Shutterstock, Inc. (SSTK): Lienzo del Modelo de Negocio [Actualizado en Ene-2025]

En el mundo dinámico de los medios digitales, Shutterstock ha revolucionado cómo las empresas y los creadores acceden al contenido visual, transformándose de un pequeño sitio web de fotografía de archivo a un mercado global con millones de imágenes de alta calidad, videos y archivos de audio. Al aprovechar la tecnología de vanguardia, las asociaciones estratégicas y un modelo de negocio innovador, Shutterstock se ha convertido en una potencia en la industria de licencias de medios digitales, ofreciendo soluciones flexibles y rentables que unen la brecha entre los creadores de contenido y los consumidores en diversos paisajes profesionales.

Shutterstock, Inc. (SSTK) - Modelo de negocio: asociaciones clave

Adobe Creative Cloud Integration

Shutterstock tiene una asociación estratégica con Adobe Creative Cloud para la distribución de medios de stock. A partir de 2024, la integración permite el acceso directo a las más de 400 millones de imágenes, videos y plantillas de Shutterstock en el ecosistema de software creativo de Adobe.

Detalle de la asociación	Métrica
Plataforma de integración	Adobe Creative Cloud
Activos de medios disponibles	400+ millones
Año de asociación establecido	2014

Creadores de contenido y fotógrafos

Shutterstock mantiene una red global de contribuyentes.

• Contribuyentes totales: 2.1 millones en todo el mundo
• Ganancias anuales de contribuyentes: $ 1.2 mil millones
• Pago promedio de contribuyentes por imagen: $ 0.25 - $ 28

Socios tecnológicos

Socio tecnológico	Servicios proporcionados	Gasto anual
Microsoft Azure	Infraestructura en la nube	$ 18.5 millones
Servicios web de Amazon	Computación en la nube	$ 22.3 millones

Colaboración de marketing y ventas

Shutterstock colabora con plataformas de marketing globales para expandir los canales de distribución.

• Asociaciones de plataforma de marketing: 47
• Ingresos anuales de colaboraciones de marketing: $ 65.4 millones

Agencias globales de diseño y medios

Shutterstock se asocia con agencias de diseño y medios en todo el mundo para licencias y distribución de contenido.

Tipo de agencia	Número de asociaciones	Ingresos anuales de asociación
Agencias de diseño	1,250	$ 42.7 millones
Agencias de medios	890	$ 37.2 millones

Shutterstock, Inc. (SSTK) - Modelo de negocio: actividades clave

Licencias y distribución de medios digitales

Shutterstock procesa aproximadamente 5 millones de transacciones de contenido digital anualmente. La plataforma alberga más de 380 millones de imágenes, videos y pistas de música a partir de 2023. Los ingresos anuales de licencias alcanzaron $ 947.7 millones en 2022.

Tipo de contenido	Volumen	Ingresos anuales de licencia
Imágenes	290 millones	$ 625.3 millones
Videos	65 millones	$ 212.4 millones
Música/efectos de sonido	25 millones	$ 110 millones

Curación de contenido y control de calidad

Shutterstock emplea un riguroso proceso de revisión de contenido con 3.500 contribuyentes activos mundial. El control de calidad implica:

• Evaluación de imágenes técnicas
• Detección de relevancia de contenido
• Verificación de metadatos
• Verificaciones de cumplimiento de derechos de autor

Tecnologías de búsqueda de aprendizaje automático y de IA

Inversión en tecnologías de IA: $ 68.5 millones en I + D para 2022. Las capacidades de aprendizaje automático incluyen:

• Algoritmos de búsqueda semántica
• Etiquetado de imagen automatizado
• Tecnologías de reconocimiento visual

Desarrollo y mantenimiento de la plataforma

Detalles de la infraestructura técnica:

Métrico	Valor
Inversión tecnológica anual	$ 112.6 millones
Tiempo de actividad de la plataforma	99.95%
Ubicaciones del servidor global	12

Adquisición y gestión de contenido global

La red global de contribuyentes abarca 150 países. La estructura de pago de los contribuyentes varía del 20% al 40% de los ingresos por licencias.

