Page 26 - AVN January 2018

EDITOR’S DESK | By Sharan Street
EDITOR’S DESK
THE PRICE OF FREEDOM
Online porn’s mushroom clouds and butterfly effects
WORKING IN THE ADULT INDUSTRY, one becomes attuned
to media coverage of pornography—which in large part
is composed of rants about porn’s alleged negative
impact on marriages, morals and even male virility.
But last month, Atlantic magazine leveled a new charge
against the industry in an article headlined “The
Environmental Cost of Internet Porn.”
Here’s the gist of the piece: Scientists who analyze
the environmental impact of the internet believe
that the online delivery of media (music, movies,
games, etc.) has had some positive effects on the
environment. Author Matt Kessler notes, “Streaming
music eliminates all that physical material—CDs, jewel
cases, cellophane, shipping boxes, fuel—and can reduce
carbon-dioxide emissions by 40 percent or more.”
Then why would those same benefits not extend
to digital delivery of adult video? The answer—to the
limited extent that there is one—lies in the certainty
that consumption of porn is much greater now
that it ever has been. But that’s the only certainty.
Jon Koomey, one data scientist who studies the
environmental impact of the internet, tells the Atlantic
reporter that a lack of information “hamstrings any
serious inquiry.” Koomey states, “I don’t even know
what fraction of the internet is porn. And without data,
it’s hard to say anything sensible.”
Though the article never proves the assertion made
in the headline, it does offer some interesting points
about consumption and the “two intense hikes in
popularity” that have occurred this century: the arrival
of broadband, with higher download speeds, and the
advent of free tube sites. The latter is referred to as
“the great mushroom-cloud porn explosion of 2008” by
Adam Grayson, Evil Angel’s chief financial officer.
Mushroom cloud—it’s an apt phrase for a
phenomenon that has wrought so much change in
the adult entertainment industry. And Grayson shares
some numbers to support his explosive description,
estimating that EvilAngel.com traffic has increased by
7,000 percent.
Grayson tells the reporter that in the late 1990s, “a
new Evil Angel DVD would sell approximately 7,500
copies in the first 30 days” and compares that to now,
where a video would be streamed 30,000 times in the
first 30 days—and that represents the just 5 percent
of paying customers. “There’s no way, 15 years ago,
at the peak of physical media, that many people were
touching our brand,” Grayson says.
The boom of free content led to a bust for many
producers, as evidenced by the number of major studios
active in 2008 that are no longer here a decade later.
But as always, there have been winners. Major brands
from the 1990s that have persisted—Adam & Eve
Pictures, Elegant Angel, Evil Angel, Jules Jordan Video,
Wicked Pictures—doubtlessly have more eyeballs
watching their content than ever before. And then
there’s Mindgeek—arguably the dominant company in
the industry—which grew wealthy on tube traffic and
absorbed several blue-chip brands, including Digital
Playground and Reality Kings.
But that’s only part of the story. The real
revolution lies in the way the medium by which adult
entertainment is delivered has changed the content
itself. Indeed, as Marshall McLuhan wrote in 1964,
“The medium is the message.” As the ever-handy
Wikipedia elucidates, by that McLuhan meant “the
form of a medium embeds itself in any message
it would transmit or convey, creating a symbiotic
relationship by which the medium influences how the
message is perceived.”
The way in which porn is delivered has always
influenced what type of content is produced. Before
the 1970s, when hardcore films were first shown in
couples-friendly movie theaters, content was consumed
in male enclaves such as stag parties, brothels, private
clubs and peep-show arcades. With the arrival of VHS
tapes and video stores, popularity boomed again—as
did the variety and quantity of the content. And then
came broadband and the tubes to deliver porn to the
masses.
One of the best recent explanations of the disruption
of free online porn is Jon Ronson’s excellent audio
book, The Butterfly Effect, available on Audible and
iTunes. This seven-part series is kicked off by an
interview with Fabian Thylmann, founder of Manwin
(which has since morphed into Mindgeek). Ronson
then heads down to Porn Valley to see “the butterfly
effect” created by the vast reserves of free content
available online, where he finds a knowledgeable and
articulate guide to lead him through the post-tube
landscape: veteran director Mike Quasar.
