Neither may relish the comparison but porn business is a lot like the music industry: both are scrambling to figure out how to use the internet to their advantage without being undercut by hydra-like free content.
CNBC is airing a documentary Wednesday night to look at how porn producers are trying to cope. Tune in to "Porn: Business of Pleasure" tonight at 9pm Eastern if this is an issue close to your heart.
In a preview clip of the segment, Wired's Nick Thompson points out the similarities between adult filmmakers and record companies. "We've seen the music industry transformed by people uploading music, by file shares, by people thinking that albums should only be available for free, and we're seeing similar things happen to the adult industry."
The following voice-over claims that, "what Napster was to music, tube sites are to porn," which is something that porn filmmakers are gunning to change. Many are taking control of sites like YouPorn and XTube, posting snippets from feature length films with ads at the end to buy the whole movie. Even if a very low percentage of the 15 million monthly viewers (according to a 2007 Portfolio article) actually click, companies will still turn a profit.
While this model hasn't come close to filling the financial void left by declining DVD sales, it's hard to get all hot and bothered about porn going down the tubes. Sex beats out music in terms of consumer base, no contest. And it's unlikely, even in the digital age, that nobody's going to figure out how to sell it.