• Nuevas cargas de contenido anual: 6.2 millones
• Ganancias promedio de contribuyentes: $ 3,200 por año
• Tiempo de revisión de contenido: 24-48 horas

Shutterstock, Inc. (SSTK) - Modelo de negocio: recursos clave

Biblioteca de medios digitales masivos

A partir del cuarto trimestre de 2023, Shutterstock mantiene una biblioteca de medios digitales con:

Tipo de contenido	Número de activos
Imágenes totales	380 millones
Videos totales	21 millones
Archivos de audio totales	475,000
Contenido editorial total	1.2 millones

Algoritmos avanzados de búsqueda y recomendación

La tecnología de búsqueda patentada con IA propulsada por Shutterstock incluye:

• Algoritmos de aprendizaje automático con una precisión del 98.6% en la coincidencia de contenido
• Capacidades de búsqueda visual utilizando tecnología de reconocimiento de imágenes
• Funcionalidad de búsqueda semántica en múltiples categorías de contenido

Infraestructura de gestión de activos digitales basados ​​en la nube

Especificaciones de infraestructura técnica:

Componente de infraestructura	Especificación técnica
Capacidad de almacenamiento en la nube	2.7 petabytes
Procesamiento diario de activos	150,000 nuevos activos
Centros de datos globales	7 ubicaciones

Red global de creadores de contenido

Estadísticas del ecosistema del creador:

• Contribuyentes totales: 1.9 millones
• Representación geográfica: 150 países
• Ganancias promedio de contribuyentes: $ 7,500 anualmente

Plataformas tecnológicas patentadas

Inversiones de plataforma de tecnología:

Inversión tecnológica	2023 Gastos
Gastos de I + D	$ 124.3 millones
Infraestructura tecnológica	$ 87.6 millones
AI y desarrollo de aprendizaje automático	$ 42.5 millones

Shutterstock, Inc. (SSTK) - Modelo de negocio: propuestas de valor

Contenido de medios digitales de alta calidad, diversos y sin regalías

A partir del cuarto trimestre de 2023, la biblioteca de contenido de Shutterstock incluye:

Tipo de contenido	Número de activos
Imágenes totales	380 millones
Videoclips totales	21 millones
Pistas de música	330,000
Contenido editorial	175,000 nuevas imágenes diariamente

Plataforma fácil de usar para creadores y compradores de contenido

Estadísticas de uso de la plataforma:

• Usuarios activos mensuales: 1.9 millones
• Red de contribuyentes: más de 2 millones de creadores
• Visitantes anuales del sitio web: 83.4 millones

Opciones de licencia flexibles

Tipo de licencia	Gama de precios
Licencia estándar	$29 - $199
Licencia mejorada	$249 - $679
Licencia editorial	$199 - $499

Alternativa rentable

Comparación de precios:

• Costo promedio de la sesión de fotos tradicional: $ 5,000 - $ 10,000
• Costo promedio de la imagen de Shutterstock: $ 10 - $ 50
• Ahorro anual de suscripción: hasta el 70%

Mercado global

Estadísticas de alcance del mercado:

• Países servidos: más de 190
• Idiomas compatibles: 21
• Ingresos globales (2023): $ 820 millones

Shutterstock, Inc. (SSTK) - Modelo de negocios: relaciones con los clientes

Plataforma en línea de autoservicio

La plataforma en línea de Shutterstock atiende a 2.3 millones de clientes activos a nivel mundial a partir del tercer trimestre de 2023. La plataforma procesa aproximadamente 1.8 millones de descargas diarias de imágenes.

Métricas de plataforma	2023 datos
Total de usuarios registrados	395,000
Usuarios activos mensuales	2.3 millones
Descargas diarias de imágenes	1.8 millones

Atención al cliente a través de múltiples canales digitales

Shutterstock proporciona atención al cliente a través de:

• Soporte por correo electrónico 24/7
• Asistencia de chat en vivo
• Soporte multilingüe en 20 idiomas
• Centro de ayuda dedicado con más de 15,000 artículos de base de conocimiento

Modelos de compra de suscripción y crédito

Shutterstock ofrece múltiples opciones de compra:

Modelo de compra	Detalles
Suscripciones mensuales	A partir de $ 29/mes
Suscripciones anuales	A partir de $ 199/año
Créditos a pedido	Paquetes de 2-50 créditos

Compromiso comunitario a través de foros de creadores

Shutterstock mantiene:

• 350,000 contribuyentes de contenido activo
• Ganancias de contribuyentes por un total de $ 1.1 mil millones desde el inicio de la plataforma
• Pagos mensuales de contribuyentes con un promedio de $ 3.2 millones

