Quote:
Originally Posted by DownInFlames
It's not so much how much they're getting it's that they're getting the money, not some sleazy (and not in the good way) producer or website owner.
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Even in its heyday porn stars weren't paid very much. There were a few big names who made lots of money. Even then, a lot of them were forced into the work by their "boyfriends". The vast majority of girls involved in porn are not, and were not, high end stars who dictated their own careers. They were typically given a surprisingly low fee flat fee for a video. Then the video production companies maintained the rights to the film in perpetuity. I know a girl who made a video in the early 2000s. She later became a mom, and was trying to get production of the video halted. She was SOL and had only been paid $3,000, which to a 20 year old in 2002 was a lot of money, but nothing compared to what it ended up costing her.
With the internet now, porn stars can make a lot of money through other means, particularly as influencers. There's also other options like onlyfans and celebrity escorting. The ability to build a brand and do it on your own terms has been vastly expanded by streaming. The actual porn videos are essentially just advertising for their own social media.
I disagree that the old video studio model was better off for the performers than the current model. A lot of the bigger stars now earn millions a year off social media, and they have a lot more control over their own careers. Whereas in the past, their careers depending on signing sleezy multi-video deals and forced performances.
OnlyFans in particular has been a massive windfall. It allows anyone with a webcam to set up a subscription service with only a 20% commission fee. The earnings are quite incredible:
https://besttoppers.com/top-earners-on-onlyfans/
Mia Khalifa, a former porn star is on that list, and earns over $6 million USD/month. Compare that to the stories of coked up and coerced "stars" from the video era.