How the pandemic could forever change the way porn gets made..

[r2d2]

The stress, isolation, and boredom of lockdown life have prompted huge spikes in overall porn site traffic in recent months, with viewership up by at least 20 percent at some points this spring over the same time periods last year. Adult site payment processors “have reported historic high profits” over the same time period, says Alejandro Freixes of the industry trade publication XBiz. And performers like Carmen Valentina tell Mashable that sales of their content have “doubled, even tripled, on some platforms” since the current crisis set in as well.

Yet for all these success stories, not every part of the porn world is thriving right now. The pandemic has “radically restructured the industry,” says Mike Stabile of the Free Speech Coalition (FSC), an industry advocacy group. And that upheaval has left certain categories of content, producers, and performers struggling to stay afloat. It may even force some out of business for good.

Perhaps the most striking trend of the pandemic has been the massive growth of premium adult fan sites, like OnlyFans. (A shocking number of articles, all published in May, have chronicled this rise.) That site reportedly netted 3.5 million new subscribers in March, got a shout out in a Beyonce song in April, and claimed that it was receiving 200,000 new users every day in May. Many of these viewers are likely seeking “the twin pillars of authenticity and intimacy,” which Freixes says drive most porn sales, and which these sites provide through direct communications with stars and, by offering troves of self-shot and seemingly raw content. Hunger for this sort of access and content is especially keen when we all feel anxious and isolated, he adds.

A whole new kind of "safe sex"

These platforms have also become especially important to adult performers during the pandemic, many of whom are getting on them for the first time — because of the impact the coronavirus has had on traditional porn production studios. In mid-March, the FSC called for a shutdown of all on-set productions, in line with wider social measures underway to attempt to blunt the spread of the pandemic.

As in any industry, not every studio complied. Some tiny porn production outfits whose members all share the same house also kept on shooting content, while complying with pandemic restrictions, by drawing on the small pool of people in their socially distanced bubbles, Freixes adds. But for the most part, the gigs that many performers relied on for part of their income, and as functional high-profile promotions for their personal brands, independent content, and live appearances at clubs, suddenly just vanished.

The FSC lifted its moratorium in mid-June and published a set of guidelines for maintaining safety on sets — but still noted that they didn’t think it is safe to start shooting with people beyond one’s bubble yet. In mid-July, the organization warned that it had learned of over a dozen individuals who had recently worked on porn sets and later tested positive for the coronavirus

[vatsayana]

Epic fail. There is only look, but where is the feel antunna @Biskot2 baa