May 28, 2020 23:00:00

A major turning point for the adult industry. How will adult videos change in the future?

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, city lockdowns and curfews have been issued, and many industries, especially the tourism industry, have stopped operating. Adult movie production is no exception, and studio production has stopped because filming requires many people to gather and come into contact with each other. However, this has not forced all AV actresses into poverty, and some have even seen their income increase. Amid the social headwinds, a new form of pornography that uses technology is emerging.

Porn Takes On a Personal Touch in the Pandemic - The Ringer

https://www.theringer.com/2020/5/27/21269951/porn-coronavirus-pandemic-onlyfans

Little Puck, a Chicago-based cosplayer and adult actress, has been able to make a lot of money even during the city lockdown and curfew by distributing adult movies on a monthly basis through the membership-based social networking service 'OnlyFans'. Puck, who signed up for OnlyFans in January 2020, increased her earnings from about $2,000 (about 220,000 yen) per month to $7,500 (about 800,000 yen) in April. Before signing up for OnlyFans, Puck had signed up for the streaming service 'ManyVids', which allows you to directly sell your own adult movies, and was making $10,000 (about 1.1 million yen) per month, but her earnings from OnlyFans are comparable to that.

Even before the COVID-19 outbreak, social media platforms like OnlyFans, ManyVids, and Snapchat were being embraced by adult performers because these platforms offer performers higher earnings and more autonomy as content creators without the involvement of studios. The COVID-19 pandemic has only accelerated trends that were already in place.

In this way, the adult industry is undergoing a major shift from studios to performers, but such a shift is not uncommon. For example, the change from VHS to DVD to Blu-ray is one example. Another major change in recent years has been the increase in websites that distribute content for free, such as Pornhub and Xvideos, and the collapse of profitable media such as DVDs. This has forced many companies that produced adult DVDs to go out of business, and MindGeek, the parent company of Pornhub, and WGCZ Holding, which operates Xvideos, have been acquiring popular studios one after another.

The idea of adult actresses broadcasting content to their fans is also not new. Nude webcam shows and phone sex services have been around since 1997. But the latest platforms are often subscription-based, allowing fans to pay a monthly fee to receive services from their favorite performers. This follows on from Instagram Live and Twitch, where celebrities interact with their fans, and Cameo, where celebrities can send personal messages to fans.

In particular, OnlyFans, which appeared at the beginning, is showing great momentum. OnlyFans was not originally intended for pornography, and

it has been reported that fitness instructors are using it to make money, but when it comes to adult content, it has come to be called a 'direct sales outlet for pornography.'

Why has the distribution of sexual content increased on membership-based SNS to the point where it has been called a 'direct sales store for pornography'? - GIGAZINE

As of March 2020, OnlyFans has 20 million subscribers and 200,000 content creators, but its growth has increased dramatically since 'social distancing' began to become an issue, with 3.5 million subscribers and 60,000 content creators signing up in March alone. Sophia Rose, who traveled around the world as an adult actress before the city lockdown, started distributing content for $14.99 (about 1,600 yen) per month, but reported that she had 400 subscribers in early April and 1,000 in mid-May. In other words, she has monthly sales of 1.6 million yen just from OnlyFans.

However, OnlyFans also has problems. Puck said that OnlyFans' rules for content creators are not clearly stated, change frequently, and have bugs. In addition, OnlyFans has taken measures to disable pages and withhold revenue if accounts of call girls who respond to phone requests are identified, even if they are not intended to provide services as call girls. And in early 2020, a data leak occurred, and it has been reported that content creators have had their addresses identified and have been harassed .

Despite these disadvantages, OnlyFans is popular because of its high profitability, with content creators receiving 80% of sales. This is much higher than the revenue share of similar services. Another reason is that consumer needs have changed. Puck signed up for OnlyFans three years ago, but at the time ManyVids was a much better source of income, so he stopped using OnlyFans soon after. However, in January 2020, many of his peers started making money on OnlyFans, so he resumed using OnlyFans. He was able to make a huge profit here.

In a typical studio-filmed adult movie, actresses can earn anywhere from $800 to $2,000 per shoot, with newcomers making as little as $300. Also, because actresses don't receive royalties, once the shoot is over, that's it.

For this reason, some adult actresses have established a style of using 'studio-shot adult movies' as a place to make new fans and earn a stable income through subscription-based services. Rose, a

plus-size porn actress with a larger-than-average physique, is one such example. Although studio shoots are only a small part of her total income, she continues to shoot in studios because each time she appears in a studio movie, she gains 15,000 to 20,000 more followers on Instagram and Twitter.

Another attraction of OnlyFans is that it is possible to earn more than the subscription fee by conducting private sessions through video services, telephone calls, custom content, etc. The need for 'amateurism' in porn has long been great, and there are cases where actresses who are not actually amateurs earn high amounts by directing an amateur feel and interacting with fans.

On the other hand, the value of studio filming has not disappeared. Bree Mills, director of Adult Time, a streaming service with 100 channels that broadcast original content, has been forced to suspend operations due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but he is still looking to 'create content in creative ways.'

When websites like Pornhub emerged, many studios were not proactive in the emerging platforms and closed down. 'In 2020, the talent that understands the big picture will survive,' Mills said. No matter how the industry evolves, studio filming as a 'brand' will not go away, and studio filming is beneficial for actresses who want to boost their revenue and popularity. If actresses as performers become more powerful than ever, studio filming may have to rethink a lot of things, from content to payment, but still, if it goes well, the popularity of studio-filmed movies could be even more than it is now.