Recomendaciones de contenido personalizadas

Sistema de recomendación impulsado por IA con:

• Algoritmos de aprendizaje automático Análisis de más de 300 millones de imágenes
• Tasa de precisión de personalización del 78%
• Cobertura de recomendación en más de 40 categorías de contenido

Shutterstock, Inc. (SSTK) - Modelo de negocio: canales

Plataforma basada en la web

Shutterstock opera una plataforma web integral con 434 millones de imágenes a partir del tercer trimestre de 2023. El sitio web admite 21 idiomas y atiende a clientes en más de 150 países. En 2022, la plataforma web generó $ 948.8 millones en ingresos.

Métrica de plataforma	2023 datos
Imágenes totales	434 millones
Idiomas compatibles	21
Países atendidos	150+

Aplicaciones móviles

Las aplicaciones móviles de Shutterstock están disponibles en plataformas iOS y Android. La aplicación móvil se ha descargado más de 2.5 millones de veces en ambas plataformas.

• Calificación de iOS App Store: 4.7/5
• Android Google Play Rating: 4.5/5
• Descargas móviles totales: 2.5 millones

Integraciones de API

Shutterstock proporciona Acceso de API para desarrolladores con capacidades de integración en múltiples plataformas. A partir de 2023, más de 15,000 desarrolladores utilizan los servicios API de Shutterstock.

Métrica de integración de API	2023 datos
Desarrolladores registrados	15,000+
Volumen de solicitud de API	3.2 millones de solicitudes diarias

Equipo de ventas directas

Shutterstock mantiene un equipo de ventas global con representantes en 11 oficinas internacionales. El equipo de ventas directas generó aproximadamente $ 327 millones en ingresos por licencia empresarial y personalizada en 2022.

Marketing digital y publicidad

En 2022, Shutterstock invirtió $ 86.3 millones en gastos de marketing. Los canales de publicidad digital incluyen anuncios de Google, plataformas de redes sociales y campañas de marketing en línea específicas.

Métrico de marketing	Datos 2022
Gastos de marketing	$ 86.3 millones
Gasto publicitario digital	$ 42.5 millones

Shutterstock, Inc. (SSTK) - Modelo de negocio: segmentos de clientes

Diseñadores gráficos

A partir de 2024, Shutterstock atiende a aproximadamente 1.8 millones de diseñadores gráficos a nivel mundial. La plataforma aloja más de 380 millones de imágenes, vectores e ilustraciones específicamente dirigidas a este segmento.

Métricas de segmento	2024 datos
Usuarios de diseñadores gráficos totales	1,800,000
Descargas de imágenes mensuales promedio	425,000
Contribución de ingresos del segmento	$ 87.4 millones

Profesionales de marketing

Shutterstock atiende a aproximadamente 2.3 millones de profesionales de marketing en todo el mundo, ofreciendo soluciones integrales de contenido visual.

• Usuarios profesionales de marketing total: 2,300,000
• Licencia de contenido mensual promedio: 312,000 activos
• Segmento de ingresos anuales: $ 114.6 millones

Agencias de medios y publicidad

La plataforma sirve a más de 750 agencias principales de medios y publicidad, proporcionando soluciones de contenido de nivel empresarial.

Detalles del segmento de la agencia	2024 estadísticas
Total de los clientes de la agencia	750
Valor de contrato empresarial	Promedio de $ 4.2 millones
Ingresos del segmento de la agencia anual	$ 215.7 millones

Propietarios de pequeñas empresas

Shutterstock admite aproximadamente 1,5 millones de propietarios de pequeñas empresas con soluciones de contenido visual asequibles.

• Total de usuarios de pequeñas empresas: 1,500,000
• Suscripción mensual promedio: $ 49
• Segmento de ingresos anuales: $ 88.3 millones

Creadores de contenido individual

La plataforma aloja más de 2.1 millones de creadores de contenido individuales en varias plataformas digitales.

