After you read this blog post - I suggest you visit another blog I recently wrote:
http://monicafoster.blogspot.com/2010/11/theres-no-such-thing-as-free.html (scroll towards the end to read the dialog between myself and Stephen of XbizWorld industry trade magazine)
Before entering the "porn industry" world of adult entertainment, I worked primarily as a webcam girl. I made a pretty good living at it. At that time of course being a webcam model wasn't as popular as an "adult industry career option" as it is currently (which I'm sure is one factor as to why I don't make nearly the amount of money as I did in the past) and even though I understand that "webcam model consumers" (my viewers), have many more options as to where to spend their dollars, up until recently the earning potential was still pretty good and fair.
Then websites such as www.MyFreeCams.com came along....
Now in the past, regardless of what webcam network you worked on, you essentially still could "set your own price" per minute as to how much money you were comfortable with making in a partial nude or nude live webcam session. Yes a few webcam networks (and now most) offered a free chat option for both members and guests but you were required to stay clothed (and often times you could opt out of the free chat).
The network you work through (if you chose to work through a network - a person always has to option to work independently, though you run a high risk of chargebacks and of course have far less "traffic") takes a fairly high percentage (usually around half - sometimes more, othertimes less) of what you earn - but it has been commonplace and expected.
With the entrance of websites like www.MyFreeCams.com into the "webcam girl marketplace" however - the way a webcam model earns money has DRAMATICALLY changed - and NOT for the BETTER (at least not for the webcam model).
Sites like www.MyFreeCams.com and others of the like have created a business model of which the power for the webcam model to "set her own price" has instead been placed into the hands of the customer (webcam model VIEWER). Rather than the model being able to restrict her partial or full nudity exclusively for private shows, she's virtually forced to perform consistently either partially or fully nude for free in hope of receiving "donations" from the viewers of her video feed.
There may be a few viewers who understand that the webcam model has to make a living, and they'll be "nice" and donate their "tokens" (money), but considering that generally there may be well over 100 viewers watching, usually less than 5% will actually "donate" money to the performer (and keep in mind the network takes half - if not more - of those donations from the model). Most viewers simply will enjoy the free show.
I understand that change in any marketplace in inevitable, however at this stage, with the www.MyFreeCams.com business model, the performer is being completely devalued, robbed and exploited.
Since realizing how websites such as www.MyFreeCams.com are virtually wiping out other webcam networks such as www.CamWorld.com and even www.CamModels.com I began to realize that this particular business model which essentially says "Have the customer pay what they FEEL like paying for a product IF they feel like paying for a product" could easily be applied to how a pornstar may be paid in the future by adult content studios.
Rather than a porn actor or actress being paid up front - lets say $700 for a basic boy-girl scene, maybe instead, the pornstar will be asked to shoot the scene, and then based on their performance in the scene, they will be paid however much the director "feels" like paying them. To take it a step further, maybe the pornstar will be asked to shoot the scene and then only receive payment based on what the audience who watches the scene FEELS the star should be paid (maybe a sort of rating system will be implemented).
This "I'll pay you what I feel like paying you AFTER I get my product" mentality could even trickle it's way into the legal and illegal prostitution market. "John's" AND pimps may come to an agreement of only paying the "provider" what they feel the encounter was worth, while the pimp receives a flat "introduction" fee regardless.
How you are paid as a porn talent in the future may wind up being the equivalent of how www.PriceLine.com was when it first launched.
Far fetched? Perhaps...but maybe not.
I probably entered the porn industry at the VERY END of the average performer receiving fairly decent compensation per scene. Adult scenes shot of which pornstars used to be offered $1200, have now lowered to a rate of $500 (if that).
If there's a willing talent pool that is willing to work for little to no money, why shouldn't the adult content studios exploit that?
Well I'll tell you why they shouldn't - because even though you can "get away with something" it doesn't mean you should do it.
At this stage I hope that there is some intervention in regards to stabilizing adult industry work wages, because before too long, the quality of the product won't only go down...it will disappear.
It might be a "dog eat dog" / "predator-prey" type world out there, but on the same token if the predator over eats it's food supply to the point of extinction, eventually the predator itself will starve and die.
Remember adult content (whether it be pre-recorded or live) consumers out there: There is no such thing as "Free". Free almost always is hurting someone else, and usually is giving someone (who doesn't deserve it) a very big pay day.
In early America, slaves were forced to work for free...and look at all the trouble that was caused when they got sick of it.
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