As AI-generated media floods the market, “who made this – and did they get paid?” is a question that more people are asking and genuinely care about the answer to. At Storyblocks, a subscription isn’t just a license to download unlimited stock content – it’s a line of support to real working artists.
In this article, we’ll be diving into all the different ways that our members are directly supporting artists with their subscriptions, how our library works, how every download equals compensation, and the ways that our team works with creators around the world.
Everything in the Storyblocks library is human-made
Every single one of the over 7 million stock assets in the Storyblocks library is created by a real human, with zero AI-generated content. In fact, we work with around a thousand different artists across the globe, from filmmakers to motion graphics artists, composers, musicians, and more.
How an artist gets into the library
Submitting an application is the first step to become a contributing artist to the Storyblocks library. But despite the high number of applications our content team receives, only about 5% are accepted into the Member Library Partner Program.
That’s because we’re not just looking to increase the volume of content in our library. We want to make sure that every artist is bringing variety and creating the kind of assets that our members are looking for.
Working with our artists to meet member needs
Once an artist is accepted, our team reviews all of their submitted content to make sure it meets our strict quality standards. After their initial batch of assets are accepted, our team then shares library search trends, topic demand, and library gaps with our artists.
This gives them information on what members are looking for, so that they can focus on creating and submitting content that meets their needs – and that they’re more likely to download.
“[Storyblocks provides] great transparency and insights [so that we can] continue making music that clients believe in, love, and consistently use for their projects.” – Anonymous Storyblocks library artist
This close collaboration between our content team and our network of artists has made it possible to build out new asset types and categories. DaVinci Resolve templates, vertical video, and exclusive Storyblocks Label music are just some examples of initiatives that were brought to life through working directly with our artists.
How the Member Library Partner Program (MLPP) works
The MLPP is the program that every contributing artist to Storyblocks is a part of and the model that Storyblocks pays them through. We have more information on the MLPP structure here, but the basic overview is that a portion of every member’s subscription payment goes into a shared pool, and artists earn from that pool based on how often their content is downloaded.
So as a member, when you sign up for Storyblocks, a portion of your subscription payment goes directly into a pool that compensates the artists who contribute to our library. And every time you download something from our library, you’re supporting the artist who created it.
The MLPP was designed to grow with Storyblocks, ensuring that the more members we have, the greater the earning potential for our artists.
“You guys are the [only] stock company that [actually still] talks to us. It makes us feel like we are worth something to you and not just a number.” – Anonymous Storyblocks library artist
Supporting artists as Storyblocks builds new tools and initiatives
Beyond our library, Storyblocks also actively looks for ways we can work with our artist community to build new tools, initiatives, and features.
AI Toolkit
Within our AI Toolkit, we did that in two different ways.
Our AI Video Editing tool allows members to alter existing footage in the Storyblocks library through text prompts with Runway’s Aleph. Artists of the original work are compensated any time their footage is edited and downloaded using the tool, since it is the source material.
For AI Voiceover, we worked directly with a small group of artists to create authentic voice options for text-to-audio generation. These Artist voices are exclusive to our AI Voiceover tool and each artist was compensated for contributing their voice.
Re: Stock
Member feedback was one of the reasons we started Re: Stock, our award-winning initiative. Through Re: Stock, Storyblocks works directly with independent filmmakers to create exclusive footage collections that showcase authentic human stories from different communities.
Not only are the artists we work with for Re: Stock compensated, but they have the freedom to tell a story that reflects the people, experiences, and communities they care about. Storyblocks also platforms their work through dedicated campaigns, giving them visibility that often leads to more opportunities.
“I really appreciate how Storyblocks is going around the country and getting other [artist’s] point of views and immersing themselves in other ways of human experience, because that’s how you get a true, authentic, dynamic set of experiences.” – Eryn Gruttadauria, Re: Stock artist
Storyblocks Label
Another way that your subscription helps support artists is by allowing us to create initiatives like the Storyblocks Label. Having our own label of songs that are created exclusively for our members helps us work with artists who aren’t typical contributors to royalty-free libraries – like Grammy winner Bobby Hawk, who’s played on records with Taylor Swift and Sabrina Carpenter.
Through Storyblocks Label, artists are given an up front, guaranteed payout that’s above standard industry rates for stock music. Alongside that, we also promote our label artists through our marketing – like this video we put together featuring two of the artists in our Nashville collection.
“For Nashville, we wanted to bring authentic Americana, folk and country music sounds to the library as these are genres that are not often found in royalty free libraries and a common niche request. We sourced new to stock contributors with a track record of playing with some of the biggest names in the genre including Zach Bryan, Sierra Ferrell, The Mountain Goats, Orville Peck, Margot Price, Kelsey Waldon, MJ Lenderman, and Sarah Jarosz.” – Olivia Lloyd, Senior Manager of Content at Storyblocks
Every member helps support an artist’s creative work
When a creator or an organization chooses Storyblocks, they’re choosing to support real artists and funding the work they make. A portion of every single subscription goes right into the pool that we pay out to our artists, along with also helping support initiatives like Re: Stock and Artist Voices.
Explore our 100% human-made stock library to see if our content is the right fit for your work, and sign up for a subscription that you can feel good about today.
