscription-based model, which underpinned its initial success, but also allows the platform to expand into additional media categories in the future. While VideoBlocks was known for a one-price subscription giving creatives access to videos and audio at VideoBlocks.com and photos at GraphicStock, the company is now launching an image marketplace with the rebrand. Just like the video marketplace, the photo marketplace expands the available photos, offering a 60-percent discount to members and paying out 100-percent commission to contributors. the “a la carte” photo marketplace uses a flat $10 cost for each photo, or $4 for members. Along with the marketplace, the photo section of StoryBlocks will also have a subscription option modeled after the video platform.
The company will keep the subscription model and separate marketplace option, but by placing all the content types under one platform, the firm will also be launching subscription options that cover multiple types of content. T.J. Leonard, StoryBlocks CEO, says that one in three creatives buys more than one type of stock media while one in ten will buy video, audio, and photos.
“We started with video and as we’ve expanded into images and music, we’ve done that through additional properties,” Leonard said. “As we look to the future, we see ourselves expanding to more types, such as photo, video, music, templates and fonts.”
With the rebrand, StoryBlocks also gets a new look with a redesigned website. The design changes aim to create a uniform experience across the different available content types. Users can log in once to access all the different media categories.
With the rebrand, storyblocks.com launches. VideoBlocks and GraphicStock will maintain their separate URLS but will over time emerge with the StoryBlocks website. Search filter options will help make it easy for creatives to find the right type of content despite the eventual merger into a single website.
“Eight years ago, I started a stock media company with a single vision: to provide creative content that everyone could afford,” said Founder and Executive Chairman Joel Holland. “This is still our mission as Storyblocks. Along with our new name, we are now offering our members 60-percent savings on millions of photos in our new image Marketplace and passing 100 percent of the earnings on to the original artists. There is a lot of great change happening, but our business model is staying the same. The creative community comes first every time.”
Earlier this year, the company reached 100 million downloads. StoryBlocks started accepting stock photography submissions in February in order to start building a wide variety inside the new pay-per-piece photo marketplace.
