This is truly worrisome. I don't mind watching the record industry in a tailspin, but what sort of America will we live in when drug-addled young men and women can't flock to California to lose themselves in the porn industry? What hath the internets wrought?
For Pornographers, Internet’s Virtues Turn to Vices
By MATT RICHTEL
Published: June 2, 2007
The Internet was supposed to be a tremendous boon for the pornography industry, creating a global market of images and videos accessible from the privacy of a home computer. For a time it worked, with wider distribution and social acceptance driving a steady increase in sales.
But now the established pornography business is in decline — and the Internet is being held responsible.
The online availability of free or low-cost photos and videos has begun to take a fierce toll on sales of X-rated DVDs. Inexpensive digital technology has paved the way for aspiring amateur pornographers, who are flooding the market, while everyone in the industry is giving away more material to lure paying customers.
And unlike consumers looking for music and other media, viewers of pornography do not seem to mind giving up brand-name producers and performers for anonymous ones, or a well-lighted movie set for a ratty couch at an amateur videographer’s house.
After years of essentially steady increases, sales and rentals of pornographic videos were $3.62 billion in 2006, down from $4.28 billion in 2005, according to estimates by AVN, an industry trade publication. If the situation does not change, the overall $13 billion sex-related entertainment market may shrink this year, said Paul Fishbein, president of AVN Media Network, the magazine’s publisher. The industry’s online revenue is substantial but is not growing quickly enough to make up for the drop in video income.
Older companies in the industry are responding with better production values and more sophisticated Web offerings. But to their chagrin, making and distributing pornography have become a lot easier.
“People are making movies in their houses and dragging and dropping them” onto free Web sites, said Harvey Kaplan, a former maker of pornographic movies and now chief executive of GoGoBill.com, which processes payments for pornographic Web sites. “It’s killing the marketplace.”
It is an unusual twist on the Internet-transforms-industry story. The Internet quickly presented a challenge to some businesses, like recorded music and newspapers. But initially, the digital age led to a kind of mainstreaming of pornography by providing easy and anonymous access online.
The spread of high-speed Internet access promised even further growth. Instead, faster connections have simply allowed people to download free movies more quickly, and allowed amateur moviemakers to upload their creations easily.
Perhaps counterintuitively, the market continues to be flooded with new video releases, both online and on disc. Mr. Fishbein said that this year he expected to see more than 1,000 X-rated DVDs a month produced for retail sale, a figure driven in part by the new spate of low-budget filmmakers.
“The barrier to get into the industry is so low: you need a video camera and a couple of people who will have sex,” Mr. Fishbein said.
Some companies say they have had success with selling subscriptions to their Web sites, and in offering movies for download or watching online. But Internet revenue, while growing modestly, is not compensating for the drop in video sales and rentals. In 2006, revenue from online subscriptions and sales was $2.8 billion, up from $2.5 billion in 2005, according to estimates from AVN — an increase but nothing near the e-commerce growth enjoyed by many industries.
The more traditional pornographic film companies are not giving up, of course. They say they have an answer to the new competition: quality.
They are seeking to differentiate themselves from makers of inexpensive films by selling with fancier packaging in stores or through slicker Web sites, and by using better cameras and more experienced directors and performers. They are banking that viewers will be discerning when it comes to sex.
“We use good-quality lighting and very good sound,” said David Joseph, president of Red Light District, a production company in Los Angeles that has made films like “Obscene Behavior.”
Mr. Joseph said his company did not waste its time, or that of the viewers, on unnecessary plot lines.
“There’s not a whole lot of story — it’s basically right to the sex, but we’re consistent with the quality,” he said, noting that the company is also careful to pick interesting backdrops. “We use different locations, rooms and couches.”
Red Light’s sales have dropped more than 30 percent in the last two years. To counter the trend, Mr. Joseph says the company plans to start giving film buyers an extra promotional DVD with more scenes from its movies, which typically cost $20. He also plans to improve the packaging of his DVDs.
A similar tactic is planned by Sean Logan, chief of Nectar Entertainment, which has made movies like “Exxxtasy Island.” Business is down 25 percent in the last year, Mr. Logan said, and, because his movies cost $50,000 to $80,000 to make, he cannot afford to compete with some DVD competitors who are dropping their prices as low as a few dollars a film to maintain their volume of sales.
