I noticed a poll on XBiz today where they differentiated between “free porn” and “piracy” when asking what is the biggest threat to the porn industry…
Usually when I hear “free porn is a threat” I think of piracy - after all pirated videos are technically “free porn”. But if you take piracy out of the term “free porn” then you’re talking about genuinely amateur videos and sponsor promo videos (which are sometimes pretty long).
Do you guys really think amateur videos and sponsor promo videos are a bigger threat than piracy? That’s what the poll says…
Re: Amateur and promo content a bigger threat than piracy?
I am not sure if it’s a bigger threat than piracy, but I do think it affects ratios a lot. For some surfers, a couple of 2 minute promo clips are enough to get off on.
I think that if we (as an industry) would stick to using photos in stead of promo videos, ratios would be far better.
Re: Amateur and promo content a bigger threat than piracy?
I have no issues with competing against “free” content. What I have a problem with is competing against my own content for free! There will always be a market for high end, high quality porn. But, I canât survive when people can get it free instead of paying for it. Piracy is a bigger issue to me then is âfreeâ content.
Re: Amateur and promo content a bigger threat than piracy?
i don’t think amateur videos and sponsor promo videos are a bigger threat than piracy. i DO think that a lot of webmasters have had issues with free content - pics, galleries, sites - almost since i started as a webmaster in 1996.
Re: Amateur and promo content a bigger threat than piracy?
I don’t think it is a threat, and I have to say I believe the results of that are a little misleading in that MANY people would probably think like you did and consider “free porn” as another term for piracy.
Amateur content is never going to compete because it doesn’t have the quality or the enhancements, or the idol worship.
It also doesn’t have the fantasy people seek in almost all media.
It’s another niche or fetish.
I think it’s like suggesting documentaries are a threat to Hollywood blockbusters.
Re: Amateur and promo content a bigger threat than piracy?
I dont think we have any bigger threat right now than pirated content and tube sites giving away 1000’s and 1000’s of free 5+ minutes clips…
Amateur content might be a problem once tube sites and piracy gets under control (if ever) but there will always be some people that will not be satisfied by watching regular joes go at it - they will be wanting high qualty clips or niche content that amateurs cant make enough of to satisfy the market.
Re: Amateur and promo content a bigger threat than piracy?
I agree, long free video clips that are legal or illegal is the biggest threat together with piracy.
The question in Xbiz is badly formulated. Bud I do agree with Mickey. The biggest threat are 1000s of long free video clips (legal) and Piracy. Both together means that the unreasonable surfer demand for free everything is fulfilled. It also means that those type of surfers think their demand isn’t unreasonable, after all they know there is free content including full DVDs out there to be had.
I just wish those surfers would understand that the majority of porn (at least gay) isn’t produced by large soulless corporations, when in fact most of it is small productions often by a single producer just about managing to make ends meet. These are the guys who also suffer first… and in turn means that there eventually will be less products to choose from.
I think the biggest challenge for us in this business is to tackle the new younger generation of Facebook and Twitter layabouts who don’t want to pay for anything (surfing the net on their Iphones).
Re: Amateur and promo content a bigger threat than piracy?
Thinking about this, and listening to what you guys have to say makes me think about my own plans… Amateurs now have HD cameras. If they shoot in a room with decent lighting they can produce stuff that’s actually pretty good. In the past porn production was done by professionals because the equipment was expensive and the editing software had a steep learning curve. Neither of those is true anymore. I still see a role for professional producers, but it’s only for content that strives for perfection - the perfect muscle body, the perfect jock body, etc. Otherwise, there isn’t much future (10 years from now) for professional producers unless they can develop a really strong brand.
The only thing that’s missing for amateurs right now is distribution - the tube sites where they can upload their videos don’t take really large HD videos and then they stream really crappy quality. Talking to the guys on my forum some of them have tons of HD video they’ve shot of themselves and they’re bloggers so they have a bit of a following (all of that is true in my case as well - I have a HD camera and proper lights that I use to shoot video of myself and I’m a blogger with a following). The tube site I’ve been planing on launching (as soon as my new server is ready) has been one with HD quality video with mostly amateur videos. Yeah, there will be lower quality video that I’ll give away for free, but I’ll have a membership option that will let people upgrade to HD. The bottom line is that my users will just pay for the bandwidth they use - they won’t have to pay for production - production will be done for free by amateur producers.
This is sorta similar to the effect of Indian programmers on software developers. Porn producers are facing competition that’s vastly less expensive (their competition is willing to work for free). If the amateur side of things get their act together on distribution it will drive down the prices in a major way. I’m now seeing why people think amateur content is such a threat to the industry. It’s just ironic that the plans I had for the future are part of that threat.
Re: Amateur and promo content a bigger threat than piracy?
Tube sites and commercial affiliate aggregators that cry for longer and longer free clips are the worst threat to studio - and one-man shop affiliate and blogger - revenues. But, we’ve had this discussion for the past year or so, on 2-3 of these forums, so it is nice to see more on board.
