Regarding your question, I’d like to know a definitive answer to that too. There’s no question lower cost, royalty-free images are taking a bigger chunk of the market and more licensing needs are migrating online. But how much to both? That’s a great question. It’s a good topic for an article, or an article I’d happily publish if someone writes a definitive piece they’d like in print.

Unfortunately, I think it’s almost impossible to get those answers with accuracy for the whole industry. Corbis (and others) are private companies and release no financial data. That makes Getty ’s financials, and their earnings analysts calls, the best source but they are not at all complete because they don’t typically break out the subsets of their business at that level of detail. For the last fiscal year (the link to the transcript is below for you) my guess is royalty free stock photo was about 15 to 25 percent of the mix, give or take a few points. About half their still image revenue was from traditional “rights ready” or “Rights managed” licenses. Another big chunk was what they classify as Editorial. (Subtracting out that, other items, and then making a few adjustments led to that number. )

The shining bright spot for those interested in microstock is the high growth rates year over year. Unfortunately, Getty is in the process of going private so we won’t have the luxury of reviewing their financials to see how the trend continues.

If you’re curious about the privatization.You can check these out:
1. Getty Images on the Auction Block:
2.Hellman Friedman to Privatize Getty for $2.1b:

Back to your question – Overall, I’d say Getty’s most recent earnings transcript probably adds the the most info. Jonathon Klein, Getty’s CEO, has typically been candid and detailed when speaking to analysts. The transcript can be found here: