Down The Rabbit Hole: Porn is Dead

Lately, we keep hearing and reading this sentiment over and over: “I think one day, porn is just going to go away. Porn is dead.” Whoa… that’s a pretty heavy statement. And if I were to guess what all of this nervous, hand-wringing is about, I’d say it’s because two things are happening in our gay porn world at the same time;

PROBLEM ONE:
Of course, most know about Facebook’s, Instragram’s or heck, even Pinterest’s no tolerance for boners… and yes, most recently Vine’s “no sexy-time” rule (along with rumors about Tumblr too!) are preventing us from collecting and sharing porn socially. In other words, porn, particularly copyrighted porn images are not the content these sites want on their servers—and they’re desperately trying to scrub these services clean. Realizing that you can’t even post an all-access naked photo of yourself on Grindr or Scruff apps, makes you realize how uptight we are about nudity and sex. So yes, porn (as nakedness) is being hunted and “shamed” digitally more than ever.
PROBLEM TWO:
The other problem is what the entire entertainment industry is going through, but simply put— the money isn’t what it used to be in the business of making porn. Quite bluntly, the old studios are consolidating and churning out scenes but the business model still doesn’t seem to be working like it used. Oh trust us, we’re excited when there is something fresh and new, amazingly hot guys and good ol’ fashioned bone-making porn being shared, but things are looking haggard the closer you look and yep, you can’t help but wonder what path these studios are on if things don’t change.

So here’s the thing: I don’t see it as such a bleak thing. In fact, I actually think porn is alive and well and there are some exciting things that about to happen, just not in the way that anyone is going after right now. What do I mean? Read on…

MYTH ONE: THERE ARE LESS & LESS PLACES I CAN SEE GAY PORN
When the iPhone came out and the onslaught of Android and other phones followed, I think I initially thought this was porn’s next avenue to explore. So, when I was talking to a friend all wound up over the fact that last Friday, his jack-off Vine videos were going to be removed off their servers. And while I still think there might have been a more elegant, less restrictive way to deal with adult content, I don’t think it’s all that shocking that companies aren’t yet comfortable with hosting pornographic content. Porn is still taboo to a lot of people.
That said, Grindr and its fellow apps changed the dynamics of hooking up. You no longer needed some sketchy park, bathroom or time spent hanging out at the bar if you were just looking for sex. SnapChat also introduced a clever way to work around the system of no smut within the app. The fact is: The smartphone evolved our focus away from websites to services, some that help us hook up and others that help us get off. While technically not pornography, it’s spawned a new flood of amateur (and some not-so-amateur) exhibitionism. Sites like Guys with iPhones celebrate the naked selfie and introduced yet another form of pornography. The need to go buy a DVD movie has lessened, because there is variety and its instantaneously available to you.
Porn is even more interesting when it’s taboo
Yes, it’s likely more app and web services will change their rules about nudity, but it opens opportunity for new things to cater specifically for adult interests. And restriction isn’t always such a bad thing. Why? Because it challenges others to build a social site that caters to these images, desires and needs. And if you restrict it, hide and encourage it to be something we don’t see or talk about—then the thrill, taboo and desire to see it provides a bit of a rush in seeing something “you’re not supposed to”. My friend, still pissed about Vine said, “Well, maybe this thing will Vine encourage people to start paying for porn again.” And he’s not the only one who said that and I do have to say there is some temporary logic to this.

MYTH TWO: EVERYONE WANTS PORN FOR FREE
Will people pay for content if they can easily get it elsewhere for free—is an interesting trick question. The answer is the same for all type of entertainment—music movies or anything that is also getting shared across file sharing sites. I honestly believe people will pay for things that move them and they appreciate. That doesn’t mean movies won’t always be reposted on file sharing sites. But I do believe if the content is good, new or different, people will pay for it, if it’s valued. I also believe that it depends on the age. I think when you’re young, maybe just 18, you’re more likely to not spend or have any trace that you’re jacking off to guys fucking. When you’re 40, I’d advocate, if the content is special and good—then yes, you’ll likely pay for it.
File sharing won’t kill pornography… or music or motion pictures
You’ve undoubtedly heard how file sharing of copyrighted music, movies and yes, porn is destroying the industry and theoretically entertainment as we know it could change completely. And yes, theoretically that is true. But that doesn’t mean there won’t be art, new music and smut to jack off to. Why? Because what the “industry” is worried about is survival of their business model and their promotion machine. Yes, porn doesn’t sell like it used to. BUT, the fact is that the model has changed. The entertainment industry doesn’t control distribution like it used to, so the time is ripe for them to change their business structure. And I’m not advocating that the studios go away—but should they all fold, I guarantee you we’d still have models creating their own films or new erotic projects emerge. The difference is that the current legacy of the studios provide promotion channels and quality that shouldn’t go away, but they have to adapt and streamline the business model.