But Mr. Logan said he could improve his packaging for retail shelves. He has begun adding a sleeve around his box covers that includes a foil logo and metallic sheen to bring out the images, as was done on “Brazilian Island Trilogy.”
He said he was sticking to his plan to shoot his movies in exotic locations like Brazil or simulating them with elaborate sets. For the movie “Mystified,” Nectar built an elaborate set that included a waterfall in a warehouse in Canoga Park, Calif. It is not your everyday backdrop for hard-core sex, Mr. Logan noted: “It looks like ‘Lord of the Rings.’ ”
Nectar, like Red Light, recently introduced a redesigned Web site to compete better online. Nectar charges $29.95 a month for access, which allows members to look at thousands of still photos and stream 35 movies from its library.
But this is a far cry from the price and the volume of free X-rated content available on some sites. One site operated by Adult Entertainment Broadcast Network has 200,000 videos, many of them submitted by amateur videographers, said Scott Coffman, the company’s president.
“We get input from all over the world — Japan, Germany, Brazil,” Mr. Coffman said, noting that even he was surprised by the number of contributors. “It’s the same thing as YouTube, where you’re wondering, How many people out there have cameras and are filming this stuff?”
Mr. Coffman said he was not in the business of giving away content. About half the videos submitted to the site, he said, are from pornographic movie companies looking to get viewers interested and persuade them to pay for a longer download or DVD. Some companies pay to have their clips displayed on the site, and some give it a cut of the revenue if a visitor turns into a customer.
In fact, many of the free video clips circulating online are distributed by companies using them as marketing tools. Mr. Kaplan of GoGoBill.com said he thought that was a failed strategy.
“They think that if they give people enough of a free sample, they’ll come back and pay, but that’s not true,” he said. The reality, he said, is that people are surfing for free material, getting what they want and then leaving.
But some in the industry disagree. Manny Ulele, the founder of a Las Vegas-based video production company and Web site, said the use of these teaser videos was turning the online pornography business into something of a science. (That is not his real name, but one he uses for business purposes.)
Mr. Ulele said his company could pay $500 to $600 a day to get its short clips listed prominently on popular video clearinghouses. He said that fee could be justified by the rates at which people follow through: 1 in 1,000 viewers of the free content click onto his site, he said, and 1 in 600 of those might buy something — a subscription, DVD or other product.
Over all, he said, his Web site has around 10,000 customers paying $30 a month to download or stream video clips.
“The perception of the consumer is that there is free porn,” Mr. Ulele said. “But most of it nowadays is controlled.” He added that he and other operators understood what length of video clip, and what kind of clip, would hook viewers.
“We’ve been fine-tuning it for years,” he said. “We’re able to determine exactly what works and what doesn’t.”
For the movie “Mystified,” Nectar built an elaborate set that included a waterfall in a warehouse in Canoga Park, Calif. It is not your everyday backdrop for hard-core sex, Mr. Logan noted: “It looks like ‘Lord of the Rings.’
LOL, cause that's what your typical hardcore porn fan is after, eh? Scenic waterfalls?
Of course, every sex-starved teen is just dying to see some waterfalls...
I used to have a DVD starring the infamous Angel Falls. Should've seen the cascades on that!
"If there is a sin against life, it consists not so much in despairing as in hoping for another life and in eluding the implacable grandeur of this one." Albert Camus "Noces"
LOL, cause that's what your typical hardcore porn fan is after, eh? Scenic waterfalls?
Well that really depends.
Sometimes it can very sexy and erotic if they use the waterfall properly.
Anyway I'm a quality guy. I don't like most pron movies these days. They are just stupid.
Bring back the 80's I say !!
Now there's quality stuff I tell ya
Sv: Re: Sv: Re: Teh Internets Are Destroying Our Pron!
Rosanne Arquette did pornos !!!
Where, what's it called ??
It must be like the porno that Sylvester Stallone did, a legend.
But seriously, while I may not want the 80's dressing style back, I do want the way they made porno back then back.
Most movies in my porno collection are from the 80's and are those that I enjoy the most.
I guess I like it when they actually put some effort behind them when making a porno instead of the quick, mindless stuff they do now.
Of course if you are into body hair then the 80s stuff is ideal.
