MIAMI — Last month's XBIZ conference serves as the setting for a new Hollywood Reporter feature examining the competitive fan platform market.
In "Game of Porn: The Battle to Topple OnlyFans," former XBIZ editor Gustavo Turner explores how fan platforms are vying for market share as the industry enters a new era following the death of OnlyFans founder Leo Radvinsky.
Against that backdrop, Turner paints XBIZ Miami as a battleground of sorts where platforms compete for attention.
Creators, meanwhile, are depicted as both the audience and the prize, moving between meetings, filming content, discussing collaborations and comparing the incentives offered by competing platforms.
"OF's competitors have turned XBIZ Miami into a B2B marketplace, securing cabanas and poolside signage to make their pitch to the people the market leader has spent years taking for granted," Turner writes. "The cabanas here belong to SextPanther (and its porn-star exclusive subsidiary, Mynx), Streamate, Chaturbate and Brazzers, the latter arriving not in its capacity as a legacy pay site but to pitch a new creator-focused agency."
He goes on to describe a high-stakes contest where company reps court creators with promises of greater discoverability, gamified ranking systems and creator support, underscoring how platforms are increasingly courting loyal creators as much as loyal consumer subscribers.
Turner also captures the atmosphere surrounding the event, inviting readers into the scene at the host venue, The Goodtime Hotel.
"The sign blocking access is clear: 'The pool is closed for a private event,'" Turner continues. "Look past the sign and you, a curious civilian — that is, someone who is not part of the adult industry — trying to get a peek inside the well-guarded Miami Beach hotel, would see some of the most desired bodies online on OnlyFans and other top premium fan platforms, here very much IRL taking selfie videos, arranging content collabs (both NSFW and SFW 'for the' gram'), sharing marketing tips, catching up with industry news, and generally cavorting and schmoozing under an enormous magenta and cyan sign spelling out the name of the event organizer, the adult trade publisher XBIZ."
Turner closes out the piece with another snapshot of the event as the sun sets over the pool deck, with attendees deciding where to head next.
"Back by the XBIZ Miami pool, the sun is setting and everyone is trying to figure out where the action is," Turner concludes. "There are several options during the three days of XBIZ Miami, from a White Party at the Myst club in Miami Beach to a more exclusive, invitation-only party thrown by Brazzers to the glitzy XMAs Miami awards gala thrown by XBIZ to honor excellence in the field."
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