Métricas de segmento de creadores	2024 datos
Creadores individuales totales	2,100,000
Subía de contenido mensual promedio	187,000 activos
Ganancias del creador	$ 62.5 millones

Shutterstock, Inc. (SSTK) - Modelo de negocio: Estructura de costos

Tarifas de adquisición y licencia de contenido

En 2023, Shutterstock reportó $ 357.9 millones en costos de contenido, lo que representa aproximadamente el 40.1% de los ingresos totales. Estos costos incluyen:

• Pagos a contribuyentes de imágenes digitales, videos y contenido de audio
• Tarifas de licencia para bibliotecas de contenido
• Pagos de regalías a creadores de contenido

Categoría de costos	Cantidad (2023)	Porcentaje de ingresos
Costos de adquisición de contenido	$ 357.9 millones	40.1%
Pagos de contribuyentes	$ 212.3 millones	23.8%

Infraestructura tecnológica y alojamiento de nubes

Shutterstock invertido $ 84.2 millones En Infraestructura tecnológica en 2023, cubriendo:

• Servicios de alojamiento en la nube
• Mantenimiento del servidor
• Infraestructura de red
• Sistemas de ciberseguridad

Componentes de costos de tecnología	Cantidad (2023)
Alojamiento en la nube	$ 42.6 millones
Infraestructura	$ 41.6 millones

Salarios de empleados y costos de desarrollo

Los gastos totales relacionados con los empleados en 2023 fueron $ 268.5 millones, desglosado de la siguiente manera:

• Salarios base
• Bonos de rendimiento
• Compensación basada en acciones
• Beneficios para empleados

Categoría de costos de empleado	Cantidad (2023)
Salarios base	$ 189.3 millones
Bonos de rendimiento	$ 44.2 millones
Compensación basada en acciones	$ 35.0 millones

Gastos de marketing y ventas

Los costos de marketing y ventas para 2023 totalizaron $ 186.4 millones, incluido:

• Publicidad digital
• Compensación del equipo de ventas
• Campañas de marketing
• Iniciativas de adquisición de clientes

Componentes de costos de marketing	Cantidad (2023)
Publicidad digital	$ 87.6 millones
Compensación del equipo de ventas	$ 62.1 millones
Campañas de marketing	$ 36.7 millones

Inversiones de investigación y desarrollo

El gasto de I + D en 2023 fue $ 95.7 millones, enfocándose en:

• AI y tecnologías de aprendizaje automático
• Mejora de la plataforma
• Nuevo desarrollo de características
• Innovación de productos

Áreas de enfoque de I + D	Cantidad (2023)
AI y aprendizaje automático	$ 42.3 millones
Mejora de la plataforma	$ 33.4 millones
Innovación de productos	$ 20.0 millones

Shutterstock, Inc. (SSTK) - Modelo de negocio: flujos de ingresos

Licencias de medios basadas en suscripción

A partir de 2023, Shutterstock generó $ 1.01 mil millones en ingresos totales. Las licencias basadas en suscripción representaban aproximadamente el 70% de los ingresos totales.

Nivel de suscripción	Rango de precios mensual	Contribución anual de ingresos
Suscripción básica	$29 - $49	$ 350- $ 500 millones
Suscripción profesional	$99 - $249	$ 250- $ 350 millones

Venta de paquetes de crédito a pedido

Las ventas de paquetes de crédito representaron aproximadamente el 15% de los ingresos totales de Shutterstock en 2023.

Paquete de crédito	Gama de precios	Volumen de compra promedio
Paquete de crédito pequeño	$49 - $99	25,000 compras anuales
Paquete de crédito grande	$199 - $499	10,000 compras anuales

Acuerdos de licencia empresarial y personalizada

La licencia empresarial representó aproximadamente el 10% de los ingresos totales, con contratos que van desde $ 5,000 a $ 250,000 anuales.

Tarifas de acceso e integración de API

Los servicios de integración API generaron aproximadamente $ 25- $ 35 millones en ingresos anuales.

• Acceso estándar de API: $ 99 - $ 499 mensualmente
• Integración de API empresarial: $ 1,000 - $ 5,000 mensuales

Mercado de contenido premium

Las ventas de contenido premium contribuyeron aproximadamente al 5% de los ingresos totales, estimados en $ 50- $ 75 millones anuales.

Categoría de contenido	Precio promedio por activo	Volumen de ventas anual
Imágenes de video 4K	$79 - $299	25,000 activos
Colecciones exclusivas de fotógrafos	$199 - $999	5,000 colecciones

Shutterstock, Inc. (SSTK) - Canvas Business Model: Value Propositions

You're looking at the core value Shutterstock, Inc. delivers to its customers and contributors as of late 2025. It's all about scale, legal certainty, and new AI capabilities.

