Feature Articles
trends
Meet the 2024 Class of Up-and-Coming Pleasure Brands to Watch
With each new year that rolls in, new pleasure brands emerge, and 2024 is no exception. Already this year, a slew of new entrants are rapidly gaining traction and recognition via social media, among retailers and distributors — and most importantly, end consumers.
trends
What's Hot Now: Leading Content Players on Trending Genres, Monetization Strategies
The juggernaut creator economy hurtles along, fueled by ever-ascendant demand for personality-based authenticity and intimacy — yet any reports of the demise of the traditional paysite are greatly exaggerated.
trends
The Next Wave: Pleasure Industry Execs Forecast 2024
The dawn of 2024 is upon us and the adult retail biz is buzzing with anticipation, looking forward to seeing what new, innovative pleasure products, lubricants and sensual cosmetic lines will hit the market in the coming year.
trends
The Art of Performance: Top Stars Share Current Strategies for Success
While many studio performers are also creators, harnessing the booming indie content and streaming market, only a select few creators also do studio shoots.
trends
A Look at the Trends Shaping the European Pleasure Market
In today’s growing, global landscape of pleasure products, Europe stands as a vibrant and diverse market that’s constantly adapting to changing regulations while catering to ever-evolving consumer demand.
trends
Fetish in Focus: A Look at the Latest Trends Driving the BDSM Market
In the ever-evolving landscape of adult retail, few niches have experienced as profound a transformation as the world of fetish and bondage. Once relegated to dark dungeons, these kinks have now emerged into the mainstream with a bold presence.
trends
Piracy Battlefront: Content Protection Watchdogs on Evolving Threats, Solutions
Thanks to the creator economy, the rise of indie paysites and a cross-pollinating ecosystem of affiliates, studios and multibrand behemoths flooding the internet with billions of photos, videos and text messages, there has never been such a treasure trove of adult content online. But where there is treasure, there are pirates.
trends
Women in Charge: Meet the Female Honchos Shaking Up the Pleasure Biz
Pioneering female execs have broken down barriers and challenged long-standing stereotypes, paving the way for a growing wave of entrepreneurs who have continued to shake things up.
trends
Boutique Blazers: A Look at How Savvy Indie Retailers Are Navigating Latest Trends
Despite the rise of the internet, online shopping and the explosion of social media galloping across phone screens at an unprecedented pace, the centuries-old brick-and-mortar method of retail maintains its relevance by offering unique in-store experiences.
trends
Creating in Europe: How Stars Are Monetizing Their Brands Internationally
From purely amateur indie talent who have never set foot on a traditional studio set to veteran performers giving fans an especially intimate experience, content creators of every stripe are laser-focused on what sells the best for their unique fan base.
trends
A Look at the Latest Sextech, Design Trends Shaping Pleasure Products
Sextech and pleasure product design have come a long way in recent years, with innovations leading to a surge of new products on the market. As consumers become savvier about sex and pleasure, the industry has responded with a range of options to satisfy their desires and meet their demands for top quality and innovation.
trends
A Look at the Burgeoning Market for CBD Intimacy Products
In recent years, CBD has taken the health, wellness and self-care industry by storm. With its potential to alleviate the anxiety, pain and inflammation that afflict so many people.
trends
Meet the Up-and-Coming Pleasure Purveyors of 2023
Despite the COVID pandemic, the last few years have seen several new ventures emerge that are poised to disrupt the pleasure products industry with their inventions, creativeness, ingenuity, passion and gumption.
trends
The Rise of Indie Paysites
In many ways, the online adult industry can trace its genesis to indie paysites back in the 1990s and early 2000s. After all, even the big-name studios started off small before scaling up to a robust size.
trends
Pleasure Products Industry Execs Share Roadmap for New Year
As we ring in the new year, we think of where we’ve been and where we’re going. We make New Year’s resolutions and strive to become better people than we were the year before. We imagine new directions for our personal lives and new ambitions for our businesses and careers.
trends
A Look at How Kinship Drives the Pleasure Industry Forward
You might assume combining family and work is likely to cause strain on both ends, and perhaps even be detrimental to business. Yet in the pleasure industry, myriad family-owned businesses are proving otherwise.
trends
Stairway to Stardom: Top Agents Reflect on the New Talent Landscape
On August 28, 2020, several months into the most treacherous period following the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic worldwide, the adult industry woke up to the news that Jim South, the legendary head of the equally storied World Modeling agency, had passed away at 80.
trends
Adult Retail Experts Discuss Tools, Strategies for Online Success
Offering convenience, a discreet shopping experience and competitive prices, ecommerce has become many adult retail shoppers’ go-to, particularly since the pandemic when so many became reliant on it.
trends
Pleasure Purveyors Discuss Challenges, Opportunities Amid a World in Flux
Between an unrelenting global pandemic and the war in Ukraine, we are seeing a perfect storm that’s causing unprecedented inflation along with an economic crisis that many predict will continue to impact the international market for some time.
trends
2022 Legal Survey: Attorneys Weigh in on Current Outlook for Adult
In this uncertain environment, XBIZ has once again invited the best and brightest legal minds in the business to comment on which lawsuits, laws, legal novelties, regulations, practices and topics stand to impact their clients and the adult industry in the U.S. and abroad.
