pornochromatic

“How much money do pornstars make?” Ask 10 people and you’ll get at least 5 answers. Now that the economy’s in the toilet, I started wondering if our nation’s pornstars are feeling the pinch like the rest of us.

In a post I did a little over a year ago, I spoke to an industry insider who gave me the following rates for various types of scenes:

Blowjobs: $200-$400
Straight sex: $400-$1200
Anal sex: $900-$1500
Double Penetration: $1200-$1600
Double anal: $2000

Since the ranges of rates for boy/girl are pretty large, I got a second and third opinion just to see how accurate those numbers were. According to Asia Carrera, “New girls can get between five and six hundred for a boy/girl scene, and the rate jumps as you become a bigger star.”

Gonzo porn auteur Seymore Butts ballparks girls’ rates on his site as well:

Solo Masturbation $200-400
Girl/Girl $400-600
Girl/Girl (anal) $500-800
Boy/Girl $500-1200
Boy/Girl (anal) $700-2000
Boy/Boy/Girl (double penetration) $1000-2500
Blowjob $200-500

I think based on these numbers, I’m comfortable guessing that prior to the economic downturn, the average girl who walked off the street and into World Modeling was probably getting about $500-$600 for a boy/girl scene with no anal.

In a post on her MySpace blog 2 weeks ago, Ava Rose said:

The way the economy is right now mixed with the large amount of new girls coming into the industry girls get desperate for work and are charging as little as 700 for a bpy/girl scene. My rate for boy girl is $1500 and my girl girl is $900 but I have worked hard to get the right to charge that amount mostly because being under contract for a big company for 2 years helps make a name for you as a performer. Now i do occasionally lower my b/g rate to anywhere from $1000 to $1200 but only if I love shooting for that certain company such as Belladonna’s company and Elegant Angel

Granted, Seymore and Asia’s estimates were both made a few years ago, but I don’t think anyone would be surprised to hear that performers’ pay rates don’t go up too often. My guess is that Ava’s numbers are a bit inflated either because she was a contract girl for Adam and Eve or because she wants to keep rates as high as possible so she won’t have to start doing $700 boy/girl scenes.

The rates girls charge probably haven’t changed much (the floor is probably still about $400-500 for a b/g scene), but the number of girls getting hired is. Penny Flame more or less spelled this out in a blog post she did in February:

…there is such a surplus of girls, and the market is so over-saturated, I know brand new girls who, before this “turn of the tides” would have been fucking every day. Now, girls like Stevie Hart, who are brand spanking new, and fucking adorable, have only done 7 scenes in the past 4 months. Unless you are a big name girl, or have big ridiculous tits, or a ridiculously round ass, the chances of you getting hired enough to pay your shit are zip, nada, zero, bitches ain’t getting paid.

I wonder if the studios’ economic hardships and slowed down production schedules are going to mean a lot less product on the (virtual) shelves in a few months?