Legally-Indemnified Generative AI: Commercial-use AI content with legal protection for users.

Shutterstock, Inc. is formalizing capabilities that leverage its global creative network and professional-grade production studio to deliver end-to-end value for partners in model construction, training, and assessment. This includes support across the entire model training lifecycle.

• Custom Content Production is supported with 10 production hubs.
• This network involves over 2M+ creators.

Vast, Diverse Content: Single-source access to over 400 million assets for any project.

Shutterstock, Inc. began as an online marketplace offering a modest selection of images and quickly scaled its library to hundreds of millions of assets. The platform maintains a huge advantage over competitors, holding a market share of 61.55% as of recent analysis. In the third quarter of 2025, the company processed 111.7 million paid downloads.

The sheer volume of content available is a key draw for customers needing diverse visuals.

Metric	Value (Late 2025 Context)
Q3 2025 Total Revenue	$260.1 million
Q3 2025 Content Revenue	$194.4 million
Q3 2025 Content Revenue Percentage of Total	75%

Unlimited Creative Subscription: Envato Elements offers unlimited downloads for a fixed fee.

Shutterstock, Inc. continues to improve the value proposition of its unlimited content products by including AI image, video, and audio generative models as part of the offering. A pilot program introduced in April 2025 allows customers to subscribe to an "Unlimited downloads plan."

Enterprise API Access: Seamless integration of content and AI tools into corporate workflows.

The Data, Distribution, and Services product offering, which includes API access for enterprise integration, showed significant growth. This segment is a major driver for the company's overall performance.

Q3 2025 Metric	Amount
Data, Distribution, and Services Revenue	$65.7 million
Data, Distribution, and Services Revenue Percentage of Total	25%
Income from Operations	$32.5 million

Ethical Contributor Compensation: A fund to compensate artists for their work used in AI training.

Shutterstock, Inc. has established mechanisms to compensate contributors for their work used in training models. The structure for this compensation varies based on the use case.

• For data licensing where Shutterstock sub-licenses datasets for AI training, contributors receive around 20% of the corporate royalties received by Shutterstock.
• For the new "Unlimited downloads plan" pilot introduced in April 2025, contributors can receive 50% of the profits generated from those subscribers based on content usage.
• The minimum payout threshold for contributors remains $25 USD.

The company has paid over $1 billion to contributors since 2003.

Finance: draft 13-week cash view by Friday.

Shutterstock, Inc. (SSTK) - Canvas Business Model: Customer Relationships

You're looking at how Shutterstock, Inc. manages the connection with its buyers and creators as of late 2025. It's a dual approach: high-volume automation for the masses and dedicated service for the biggest spenders.

Automated Self-Service: Primary relationship model via the online platform and subscription management.

The bulk of Shutterstock, Inc.'s customer interaction happens through its digital storefront. This is where the majority of transactions for standard content licenses occur, relying on intuitive platform design and efficient subscription handling. You see this scale in the subscriber metrics; as of the third quarter of 2025, the subscriber base stood at 1.06 million. This self-service channel is critical, though the Content product offering revenue saw a slight contraction, decreasing by 5% year-over-year to $194.4 million in Q3 2025, partly due to weakness in new customer acquisition in that segment. Still, the sheer volume is there, with 111.7 million paid downloads reported in Q3 2025, which was in line with the prior year period.

The relationship here is transactional and scalable. Key elements driving this relationship include:

• The online platform for immediate content access.
• Automated management of monthly recurring products.
• Integration of generative AI models into the core offering.

Dedicated Enterprise Sales: High-touch relationship management for large corporate clients.

For Shutterstock, Inc.'s largest accounts, the relationship shifts to a high-touch model managed by dedicated sales teams. This is where the growth engine is firing on all cylinders. The Data, Distribution, and Services product offering, which includes these enterprise relationships and data licensing deals, surged by 40% year-over-year in Q3 2025, reaching $65.7 million. This segment now accounts for a significant 25% of total revenue, up from a smaller portion in Q3 2024. Management noted they are actively attracting new logos and expanding these existing corporate relationships. This segment is key to the overall revenue growth, which hit $260.1 million in Q3 2025, a 4% increase overall.

