Pond5 announced this month the introduction of new financial incentives and brand-building tools to help creatives start, promote, and grow their businesses utilizing the Pond5 platform. Bolstering the creator economy and breaking the mold of the traditional stock model, Pond5 is empowering artists with new tools to showcase their work to their clients and facilitate direct selling opportunities.
The features now introduced give artists leverage over their own success to an extent that is unmatched by any other stock media marketplace, providing a path to earn up to 90% of every transaction, says the company. Driven by their artist-first model, Pond5 prides itself in being the best platform for contributors to license content to customers worldwide with the added benefits of earning a greater revenue share and the flexibility to set prices. Key examples are the new artist Storefront to the community in conjunction with its new Refer & Earn program. These innovative tools now allow artists to showcase and give context to their unique work while taking ownership of their personal brand.
“Creators on both sides of our marketplace are at the heart of everything we do at Pond5; it’s always been our mission to be a platform for artists to make a living doing what they love,” says Pond5 CEO Tom Crary. “Our contributors’ success is our success, and our marketplace is only as good as the talent we feature. The new Pond5 Storefront and Refer & Earn programs represent the first step in an evolution of our business model; we’re giving artists even more control over their success and growth with tools to help them thrive, while ensuring that Pond5 remains the best place to start and grow a creative business.”
Pond5’s marketplace features content across multimedia categories including video, music, sound effects, photos, motion graphics templates, and more. Millions of users interact with over 100,000 active artists, inspired by the unmatched breadth and depth of content licensing choices only available on the platform.
Susan Scott, award-winning wildlife documentary filmmaker and Pond5 exclusive artist explains, “Having access to Pond5 when I was first starting out as an independent filmmaker was remarkable. I left an excellent full-time position as an editor for National Geographic and Discovery to become an independent filmmaker with no way to sustain myself at the beginning. Fortunately, being on location in South Africa gave some really amazing footage that I was able to upload to Pond5. I started off small but became more consistent and built a nice body of work, the sales from which gave me the ability to pursue my passion for wildlife documentary filmmaking and turn it into a career.”
The Pond5 Storefront functions as a personal website where contributors can provide the context that makes their work special by sharing their inspirations and experiences, awards and accolades, and more. Additionally, they can highlight the content and collections that best represent their style and talent. The highly customizable storefront invites creators to build their brand, share their work with their personal networks and followers, and maximize earnings.
Sandeep Bhandari, composer and Pond5 Artist adds, “The new Pond5 Storefront gives creatives a new layer of control over how our work is displayed; it looks incredibly polished to customers. Other sites haven’t engaged artists to support business growth in this way. It’s a testament to the respect that Pond5 has for artists and the thoughtfulness behind their decision-making.”
Complementing the Pond5 Storefront is the Refer & Earn program that rewards any Pond5 user for promoting Pond5 content, with industry-leading commissions when a purchase is made by a referred customer. Artists who participate are given an extra incentive whenever a referred user purchases their work, maximizing their potential earnings.
Pond5 gives artists access to the best royalty rates in the stock industry: 40% for non-exclusive video artists, and 60% for exclusive artists. With the updated Refer & Earn program, artists can easily share a unique referral link with their network, opening up the potential to take home as much as 90% of the order value.
“The income I generate on Pond5 is often more predictable than what comes in through my production company. Even though the market fluctuates, I’m able to better plan and prepare; the overall need for stock media mirrors the production cycles of films and television,” adds Bhandari. “Being able to generate additional income by referring your work to other artists is hugely beneficial. Pond5 provides financial stability to content creators who are looking to monetize their media assets in a visually appealing and intuitive marketplace.”
Anyone can participate in the company’s referral program by creating an account and sharing their unique link with other potential customers. Artists and customers are invited to join the Pond5 marketplace visiting the company’s website.