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ARE FREE GAY TUBE SITES HURTING RETAIL NUMBERS ON THE STREET?
By: Andy Powell, Staff Writer 10-20-09 - 12:00 a..m. PDT
People in the Gay Porn business have been experimenting with the so call-it "Free Gay Porn Tube" web sites to promote their products. Gays and heterosexuals can go to these sites and watch free 2 - 3 minute hardcore clips of porn without spending a dime!This is great for the gay porn surfer but horrible for the producer and their distributor.
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The scenario is for gay consumers who want porn, can watch the hardcore free trailer and then be inticed to visit the official web site of the product that they were previewing. This concept was to make gay consumers want to purchase the product after watching almost an entire scene to go to their web site and purchase the product or stream it for a fee.
The only problem is, that is not occurring. According to studio producers, when pressed, they admit that they are not seeing a return from these "free gay porn tube sites". In fact, it is hurting their bottom line because the gay porn watcher is satisfying themselves by just watching the full length scene available to them for free. There is no need for them to purchase the product.For example, starting an internet business doesn’t require much capital output compared to a typical brick and mortar business.
Forget the costly commercial space rentals, furniture, racks, monitors and employees that brick and mortar businesses require. A computer with an internet connection is all that’s needed as working capital for an internet business. (Pictured Right Velvet Video Mega Store-Hawaii)
Imagine the amount of money one can save just from that difference. This is what every new producer thinks about when they first step into this business. "It's easy, just plug in, put some pics up and buy a little bit of google traffic or, buy one of these phantom traffic packages for adult web sites, spend thousands of dollars to this and watch the money come in".
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The only problem is, it never happens that way. While having a web site is crucial to branding your products, you must take into account that you want to hit the mainstream on the street with your brand. Try not to isolate yourself because you will not get a warm welcome from retailers or distributors if you are not careful on how you present your brand to gay consumers.
When VOD web sites for example run into problems with their customers..(ie., server is not working on their title they want to watch), the VOD company will issue them a huge amount of credit to keep them happy. This again hurts you because the VOD company is not going to pay you for something that they aren't getting paid for. Again, you have the good with the bad in electronic media just as brick and mortar has the good and the bad with overstocks and defects.
Retailers as well as sales reps' from major wholesale distributors see this hurting their bottom line because they are unable to convince their retail vendors that they should stock their films. The problem is retail merchants are online watching these "free porn tube" sites and know that consumers are watching this as well.
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They would rather purchase product that isn't so easily available online for free as opposed to buying something that hundreds if not thousands of gay porn consumers have already seen.
Video on Demand is also feeling the pinch of this problem as well. VOD has been down by as much as 30% over the past two quarters. While some do better than others, the effect is still there, dollars are down, which translates into royalties being down for the producer.
The producer is getting hit by not only VOD revenue being down but by retailers not wanting to stock their product heavily do to the fact that "free gay porn tube" sites are already playing all over their networks.
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Just as the music and movie industry has done, by banning together to put an end to not only piracy but of free content all over the web with all of these "free gay porn tube sites". If you are a producer, stop and think for a moment! You have a fantastic product, excellent packaging, wonderful distribution....why tamper with that by giving web sites your content for free? It's not worth it!
Studios have to make sure to check these web sites out because you may not even know that your content is posted. While most studios do authorize their product to be posted on these web sites as long as their is a link back to them, the revenue isn't being generated as anticipated.
Keep this in mind for 2010 producers. Competition is still strong and the economy isn't back on track yet. You'll have to watch every dime in your budgets as well as where you market your brand to gay consumers.
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We hear the same rumors all the time how retail store outlets are going out of business. Retailers aren't going anywhere. The day that blockbuster, Movie Gallery/Hollywood Video, Family Video, Lion's Den superstores and many more begin to close their doors, then, that will be the time to begin thinking that brick and mortar stores are on their way out.
When the gay porn industry are allowed to tap into the mainstream in PPV as the heterosexual market has, you have to be aware of all your market outlets. The gay porn industry doesn't have the option of being offered a channel on Dish Network, or AT&T. Or better yet, how about being able to watch hardcore gay porn in hotel rooms across the country? Not yet!
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This is why it is so important to pay attention to all of your selling outlets and not try to concentrate solely on one aspect of the marketplace.
After being both here in the Editorial department and in the JRL Charts division for 4 years now, I hear the complaints from retailers nationwide 5 days a week on this issue. Make sure to not only concentrate on electronic media for worldwide exposure but also be faithful to brick and mortar outlets as well. Retailers aren't going anywhere any time soon and that is something that you must understand.
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