Here's a look at the core customer base metrics as of late 2025:

Metric	Value (Latest Reported)	Context/Period
Total Revenue	$260.1 million	Q3 2025
Subscribers	1.06 million	Q3 2025 End
Data, Distribution, and Services Revenue	$65.7 million	Q3 2025
Content Revenue	$194.4 million	Q3 2025
Paid Downloads	111.7 million	Q3 2025

AI Contributor Fund: Financial incentive and ethical assurance for content creators.

This relationship is about maintaining the supply side of the marketplace-the creators. Shutterstock, Inc. established the Contributor Fund to compensate artists whose intellectual property was used in training generative AI models, like the one partnered with OpenAI. This is a direct financial tie-in to the data licensing revenue stream. The fund pays royalties for the future licensing of AI-generated content created on the platform. While specific 2025 payout figures aren't public, the mechanism is in place to ensure creators see a share of the revenue from these high-margin data deals, which helped drive the 13% year-over-year increase in Adjusted EBITDA to $79.4 million in Q3 2025.

Community Engagement: Supporting and communicating with the global network of contributors.

The platform's value proposition rests on its creative network. While the exact figure for late 2025 isn't explicitly stated in the latest reports, the company has historically referenced a community of over 1 million contributors across its brands, which is the engine for content supply. The relationship is supported through specific programs and communication channels. For instance, the company declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.33 per share in January 2025, which flows directly to the shareholder base, many of whom are also contributors. Furthermore, the company profiles its creators through initiatives like Shutterstock Presents to foster a sense of community and recognize talent.

Key engagement points for the creator community include:

• Issuing payments from the Contributor Fund every six months.
• Providing real-time performance data on content via the contributor dashboard.
• Maintaining a network of over 1 million content providers.

Finance: draft 13-week cash view by Friday.

Shutterstock, Inc. (SSTK) - Canvas Business Model: Channels

You're looking at how Shutterstock, Inc. gets its creative assets and AI capabilities into the hands of customers as of late 2025. The delivery mechanism is clearly splitting between direct customer transactions and large-scale data/service integrations.

The primary e-commerce platform, Shutterstock.com, still drives the majority of revenue, though this segment is under pressure. For the third quarter ending September 30, 2025, revenue from the Content product offering-which largely reflects direct licensing via the main site and related subscription services-was $194.4 million. This represented 75% of the total Q3 2025 revenue of $260.1 million. This channel saw a year-over-year decline of 5% in Q3 2025, driven by softness in new customer acquisition.

The growth engine is clearly the API and Direct Integrations pathway, categorized under Data, Distribution, and Services (DDS). This segment saw revenue of $65.7 million in Q3 2025, a substantial 40% increase compared to the third quarter of 2024. This channel now accounts for 25% of the total revenue mix. The trailing twelve months revenue ending September 30, 2025, stood at $1.02 billion, showing a year-over-year growth of 13.06%.

The strategic acquisition of Envato in July 2024 significantly impacts the Content channel delivery. The Envato Elements subscription platform, offering unlimited creative assets, is now integrated, helping to offset some of the weakness in new customer acquisition on the core platform. Before the deal, Shutterstock's subscriber count was around 500,000; the addition of Envato's base pushed the combined subscriber count to 1.15 million at that time. As of the end of Q3 2025, Shutterstock's subscriber base stood at 1.06 million.

Here's how the revenue streams broke down in the most recent reported quarter:

Channel Proxy	Q3 2025 Revenue Amount	% of Total Revenue (Q3 2025)	YoY Change (Q3 2025 vs Q3 2024)
Shutterstock.com (Content Product)	$194.4 million	75%	-5%
API/Integrations (DDS Product)	$65.7 million	25%	+40%

Distribution also occurs through other means, though specific financial metrics tied directly to these are less granular in recent reports. The GIPHY Platform serves as a distribution channel for short-form visual content, with management highlighting efforts to expedite monetization here. Furthermore, Shutterstock maintains Mobile Applications for iOS and Android, which are part of the overall digital access strategy, though specific app-only revenue figures aren't separately detailed in the primary financial segmentation.

The overall customer base health, which feeds these channels, shows some shifts:

• Subscriber count at the end of Q3 2025: 1.06 million.
• Subscriber count one year prior (end of Q3 2024): 1.105 million.
• Content revenue in Q1 2025 was $202.9 million, representing 84% of total revenue for that quarter.
• DDS revenue in Q1 2025 was $39.7 million, representing 16% of total revenue for that quarter.

