Porn’s Perfect Storm and Some Hope

I was speaking with one of the industries top 3 most powerful people last night (and I don’t mean according to klout I mean the people that make porn policy). After a long conversation I have hope that the industry will become stronger, better and more profitable.

We acknowledged that we are currently in the midst of a “perfect storm”.

It started years ago when the bar for entry was low, probably too low, money was flowing and everybody wanted some. It didn’t take all that long before supply outstripped demand and the value of what we as an industry produced, became lower and lower. Add in technology advances that allowed inexpensive home computers to download and play full quality video and piracy became rampant, further devaluing an already devalued product.

Next came the economic downturn, disposable cash hit an all time low and the devalued product, for the first time ever, was no longer “recession proof”. Porn producers began to fail and go out of business and the ones that didn’t fail cut back production. This year our industry will release less than 20 % of the content it did ten years ago.

Finally our efforts to go “mainstream” that made us a pop culture counter culture got attention we didn’t want and now we are expected to conduct ourselves like any other business, including workers compensation, workplace safety regulations and all that goes with being “mainstream”.

It has hit us wave after wave after wave.

The coming condom law will probably sink all but the biggest companies. “Gonzo” porn as you know it will become the providence of adult websites, and they won’t be based in Los Angeles.

Digital Playground, Wicked (who is already a condom company), Vivid and others aren’t moving from Los Angeles because they know that if they do the regulations will simply follow them wherever they go. Just as they will chase the biggest websites.

There are a few people out there who think that the condom law is vulnerable to attack on some constitutional basis. They are dreaming, seriously dreaming. They may have very limited success with certain points of the law but as a whole it is going to stand. Workplace safety is not going to be compromised in California or probably anywhere else.

As an industry, we will survive but things are going to be very different for the foreseeable future starting about January 1, 2013.

63970cookie-checkPorn’s Perfect Storm and Some Hope

Porn’s Perfect Storm and Some Hope

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