Porn Tube Sites and their Effects on the Biz

When I did porn videos between 2002 and 2004, they were produced on DVDs and eventually went out of production.  Oh how times have changed!  Now, there are more porn tube sites than I know of, kind of like the YouTube of porn where people can watch masses of videos for free.  This has been compared to Napster in the music industry.

For obvious reasons, there has been much criticism against these tube sites from within the porn industry. One reason is because people can access entire scenes or entire videos for free, which affects producers and performers.  Back in the day, porn producers could make money for each video sold or online in pay-per-view sites (in which some are still around).  Thus, the widespread availability of free porn can adversely affect their "bottom line"  and we also need to consider the expenses that go into producing videos.  This can in turn minimize the amount of porn they produce, which may affect the income of performers- even though we don't get royalties.  

As I wrote about in a previous post, performers are usually just paid per scene and the small percentage who are under contract have a more stable income. Some performers may have stipulations in their contracts that allow for royalties, but I don't know.  I never got royalties nor was I under contract with any company.

Another obvious concern is online piracy, where people who don't own rights to the videos or scenes post them even if the tube sites have written policies saying that they must own rights to the video to post.  Why?  Well, people can make money on tube sites despite the fact that videos are viewed for free.  If you visited tube sites, you may have noticed advertisements at the beginning when you click onto a video.  Though I never posted videos on such sites, I think people who post them can get paid a certain amount each time somebody clicks on the video and an ad comes up or if a video they posted reaches a certain amount of clicks.  Some of these tube sites also have paid sections where people can post videos and make money, too.

Jenna Haze said in an interview on Holly Randall's podcast that piracy was one of the reasons she left porn.  She mentioned how she disliked that her hard work was available for free.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5pAv0DOo67w&t=137s

Being outed is also a concern to some performers.  The free tube sites make porn videos much more accessible.  Videos that would have in the past gone out of production now stay around through such sites.  Most of the scenes I did 18 to 20 years ago are posted on tube sites, though I didn't post any of these myself.

Anybody with Internet access can come across these sites except where access is blocked.  Due to stigmas, some performers keep their involvement in porn private and don't tell family, friends, or others they know outside of the biz.  With tube sites, not only may people they know come across the video, but anybody can out them.  Even for performers who are open about their work, it may still feel awkward if family, friends, or others they know outside of the industry see them in sex acts.

Another concern expressed is how tube sites are "watering down" and lowering the quality of porn. They "lowered the bar" to creating porn.  These sites have not only made viewing porn more accessible, but also creating it.  Anybody with just certain basic technology can create porn now and post it.  No longer are high quality cameras, sets, or editing devices needed.  No longer does porn need to go through a casting and selecting process.   Likewise, some performers from back in the day discussed how there's no longer the tight-knit porn community and it has become more scattered. 

Yet, are the effects of tube sites totally negative on the industry and performers?  Not necessarily.  Such sites can give performers more independence and agency to create their own content.  They can produce scenes on their own rather than having to use production companies or agents.  When I did videos years ago, the San Fernando Valley in California was the hub of porn production in the U.S. with smaller amounts produced in New York City and Miami.  Performers living outside of these areas typically had to travel to work, sometimes at their own expense.  Now, they can work from home or from their spaces on their terms if they have just basic technology such as a computer or cell phone with Internet access. 

This can also increase the safety of performers in various ways.  Making it easier for them to work independently from their territory protects them from having to travel to areas where they are unfamiliar with, have no support network, and don't know their way around.  Not having to work with agents or producers can protect them from the "casting couch" or other forms of abusive behaviors.  This doesn't mean every producer and agent engages in such behaviors, but it happens. Though performers split their revenue with the tube sites where they post content, they no longer have to split it with producers or agents.  Performers can continue to receive revenue through the tube sites on content they post.  

Furthermore, performers have more leeway to decide whether to use protection.  Some performers may still find their income is good enough using protection even if some customers don't wish to see this.  Most heterosexual porn production companies don't typically use condoms if at all, saying that these decrease their revenue because of customer demand for scenes without condoms.  Performer after performer has said that if they were to demand condom use, they would get little or no work from production companies.  Yet, some performers may prefer no condoms, which they can also do when working independently.

By being able to create and post their own content, performers can portray themselves how they wish to be portrayed and let their personalities and interests shine.  They can also decide who to work with or whether to work solo.  They don't have to worry about being pressured into doing especially risky sex acts or acts they prefer not to do by an agent, director, or producer.  Likewise, they don't have to worry about being in an awkward position where they're not told until they arrive on set that they will need to either do such acts or leave and miss out on the income they were depending on- not to mention the amount of time it took them to get ready and travel to the set.  They may have also turned down other work for this.  

Producers can also post videos on tube sites and generate income.  As some performers and producers said, it's a matter of adapting to the times.  We're no longer in the days of adult movie theatres, Beta and VHS, or DVDs being the main ways porn is distributed.  Though there are still some pay-per-view porn sites, it can be more difficult to depend on income generated strictly from viewers in an era when the free tube sites are becoming so prevalent.  

Though I haven't posted videos on tube sites, I set up a profile on one so I can interact with the viewers. This gives me an opportunity to portray myself for who I am and share what I wish to about myself. In the comments sections of some videos I did, people asked some questions only I can answer- such as what I'm up to now.  

The tube sites can also be helpful to cammers.  Many tube sites provide live cam areas and when viewers click onto recorded videos in the tube area, they also provide links to live video from cammers.  Additionally, ads that appear at the beginning of these videos are often for cam sites and such sites can post banner advertisements.  On the tube site where I created a profile, I mentioned that I'm currently doing cam on aStripChat (in which I simultaneously appear on Xhamster since StripChat runs the Xhamster live cam https://stripchat.com/BustyNaturalTessa/follow-me) and posted the URL.  Also mentioned this to some people who wrote to me on there individually.  Some specifically asked if I still do cam.

Yet, there are other ways for performers to have more control over their content than just TubeSites.  Many performers post on Only Fans, where viewers pay a subscription rate to access various materials, such as videos, pictures, and many also do live cam and online chat with subscribers.  

As somebody who is interested in the nuance of issues, I recognize that the effects of porn tubes sites on the performers and industry are neither totally good nor bad.  They can be both or neither.  The porn industry is still around and it's persistence depends on adapting to the times as it always did.  The same can be said of any industry.