The company is actively incorporating generative AI models into its unlimited content offerings, which directly impacts the value proposition delivered through these channels.

Shutterstock, Inc. (SSTK) - Canvas Business Model: Customer Segments

You're looking at the customer base for Shutterstock, Inc. as of late 2025. The company serves a broad spectrum, but the financial data clearly shows where the bulk of the revenue is coming from, especially with the growth in data licensing.

For the third quarter ended September 30, 2025, Shutterstock reported total revenue of $260.1 million. The customer base is segmented both by the type of content/service they purchase and their size/need, which is reflected in the Content versus Data, Distribution, and Services revenue split.

Customer Segment Grouping	Q3 2025 Revenue Contribution	Q3 2025 Revenue Amount	Key Metric Context
Content Customers (General Licensing)	75%	$194.4 million	Total Paid Downloads for the quarter were 111.7 million.
Data, Distribution, and Services Customers (Includes AI/Tech)	25%	$65.7 million	This segment grew 40% year-over-year compared to Q3 2024.

The overall customer base is served across more than 150 countries. The average revenue per customer over the last twelve months was $279.

Enterprise Customers

These are the large corporations and media companies needing high-volume or custom licensing solutions, often engaging through the Shutterstock Enterprise offering. While a direct revenue split isn't provided for this specific group, they contribute heavily to the overall Content revenue stream.

Small and Medium-sized Businesses (SMBs)

SMBs and marketing agencies largely fall into the subscriber category, which is a core part of the Content offering. As of the end of the third quarter of 2025, Shutterstock had 1,060,000 subscribers. The revenue generated from these subscribers for Q3 2025 was $107.2 million.

Individual Creators/Freelancers

Designers and social media influencers typically use the lower-tier or on-demand subscription plans. They are included within the total subscriber count of 1,060,000 and contribute to the total subscriber revenue of $107.2 million for the quarter.

AI/Tech Companies

This group is the primary driver for the Data, Distribution, and Services segment. Revenue from this offering reached $65.7 million in Q3 2025. This segment capitalizes on licensing the content library for training large language models. For context on this specific revenue stream, Shutterstock AI licensing generated $104 million in 2023, with projections aiming for $250 million by 2027.

Editorial/News Outlets

These customers license news, sports, and entertainment imagery, falling under the Content product offering. The Content offering generated $194.4 million in Q3 2025. The company also provides custom content solutions that would serve this segment.

Here are the key operating metrics related to customer volume:

• Subscribers (end of period, Q3 2025): 1,060,000.
• Paid Downloads (Q3 2025): 111.7 million.
• Paid Downloads (Nine Months Ended Sep 30, 2025): 345.2 million.

Finance: draft 13-week cash view by Friday.

Shutterstock, Inc. (SSTK) - Canvas Business Model: Cost Structure

You're looking at the expenses that drive Shutterstock, Inc.'s operations as of late 2025. Honestly, a big chunk of the cost structure revolves around paying the people who create the content, plus the tech to deliver it and the costs associated with that big Getty Images deal hanging over everything.

Content Acquisition Costs: Royalties paid to the 1.9 million contributors.

The core cost here is compensating the contributor community. While the exact royalty expense for the period isn't broken out separately from Cost of Revenue in the latest quarterly filing, the total Cost of Revenue for the three months ended September 30, 2025, was $102,558 thousand. You should also note the liability on the balance sheet; the Contributor royalties payable balance at the end of Q3 2025 stood at $12,329 thousand.

Technology and R&D: Significant investment in AI/ML development and platform maintenance.

Shutterstock, Inc. is pouring money into its platform, especially with the generative AI push. For the first quarter of 2025, the Product development expense line item-which covers much of this-was $19,865 thousand. Management has emphasized product value expansion, including AI image, video, and audio generative models within their unlimited content offerings. This investment is key to competing in the evolving visual content landscape.

Sales and Marketing: Customer acquisition costs for subscriptions and enterprise deals.

Getting new customers, especially in the Content segment where new customer acquisition was soft, requires spending. Sales and marketing expenses for the third quarter of 2025 totaled $59,358 thousand. This spend is aimed at driving revenue, which for Q3 2025 was $260,094 thousand in total.

Professional Fees: Costs associated with the proposed Getty Images merger, totaling $7.1 million in Q3 2025.