A compassionate, non-judgmental observer, Ronson
studies the industry with real curiosity. And what
gives him the biggest kick is one of the bright spots
in the adult marketplace: the popularity of “bespoke”
porn. He’s fascinated by individuals who create custom
videos for paying clients, among them director Nate
Liquor, performers Casey Calvert and Christina Carter,
and producers Dan and Rhiannon of Anatomik Media.
If you’re in the business and haven’t heard The Butterfly
Effect, put it down on your to-do list.
The rise of the custom video is one of the most
positive results of the digitalization of porn. Once
the medium went digital, it became mutable, and
thereby eminently customizable. This mutability of
online content has put more control into the hands
of porn fans. Today’s powerhouse brands study what
fans want—poring over viewership stats and tailoring
content to fit. Some sites even encourage members to
submit their own ideas and then use those scenarios to
create new scenes. And of course there’s the increasing
dominance of live cams and the huge growth in
production on clip sites.
This issue of AVN magazine will be distributed at the
annual AVN Adult Entertainment Expo, which offers a
conduit to the largest gathering of porn fans in North
America. Take a look through these pages and you’ll
see evidence of the continuing resilience of the adult
industry. While some of the companies that would have
advertised 10 years ago may be gone today, others have
stepped up to fill the void—VOD providers, clip sites,
live cams, custom producers, and new imprints from
tech-savvy companies. Whether it’s a cam performer
doing a private show, an adult star hawking videos on a
clip site or a producer using the latest stats to plan the
next round of site updates, all are engaged in the same
activity: fulfilling the fantasies of the current generation
of porn fans, and staying successful by staying nimble.
26 | AVN.com | 1.18
ad index
AdultCentro................................................... 111, 139, 145
AdultForce.......................................Pullout between 62-63
AEBN. ............................................................................. 113
Age ID.............................................................................. 61
AGW Entertainment. ................................................... 14-15
ASACP. ........................................................................... 142
AVN Novelty Expo......................................................... 137
AVN Show.................................................................. 67, 73
Baeb. ................................................................................ 85
Bang!. ............................................................................... 83
CalExotics. .......................................................................... 2
CAMStar. ............................................Insert between 38-39
Chaturbate....................................................................... 51
Doc Johnson.................................................................. 123
East Coast News.................................................... 125, 127
Eldorado Trading.....................................65, 117, 119, 121
Elegant Angel.................................................................. 45
Eroscillator. ..................................................................... 131
Free Speech Coalition................................................... 143
FriendFinder Networks.................................................... 57
FuckingAwesome.com. .................................................... 55
Gamma Entertainment.................................................... 59
Gayvn............................................................................. 112
GayVN Awards. .............................................................. 109
Hard X/Erotica X (Mile High Media)................................ 30
Internext Expo. ............................................................... 146
Icon Male (Mile High Media)......................................... 105
iWantFanClub........................................ False Cover, 12-13
iWantGayClips. ........................................................100-101
James Deen Productions. .......................................... 27, 33
Jules Jordan Video..... 8-9, 10-11, 23, 25, 147, Back Cover
Kelly Madison/Juicy......................................................... 47
Lesbian X/Dark X (Mile High Media)............................... 31
Lucas Entertainment...................................................... 107
Max Morris Enterprises Inc.............................................. 53
MobiusPay. ....................................................................... 58
MormonGirlz.................................................................... 77
MyFreeCams.com. ........................................................... 39
New Media Group........................................................... 79
njoy. ................................................................................ 133
NSFW Films. ..................................................................... 91
Paradise Marketing........................................................ 135
PascalsSubSluts. ............................................................... 49
PornHub. .......................................................................... 35
Pure Passion. .................................................................... 93
Pussycash......................................................................... 43
Reality Junkies/Doghouse (Mile High Media)................. 28
Rock Candy.......................................False Cover Back, 129
Satisfyer. ............................................... 16-17, 18-19, 20-21
SexArt. .............................................................................. 97
Smash Pictures................................................................. 37
Stripchat........................................................................... 87
Sweet Sinner/Sweetheart (Mile High Media). .................. 29
Team Skeet. ...................................................................... 99
Traffic Junky. ..................................................................... 63
TransSensual (Mile High Media). ...................................... 69
Vixen.com.......................................................................... 3
Wicked Pictures. .......................................................4-5, 6-7
XBLiZiT............................................................................. 71
XR Brands. ...................................................................... 126