Shutterstock, Inc. (SSTK): Business Model Canvas [Jan-2025 Mise à jour]

Dans le monde dynamique des médias numériques, Shutterstock a révolutionné la façon dont les entreprises et les créateurs accèdent au contenu visuel, passant d'un petit site Web de photographie en stock à un marché mondial avec des millions d'images, de vidéos et de fichiers audio de haute qualité. En tirant parti des technologies de pointe, des partenariats stratégiques et un modèle commercial innovant, Shutterstock est devenu une puissance de l'industrie des licences de médias numériques, offrant des solutions flexibles et rentables qui comblent l'écart entre les créateurs de contenu et les consommateurs dans divers paysages professionnels.

Shutterstock, Inc. (SSTK) - Modèle commercial: partenariats clés

Adobe Creative Cloud Intégration

Shutterstock a un partenariat stratégique avec Adobe Creative Cloud pour la distribution des médias de stock. En 2024, l'intégration permet un accès direct aux 400 millions d'images, vidéos et modèles de Shutterstock dans l'écosystème du logiciel créatif d'Adobe.

Détail du partenariat	Métrique
Plate-forme d'intégration	Adobe Creative Cloud
Actifs multimédias disponibles	Plus de 400 millions
Année de partenariat établie	2014

Créateurs et photographes de contenu

Shutterstock maintient un réseau mondial de contributeurs.

• Total des contributeurs: 2,1 millions dans le monde
• Généralités annuelles des contributeurs: 1,2 milliard de dollars
• Paiement moyen des contributeurs par image: 0,25 $ - 28 $

Partenaires technologiques

Partenaire technologique	Services fournis	Dépenses annuelles
Microsoft Azure	Infrastructure cloud	18,5 millions de dollars
Services Web Amazon	Cloud computing	22,3 millions de dollars

Collaboration marketing et ventes

Shutterstock collabore avec les plateformes de marketing mondiales pour étendre les canaux de distribution.

• Partenariats de plateforme de marketing: 47
• Revenus annuels des collaborations marketing: 65,4 millions de dollars

Agences mondiales de conception et de médias

Shutterstock s'associe à des agences de conception et de médias dans le monde entier pour les licences et la distribution de contenu.

Type d'agence	Nombre de partenariats	Revenus de partenariat annuel
Agences de conception	1,250	42,7 millions de dollars
Agences de médias	890	37,2 millions de dollars

Shutterstock, Inc. (SSTK) - Modèle d'entreprise: Activités clés

Licence et distribution des médias numériques

Shutterstock traite environ 5 millions de transactions de contenu numérique par an. La plate-forme accueille plus de 380 millions d'images, de vidéos et de pistes musicales en 2023. Les revenus annuels de licence ont atteint 947,7 millions de dollars en 2022.

Type de contenu	Volume	Revenus de licence annuelle
Images	290 millions	625,3 millions de dollars
Vidéos	65 millions	212,4 millions de dollars
Effets de musique / son	25 millions	110 millions de dollars

Curration du contenu et contrôle de la qualité

Shutterstock utilise un processus de revue de contenu rigoureux avec 3 500 contributeurs actifs mondial. Le contrôle de la qualité implique:

• Évaluation technique d'image
• Dépistage de pertinence du contenu
• Vérification des métadonnées
• Vérices de conformité au droit d'auteur

Apprentissage automatique et technologies de recherche alimentées en IA

Investissement dans les technologies de l'IA: 68,5 millions de dollars en R&D pour 2022. Les capacités d'apprentissage automatique comprennent:

• Algorithmes de recherche sémantique
• Tagging d'image automatisé
• Technologies de reconnaissance visuelle

Développement et maintenance des plateformes

Détails de l'infrastructure technique:

Métrique	Valeur
Investissement technologique annuel	112,6 millions de dollars
Time de disponibilité de la plate-forme	99.95%
Emplacements du serveur mondial	12

Acquisition et gestion de contenu mondial

Le réseau de contributeurs mondiaux s'étend sur 150 pays. La structure de paiement des contributeurs varie de 20% à 40% des revenus de licence.