The proposed merger with Getty Images Holdings, Inc. has generated significant non-recurring costs. Specifically, professional fee expenses in the third quarter of 2025 tied to the merger totaled exactly $7.1 million. To be fair, cash used in investing activities for the three months ended September 30, 2025, was unfavorably impacted by $8.0 million of expenses related to this same proposed merger. If you look back, Q2 2025 saw $8.7 million in these fees, and Q1 2025 saw $11.9 million.

Debt Interest Expense: Increased interest costs from debt used to fund acquisitions like Envato.

Financing growth, like the Envato acquisition in July 2024, means taking on debt, which brings interest costs. For the three months ended September 30, 2025, the reported Interest Expense was $-4 Million. This follows reported increases of $3.7 million in interest expense for both Q1 2025 and Q2 2025, directly attributed to the increased debt used to fund the Envato purchase. As of June 30, 2025, Shutterstock, Inc. reported total Debt of $297.03 million.

Here's a quick look at the major operating expense components for the three months ended September 30, 2025, compared to the prior year's corresponding period for the listed items:

Cost Component (Q3 2025)	Amount (in thousands USD)	Year-over-Year Change (Q3 2025 vs Q3 2024)
Cost of revenue	102,558	Decreased from 104,405
Sales and marketing	59,358	Increased from 55,403
Contributor royalties payable (Balance Sheet)	12,329	Increased from 11,938

The overall cost picture for the period reflects the ongoing operational expenses alongside the one-time drag from the merger work. You can see the key cost drivers below:

• Cost of revenue for Q3 2025: $102,558 thousand.
• Sales and marketing for Q3 2025: $59,358 thousand.
• Merger professional fees recognized in Q3 2025: $7.1 million.
• Interest expense for the three months ended September 2025: $-4 Million.
• Product development expense in Q1 2025: $19,865 thousand.

Finance: draft 13-week cash view by Friday.

Shutterstock, Inc. (SSTK) - Canvas Business Model: Revenue Streams

You're looking at the money Shutterstock, Inc. (SSTK) brings in, which is definitely shifting toward data and away from pure content transactions. Here's the quick math on how they are structuring their revenue streams as of late 2025, based on the latest filings.

The total top-line number for the trailing twelve months ending September 30, 2025, was approximately $1.02 billion. This represented a year-over-year growth of 69.6% for the TTM period.

For the third quarter of 2025 specifically, Shutterstock reported total revenue of $260.1 million, which was a 4% increase year-over-year. The revenue streams break down into two main buckets: Content and Data, Distribution, and Services.

The Data, Distribution, and Services segment is the high-growth area you need to watch. For Q3 2025, this segment generated $65.7 million in revenue, marking a substantial 40% increase compared to the third quarter of 2024. This segment is supported by the timing of data deal revenue recognition.

The core Content product offering, which includes both subscriptions and on-demand purchases, saw a decline in Q3 2025. Content revenue was $194.4 million, representing a 5% decrease year-over-year. This segment accounted for 75% of the total revenue in the third quarter of 2025.

Here is a breakdown of the key financial components driving that Content revenue:

Revenue Stream Component	Financial Metric/Amount	Period/Context	Citation Reference
Content Licensing (Subscriptions)	$344.9 million	Subscriber revenue (Last Twelve Months ending Sep 30, 2025)
Content Licensing (On-Demand Volume)	345.2 million	Paid downloads (Last Twelve Months ending Sep 30, 2025)
Data, Distribution, and Services	$65.7 million	Q3 2025 Revenue
Total Content Revenue	$194.4 million	Q3 2025 Revenue

The AI Data Licensing stream is a critical part of the Data, Distribution, and Services growth. While the Data, Distribution, and Services segment brought in $65.7 million in Q3 2025, the company had a specific projection for its AI-related revenue from the prior year. Shutterstock projected $138 million in Revenue for the AI licensing business unit for the 2024 fiscal year. The company is on track to meet its 2027 revenue target of $1.2 billion.

You can see the structure of the Q3 2025 revenue mix here:

• Content Licensing (Subscriptions & On-Demand): $194.4 million
• Data, Distribution, and Services: $65.7 million

The company is focused on expanding its unlimited content offerings, which include AI image, video, and audio generative models. Also, the Average Revenue Per Customer (ARPC) for the last twelve months was $279 as of Q3 2025.

Finance: draft 13-week cash view by Friday.