Struggling Porn Industry No Longer Recession-Proof

Previous recessions have been kind to pornographers, but this one has been a knee to the industry’s groin, the Economist reports. Revenues have plummeted by up to 50%—from $6 billion in 2007, by one estimate—performers are being forced to lower prices, and production has been nearly cut in half. “Last year, I did a scene a week,” says veteran Nina Hartley. “This year, I do a scene a month.” She won’t slash her $1,200 fee for a “straight boy-girl” scene, but others have relented.

A young actress who might have charged $1,000 before the recession now might receive $800. The situation is worse for men, who once averaged $500; now figure $300. Factor in the slump among support staff—sound-tech, catering, and (yes) wardrobe, for instance—and the pre-recession pains of piracy and free Internet clips, and you have an industry that is reeling. Pornography, Harley says, has become “like potato chips: Everywhere and cheap, to be consumed and tossed.”