"Put 'em in blue coats, put 'em in red coats, the bastards will run all the same!"
"The English are a strange people....They came here in the morning, looked at the wall, walked over it, killed the garrison and returned to breakfast. What can withstand them?"
I the 80s they actually had a plot and were not just gratuitous sex. At least the better ones and not the comps. The 80s was also when hot girls started to appear in them. You can thank the invention of the vcr for that boom. With the age of the PC all home entertainment software products are in danger of extinction. By that I mean things like Cds, DVDs,tapes, and the like. In fact it is the bane of many small retail outlets as well.
Nevermind preserve its vital contribution to the world culture.
"Let us remember that there are multiple theories of Intelligent Design. I and many others around the world are of the strong belief that the universe was created by a Flying Spaghetti Monster. --- Proof of the existence of the FSM, if needed, can be found in the recent uptick of global warming, earthquakes, hurricanes, and other natural disasters. Apparently His Pastaness is to be worshipped in full pirate regalia. The decline in worldwide pirate population over the past 200 years directly corresponds with the increase in global temperature. Here is a graph to illustrate the point."
I used to have a DVD starring the infamous Angel Falls. Should've seen the cascades on that!
Save the pr0n industry! Life without professional hardcore porn will never be the same.
Ja mata, TosaInu. You will forever be remembered.
Proud
Been to:
Swords Made of Letters - 1938. The war is looming in France - and Alexandre Reythier does not have much time left to protect his country. A novel set before the war.
"Horny single guys around the world unite ! You only have your films to lose - but that's a lot !" ...and the awful puns for slogans I can think of scare me...
Last edited by Banquo's Ghost; 06-04-2007 at 06:45.
"Let us remember that there are multiple theories of Intelligent Design. I and many others around the world are of the strong belief that the universe was created by a Flying Spaghetti Monster. --- Proof of the existence of the FSM, if needed, can be found in the recent uptick of global warming, earthquakes, hurricanes, and other natural disasters. Apparently His Pastaness is to be worshipped in full pirate regalia. The decline in worldwide pirate population over the past 200 years directly corresponds with the increase in global temperature. Here is a graph to illustrate the point."
It's time for the federal government to step in and save this endangered industry to save jobs and to expand the USA's cultural legacy.
Actually I would say the porn industry itself is doing better than ever. Again only the format has changed to be even more user friendly. Other than old 8 and 16 mm pron there was once only one real way to watch pron and that was at a pron theater. Not a really good place to take a date
With the advent of the VCR you could take it home. Now you didnt have 2 worry about being seen in or leaving a pron theater and you also picked up the obvious privacy gains of the bedroom. Now you and your m8 could enjoy it together and only the video clerk suspected
Now you dont have to see anybody. Just search for what ever turns you on . Unless of course its little kids.Its there but warning stay away Theres more pron around than ever. Heck Girls Gone Wild is all the rage.
bahhh...the US porn industry can go to hell for all I care..
I have 2 words for you.....Marc Dorcel.....
french porn rules!!!...the girls are TEH HOTNESS!
"If given the choice to be the shepherd or the sheep... be the wolf"
-Josh Homme
"That's the difference between me and the rest of the world! Happiness isn't good enough for me! I demand euphoria!"
- Calvin
I am amazed to see sooo many pr0n addicts.
I considered you people to be down-to-earth and respected men.
Ja mata, TosaInu. You will forever be remembered.
Proud
Been to:
Swords Made of Letters - 1938. The war is looming in France - and Alexandre Reythier does not have much time left to protect his country. A novel set before the war.
And to nice words it is too
Marc does indeed make some fine movies.
Too bad they are in french tho
Originally Posted by edyzmedieval
I am amazed to see sooo many pr0n addicts.
I considered you people to be down-to-earth and respected men.
This is a internet forum .
Being able to get here is evidence that you know how the internet works.
And if you know how it works then the magical door to pornoland will be open to you and quite frankly I think almost all males will walk through that door
Re: Sv: Re: Teh Internets Are Destroying Our Pron!
Originally Posted by TB666
Too bad they are in french tho
French is the language of love, mind you...
This is a internet forum .
Being able to get here is evidence that you know how the internet works.
