Adult entertainment DVD sales and rentals dropped for the first time to $3.6 billion in 2006 from $4.2 billion in 2005, according to industry trade magazine AVN. From the sales drop to the rise in online sales to the wide availability of Internet-accessible content, the story echoes the digital transformation of the music industry.

The decrease in the adult sector comes after many years of steady increases. Online video sales and subscriptions are now significant, $2.8 billion in 2006 vs. $2.5 billion in 2005. But growth has slowed and is far from enough to offset the DVD downturn.

The Internet is blamed for the decline, Low or no cost adult photos and videos are now easily available online. Inexpensive production, including videocameras and editing software, has allowed most any fan anywhere in the world to become a producer and share his work.

Adult content also is widely available over P2P file sharing. Over 50% of searches are said to be for adult video and photos.

Many adult consumers do not appear to be quality-conscious, accepting the comparatively low production values of amateur videos and unknown producers. While music consumers do generally seek known artists, they also have accept relatively low fidelity 128 KB/s MP3 files and the uneven quality and labeling of P2P downloads that can include bogus and infected files.