Trying to hold on to old distribution models will kill off the studios
Here’s a little reminder of our porn history: Porn films were originally distributed by mail order or in an adult movie theater. Videotapes then changed the ease in which movies (the era of the rental!) were distributed. It was easier than ever to watch porn in the safety of your own home. And as we watched friends get sick from HIV which no one seemed to totally know how to control—porn watching boomed in the late 80s and early 90s. And productions got far more elaborate and we found ourselves enjoying double-feature stories about guys traveling to exotic locations and fucking in epic beach houses and we celebrated the era of the porn star. Gods of muscle, sex and well, doing things that all of sudden had a real-life complexity. And yes, some were making almost decent money for feature films. And then of course, the Internet consumed us in the late 90s and it was only logical that studios could save money by moving away from producing videos and DVDs and focus on providing content directly to consumer from their studios’ servers.
So, over the course of 30 years, the porn industry abandoned partners in movie houses, VHS and DVD manufacturers, magazine publishers and now direct mail expenses. And when they thought content on phones and tablets was the next big distribution model, they got blind-sided like the rest of the entertainment industry when a the percentage of copying grew, became easier and the quality got better. And numbers of people paying for content start shrinking. The Internet also provided other free sources of porn to watch.

The need for porn in our lives remains steady. We’re still horny.
The reality is—porn is as popular as ever. More diversity and availability make it easy to enjoy. Porn allows people to explore fantasy and their own desires. What’s interesting is the studios have been so reliant on making money off the model of distribution that existed in the era of the VHS tape, they’re fighting to keep the old money making ways at the detriment of the industry as whole.
Porn studios need to adapt
I don’t proclaim to know the answer to return the porn studios to their glory days. What I do know is its foolish to think file sharing will go away anytime soon. And to me, it’s two-fold: It’s not that people are thieves, but porn may have been too expensive before (I commonly recall a new VHS gay porn movie costing over $75 in 1990—with inflation that would be $130 today.) But that money was necessary to cover the cost of distribution, design, production crew, models and studio operations. And when you compare that to the quality, if it wasn’t there, you were pissed. The Internet changed the model. Studios moved further away from movies with plots and dialogue and started cutting costs by filming scenes. And sexuality became almost clinical. And yep, consumers became more fickle.

And while I would say there are still some great movies and scenes being produced (and yes, people are still paying for them or subscribing to sites), I will also say almost all the studios are guilty of panic and mimicking each other. There was a time when you could tell the difference between a JOCKS film and FALCON film. You knew what COLT Studios meant. You could recognize a Kristen Bjorn film a mile away. And everyone prided themselves with their brand and unique quality of porn. I ask you to currently, remove the name, remove the copy and studio logo and ask yourself how well you can identify the studio around the scene you’re looking at.
And not only did they mimic lighting, filming style, editing… a guy named Dawson took a hell of a lot of loads up his ass and the newest freshest taboo in porn took hold—telling the condom to “fuck off”. Studios that once proclaimed an arrogant responsibility that they’d never shoot a scene without a condom are now going raw in every scene… and models are paid less than ever. So, yes, while the consumer is to blame for swiping free stuff off the Web, the studios are also not innocent as so many have seemingly lost their way and are mimicking whatever formula that they think will work. And in all honesty, it all smells of desperation and I understand why people think the idea of “porn” will die off.
And is it any wonder that we, the people that love porn, have begun to think, “Meh. that scene may or may not be good. Maybe I’ll just swipe it off the web and look first”? In our current business of titillation and mediocrity, I can’t say I blame anyone for wanting their porn for free.
Porn isn’t dying, but porn will change
Before you think we’re being mean-spirited or biting the hand that feeds us, understand our motivation. If we don’t adapt to the present day, these studios will suffer. That’s not a threat, but a reality of the economics of porn today. Bluntly, the studios need to focus on making more scenes and movies that are so compelling that you exclaim, “Oh dang, I wanna own that! Where do I buy it?”

Depressing? Not at all…
The romance of what the studios represented—as we sneaked a peek at our very first gay porn or the stable of hot stars—is gone, and that’s sad to me. But, I am excited for what’s to come! Honestly! What if there was an iTunes-type store for porn? What if the price was reasonable, you could sample any scene across a spectrum of studios and find whatever you want, on whatever device you wanted. I also dream of having the freedom of the bureaucracy and bogged down business model that the porn industry makes me as a consumer abundantly aware of! I want to be reintroduced to things that are taboo, erotica and well… really hot stuff that makes me (and others) want to pay to own this. You may scoff and say that’s naive, but I know porn will never go away, and if it dwindles to homemade, amateur stuff, I also can’t wait to see what emerges from those minds and the new “studios” that emerge.
If you love porn, be proud about it!
Finally, what spawned this editorial is the realization that QueerClick owes it to you to evolve with the times too. We need to share what turns us on more… and show you the details that makes porn stand out from the pack. And quite frankly, that’s showing you more of what artists, photographers and amateur guys are doing too. The studios aren’t dead at all, but we owe it to them to show them what exactly we would pay for. What turns us on and raise the bar on what turns us on day to day…