Stock video is, in summary, media content that has been previously filmed by the author, without a client engagement, and that is accessible for download in a database. But, how many types are there? Stock video is normally classified depending on its use and quality. As we will see below, there is also a new concept emerging from the most sophisticated forms of video stock.
Commercial vs. editorial
The origins of stock video and photo are in editorial content, this is, stock photo to be used in the coverage of news. The stock content illustrates the narrative without the need to deploy resources on site and/or engage a specific realization. However, although still very relevant, nowadays it is only about 25% of the market.
This is because commercial stock has grown exponentially in the most recent years. This type of stock is used for advertisement, marketing, and communication purposes. Photo stock is still the most common form of content, but video has been gaining momentum in the past decade, and now all the major stock platforms have a substantial amount of video as well.
Macrostock vs. microstock
On the one hand, macrostock is, basically, higher quality stock video offered at a higher price. Thus, it is not sold as many times, which provides a certain degree of exclusivity for the buyer. On the other hand, microstock is lower quality video that is offered at very affordable prices. This creates a higher volume of sales, which in turn means reduced chances of exclusivity for the buyer.
Although this classification is valid for both commercial and editorial stock, the truth is that most editorial stock is microstock, whilst commercial stock is increasingly focusing on macrostock.
A new concept: exclusive stock video
As said above, the tendency is towards macrostock, mostly because it provides more exclusivity, especially when it comes to stock video. As a matter of fact, there is already a stock video provider offering full exclusivity in practically all its content. Vystock.com, a boutique stock video website, is producing high quality cinematic style footage that grants perpetual exclusive licensing rights to the buyer, with only certain reasonable limitations. This is the most recent evolution of commercial macrostock.