And if you know how it works then the magical door to pornoland will be open to you and quite frankly I think almost all males will walk through that door
Hmmm, it has been shocking tho. Having people talk about immigrants, Bush, conservatives, Putin and his rockets in one minute, then the next minute theyre talking about h4rdc0r3 pr0n!
Ja mata, TosaInu. You will forever be remembered.
Proud
Been to:
Swords Made of Letters - 1938. The war is looming in France - and Alexandre Reythier does not have much time left to protect his country. A novel set before the war.
“We get input from all over the world — Japan, Germany, Brazil
I can't be the only person to find the prospect of a tsunami of amateur German pornography an alarming prospect? Can I ?
At the risk of sounding serious, I was thinking about ancient history (no, not as in come up and see my murals). Something like 2/3 of all surviving ancient greek manuscripts (a tiny fragment of what once existed) are the Illiad or the Odessey. Why? Because they were so popular.
You can see where I am going with this. We all imagine that in a thousand years scholars will be studying writers like Joyce and Borges and thinkers like Popper to reconstruct our civilisation. Instead, all they will have to work from is Best of Vivid and Girls Gone Wild.
What a job, eh?
"The only thing I've gotten out of this thread is that Navaros is claiming that Satan gave Man meat. Awesome." Gorebag
You can see where I am going with this. We all imagine that in a thousand years scholars will be studying writers like Joyce and Borges and thinkers like Popper to reconstruct our civilisation. Instead, all they will have to work from is Best of Vivid and Girls Gone Wild.
One imagines this is characteristic of the first veneer of historical reconstruction and interest.
After all, the modern queues in Pompeii are not to study the intricate marble-work at the temple of Vespasian.
"If there is a sin against life, it consists not so much in despairing as in hoping for another life and in eluding the implacable grandeur of this one." Albert Camus "Noces"
I can't be the only person to find the prospect of a tsunami of amateur German pornography an alarming prospect? Can I ?
Agreed, pornography should be cellulitis-free and thus anything but home-made.
Nations have their own Pr0n styles. British models always giggle, the men as much as the women. American damsels wear the infamous high heels, German women talk all the time (even during 'orgasm') and French women talk to the onlooker in voice-overs all the time. Scandinavian material has something clinical and matter-of-fact about it.
I once starred in a short Dutch Pr0n movie, a long forgotten instalment of no consequence to anyone but the makers. I don't have a copy anymore, don't even remember the title or anything. The memory makes me smile every time though. Ah, the good old pre-HIV days ..
The bloody trouble is we are only alive when we’re half dead trying to get a paragraph right. - Paul Scott
Nothing like a porn topic. With the definitions separating everything professional and amateur in the U.S., what is amateur porn exactly? Is this like a cottage industry or are the people in the videos amateurs at having sex? Are these videos of the quality of Blair Witch with Rosanne Barr. Thinking production value alone, what could possibly be leading this trend. In my opinion the socio-economic means of the audience that Pornywood formerly catered to is now being catered to more effectively by what they described. The average internet user can now afford Viagra (prescription drugs) AND "The Fat Girl Next Door 48" (food).
"There is a true glory and a true honor; the glory in duty done and the honor in the integrity of principle."
"The truth is this; the march of Providence so long, that of the individual so brief, that we often only see the ebb of the advancing wave. It is history which teaches us to hope."
I once starred in a short Dutch Pr0n movie, a long forgotten instalment of no consequence to anyone but the makers. I don't have a copy anymore, don't even remember the title or anything. The memory makes me smile every time though. Ah, the good old pre-HIV days ..
I once starred in a short Dutch Pr0n movie, a long forgotten instalment of no consequence to anyone but the makers. I don't have a copy anymore, don't even remember the title or anything. The memory makes me smile every time though. Ah, the good old pre-HIV days ..
I am now fearing to talk with Adrian II.
Ja mata, TosaInu. You will forever be remembered.
Proud
Been to:
Swords Made of Letters - 1938. The war is looming in France - and Alexandre Reythier does not have much time left to protect his country. A novel set before the war.
Teh Internets Are Destroying Our Pron!
Reply With Quote
Re: Teh Internets Are Destroying Our Pron!
Originally Posted by HoreTore
films to lose - but that's a lot !" ...and the awful puns for slogans I can think of scare me... 
Theres more pron around than ever. Heck Girls Gone Wild is all the rage.
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