Homegrown remembers when...

[EmporerEJ]

Originally Posted by RawAlex

The easiest way to see the effects of long clip tubes sites on the business is to look at what those sites are selling. Hint: They ain't selling porn.

What they are doing is turning porn into the throwaway, the gimmie, the gimmick that gets people in the door. It isn't what they are intending to sell. They are trying to sell dating, cams, and just about any well paying scam of the month.

If their intention was to sell porn, they would do it with short clips. When they are putting up long clips, full scenes, or full scenes split over a couple of files you know that their intention isn't to sell porn.

So every time you allow a video of yours to run on one of these sites, you are teaching more people not to pay for porn (it's a freebie!) and you are degrading the value of your content and back catalog with it.

Short term, you might see some sales, but in the long run, a whole generation is learning not to pay.

Crap-

Let's dial this clock back.
This EXACT same scenario started 25 years ago.

From '85-94, I owned a chain of video stores in Central PA. We had an adult room, and that's where the profit was.

And we had new releases, and we had cheap stuff. And even today, ALL the studios sell DVDs for a $1 or less wholesale. It's called a "loss leader."
Sell the cheap stuff for next to nothing, get them in the "store," and sell them something else. Next time you walk in a drug store, explain why they are selling motor oil, and candy?

A (legitimate) tube site is just the same thing. Piracy is theft, plain and simple. But there are some awful; fuzzy licensing deals in this industry, and there is "fair use" in marketing a product. I don't know that any of that explains the current situation, but neither does anyone else. Certainly not another vendor that happens to be on the site, selling their product through the same "store front."

Personally, tube sites don't help, or hurt my business. I can understand why it worries website owners that have been selling someone else's products for years, through a nicely designed website, and making 50+% on others' work, with no value added.

Maybe it's time to take a hard look at the "membership model" websites have been doing for years? You had a great run, but the market is changing.


When I grew up TV was "Free." We had an antenna, and a rotor, and we were forced to watch 10 minutes per hour in commercials to "pay" for the content. Now, people pay upwards of $200/month for this same "free" TV model, with 20+ minutes of commercials. Who is complaining about THAT rip off?

Point being, markets change, adapt or die. But don't blame the public that wants something for free because we taught them that. You might as well shake your fist at the sun for giving you a sunburn.

(Nobody is gonna like this, but it's true)