• Les nouveaux téléchargements annuels de contenu: 6,2 millions
• Géré à contributeur moyen: 3 200 $ par an
• Temps de révision du contenu: 24-48 heures

Shutterstock, Inc. (SSTK) - Modèle commercial: Ressources clés

Bibliothèque de médias numériques massive

Depuis le quatrième trimestre 2023, Shutterstock conserve une bibliothèque de médias numériques avec:

Type de contenu	Nombre d'actifs
Images totales	380 millions
Total des vidéos	21 millions
Fichiers audio totaux	475,000
Contenu éditorial total	1,2 million

Algorithmes de recherche et de recommandation avancés

La technologie de recherche propulsée par l'IA de Shutterstock comprend:

• Algorithmes d'apprentissage automatique avec une précision de 98,6% dans la correspondance du contenu
• Capacités de recherche visuelle à l'aide de la technologie de reconnaissance d'image
• Fonctionnalités de recherche sémantique dans plusieurs catégories de contenu

Infrastructure de gestion des actifs numériques basée sur le cloud

Spécifications d'infrastructure technique:

Composant d'infrastructure	Spécifications techniques
Capacité de stockage cloud	2,7 pétaoctets
Traitement quotidien des actifs	150 000 nouveaux actifs
Centres de données mondiaux	7 emplacements

Réseau mondial de créateurs de contenu

Statistiques de l'écosystème des créateurs:

• Total des contributeurs: 1,9 million
• Représentation géographique: 150 pays
• Géré à contributeur moyen: 7 500 $ par an

Plateformes technologiques propriétaires

Investissements de la plate-forme technologique:

Investissement technologique	2023 dépenses
Dépenses de R&D	124,3 millions de dollars
Infrastructure technologique	87,6 millions de dollars
Développement de l'IA et de l'apprentissage automatique	42,5 millions de dollars

Shutterstock, Inc. (SSTK) - Modèle d'entreprise: propositions de valeur

Contenu médiatique numérique de haute qualité, diversifié et libre de droits

Depuis le quatrième trimestre 2023, la bibliothèque de contenu de Shutterstock comprend:

Type de contenu	Nombre d'actifs
Images totales	380 millions
Clips vidéo totaux	21 millions
Pistes de musique	330,000
Contenu éditorial	175 000 nouvelles images quotidiennement

Plateforme facile à utiliser pour les créateurs de contenu et les acheteurs

Statistiques d'utilisation des plateformes:

• Utilisateurs actifs mensuels: 1,9 million
• Réseau des contributeurs: plus de 2 millions de créateurs
• Visiteurs annuels du site Web: 83,4 millions

Options de licence flexibles

Type de licence	Fourchette
Licence standard	$29 - $199
Licence améliorée	$249 - $679
Licence éditoriale	$199 - $499

Alternative rentable

Comparaison des prix:

• Coût moyen traditionnel de photoshoot: 5 000 $ - 10 000 $
• Coût d'image à Shutterstock moyen: 10 $ - 50 $
• Économies annuelles de l'abonnement: jusqu'à 70%

Marché mondial

Statistiques de la portée du marché:

• Pays servis: 190+
• Langues soutenues: 21
• Global Revenue (2023): 820 millions de dollars

Shutterstock, Inc. (SSTK) - Modèle d'entreprise: relations avec les clients

Plateforme en ligne en libre-service

La plate-forme en ligne de Shutterstock dessert 2,3 millions de clients actifs dans le monde au cours du troisième trimestre 2023. La plate-forme traite environ 1,8 million de téléchargements quotidiens d'image.

Métriques de la plate-forme	2023 données
Total des utilisateurs enregistrés	395,000
Utilisateurs actifs mensuels	2,3 millions
Téléchargements quotidiens d'image	1,8 million

Support client via plusieurs canaux numériques

Shutterstock fournit le support client:

• Assistance par e-mail 24/7
• Assistance au chat en direct
• Support multilingue en 20 langues
• Centre d'aide dédiée avec plus de 15 000 articles de base de connaissances

Modèles d'achat basés sur l'abonnement et le crédit

Shutterstock propose plusieurs options d'achat:

Modèle d'achat	Détails
Abonnements mensuels	À partir de 29 $ / mois
Abonnements annuels	À partir de 199 $ / an
Crédits à la demande	Packages de 2 à 50 crédits

Engagement communautaire à travers les forums des créateurs

Shutterstock maintient:

• 350 000 contributeurs de contenu actif
• Géré dans les contributeurs totalisant 1,1 milliard de dollars depuis la création de la plate-forme
• Les paiements mensuels des contributeurs sont en moyenne de 3,2 millions de dollars

Recommandations de contenu personnalisés

Système de recommandation basé sur l'IA avec:

• Algorithmes d'apprentissage automatique analysant 300 millions + images
• Taux de précision de la personnalisation de 78%
• Couverture de recommandation dans 40+ catégories de contenu

Shutterstock, Inc. (SSTK) - Modèle commercial: canaux

Plate-forme Web

Shutterstock exploite une plate-forme Web complète avec 434 millions d'images au troisième trimestre 2023. Le site Web prend en charge 21 langues et sert les clients dans plus de 150 pays. En 2022, la plate-forme Web a généré 948,8 millions de dollars de revenus.

Métrique de la plate-forme	2023 données
Images totales	434 millions
Langues prises en charge	21
Pays desservis	150+

Applications mobiles

Les applications mobiles de Shutterstock sont disponibles sur les plates-formes iOS et Android. L'application mobile a été téléchargée plus de 2,5 millions de fois sur les deux plateformes.

• Évaluation iOS de l'App Store: 4.7 / 5
• Android Google Play Rating: 4.5 / 5
• Total des téléchargements mobiles: 2,5 millions

Intégrations API

Shutterstock fournit Accès à l'API pour les développeurs avec des capacités d'intégration sur plusieurs plates-formes. En 2023, plus de 15 000 développeurs utilisent les services API de Shutterstock.

Métrique d'intégration de l'API	2023 données
Développeurs enregistrés	15,000+
Volume de demande d'API	3,2 millions de demandes quotidiennes

Équipe de vente directe

Shutterstock maintient une équipe de vente mondiale avec des représentants dans 11 bureaux internationaux. L'équipe de vente directe a généré environ 327 millions de dollars de revenus de licence d'entreprise et de licence personnalisés en 2022.

Marketing et publicité numériques

En 2022, Shutterstock a investi 86,3 millions de dollars dans les frais de marketing. Les canaux publicitaires numériques comprennent des publicités Google, des plateformes de médias sociaux et des campagnes de marketing en ligne ciblées.

Métrique marketing	2022 données
Frais de marketing	86,3 millions de dollars
Dépenses publicitaires numériques	42,5 millions de dollars

Shutterstock, Inc. (SSTK) - Modèle d'entreprise: segments de clientèle

Graphiste

En 2024, Shutterstock dessert environ 1,8 million de graphistes dans le monde. La plate-forme héberge plus de 380 millions d'images, vecteurs et illustrations spécifiquement ciblées sur ce segment.

Métriques du segment	2024 données
Utilisateurs totaux de graphiste	1,800,000
Téléchargements d'images mensuelles moyennes	425,000
Contribution des revenus du segment	87,4 millions de dollars

Professionnels du marketing

Shutterstock s'adresse à environ 2,3 millions de professionnels du marketing dans le monde, offrant des solutions de contenu visuel complètes.

• Total des utilisateurs professionnels du marketing: 2 300 000
• Licence de contenu mensuel moyen: 312 000 actifs
• Revenus annuels du segment: 114,6 millions de dollars

Médias et agences de publicité

La plate-forme dessert plus de 750 principales agences de médias et de publicité, fournissant des solutions de contenu au niveau de l'entreprise.

Détails du segment de l'agence	2024 statistiques
Clients totaux de l'agence	750
Valeur du contrat d'entreprise	4,2 millions de dollars moyens
Revenus de segments d'agence annuelle	215,7 millions de dollars

Propriétaires de petites entreprises

Shutterstock prend en charge environ 1,5 million de propriétaires de petites entreprises avec des solutions de contenu visuel abordables.

• Total des petits utilisateurs d'entreprise: 1 500 000
• Abonnement mensuel moyen: 49 $
• Revenu annuel du segment: 88,3 millions de dollars

Créateurs de contenu individuel

La plate-forme héberge plus de 2,1 millions de créateurs de contenu individuels sur diverses plates-formes numériques.

Métriques du segment des créateurs	2024 données
Créateurs individuels totaux	2,100,000
Téléchargement de contenu mensuel moyen	187 000 actifs
Revenus des créateurs	62,5 millions de dollars

Shutterstock, Inc. (SSTK) - Modèle d'entreprise: Structure des coûts

Frais d'acquisition et de licence de contenu

En 2023, Shutterstock a déclaré 357,9 millions de dollars de coûts de contenu, ce qui représente environ 40,1% des revenus totaux. Ces coûts comprennent:

• Paiements aux contributeurs pour les images numériques, les vidéos et le contenu audio
• Frais de licence pour les bibliothèques de contenu
• Paiements de redevances aux créateurs de contenu

Catégorie de coûts	Montant (2023)	Pourcentage de revenus
Coûts d'acquisition de contenu	357,9 millions de dollars	40.1%
Paiements des contributeurs	212,3 millions de dollars	23.8%

Infrastructure technologique et hébergement cloud

Shutterstock a investi 84,2 millions de dollars dans l'infrastructure technologique en 2023, couvrant:

• Services d'hébergement cloud
• Maintenance du serveur
• Infrastructure réseau
• Systèmes de cybersécurité

Composants de coûts technologiques	Montant (2023)
Hébergement cloud	42,6 millions de dollars
Infrastructure informatique	41,6 millions de dollars

Salaires et frais de développement des employés

Les dépenses totales liées aux employés en 2023 étaient 268,5 millions de dollars, en panne comme suit:

• Salaires de base
• Bonus de performance
• Compensation en stock
• Avantages sociaux

Catégorie de coûts des employés	Montant (2023)
Salaires de base	189,3 millions de dollars
Bonus de performance	44,2 millions de dollars
Compensation en stock	35,0 millions de dollars

Frais de marketing et de vente

Les coûts de marketing et de vente pour 2023 ont totalisé 186,4 millions de dollars, y compris:

• Publicité numérique
• Compensation de l'équipe de vente
• Campagnes marketing
• Initiatives d'acquisition des clients

Composants de coûts de marketing	Montant (2023)
Publicité numérique	87,6 millions de dollars
Compensation de l'équipe de vente	62,1 millions de dollars
Campagnes marketing	36,7 millions de dollars

Investissements de recherche et développement

Les dépenses de R&D en 2023 étaient 95,7 millions de dollars, se concentrer sur:

• IA et technologies d'apprentissage automatique
• Amélioration de la plate-forme
• Nouveau développement de fonctionnalités
• Innovation de produit

Zones de mise au point R&D	Montant (2023)
IA et apprentissage automatique	42,3 millions de dollars
Amélioration de la plate-forme	33,4 millions de dollars
Innovation de produit	20,0 millions de dollars

Shutterstock, Inc. (SSTK) - Modèle d'entreprise: Strots de revenus

Licence médiatique basée sur l'abonnement

En 2023, Shutterstock a généré 1,01 milliard de dollars de revenus totaux. Les licences basées sur l'abonnement représentaient environ 70% du total des revenus.

Niveau d'abonnement	Fourchette de prix mensuelle	Contribution annuelle des revenus
Abonnement de base	$29 - $49	350 à 500 millions de dollars
Abonnement professionnel	$99 - $249	250 à 350 millions de dollars

Ventes de colis de crédit à la demande

Les ventes de forfaits de crédit représentaient environ 15% du total des revenus de Shutterstock en 2023.

Forfait de crédit	Fourchette	Volume d'achat moyen
Petit pack de crédit	$49 - $99	25 000 achats annuels
Grand pack de crédit	$199 - $499	10 000 achats annuels

Accords de licence d'entreprise et personnalisés

Les licences d'entreprise représentaient environ 10% du total des revenus, avec des contrats allant de 5 000 $ à 250 000 $ par an.

Frais d'accès et d'intégration API

Les services d'intégration API ont généré environ 25 à 35 millions de dollars de revenus annuels.

• Accès standard de l'API: 99 $ - 499 $ par mois
• Intégration de l'API d'entreprise: 1 000 $ - 5 000 $ par mois

Marché de contenu premium

Les ventes de contenu premium ont contribué environ 5% du total des revenus, estimés à 50 à 75 millions de dollars par an.

Catégorie de contenu	Prix ​​moyen par actif	Volume des ventes annuelles
Séquences vidéo 4K	$79 - $299	25 000 actifs
Collections de photographes exclusifs	$199 - $999	5 000 collections

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.