The Economics of Camming in Romania

To anyone paying attention, it will come as no surprise that interactive webcamming is now documented as the largest growth sector of adult entertainment in the world –by leaps and bounds. Compared to DVD sales of American pornography and website subscriptions, it’s not even close.  While cammers can live and operate nearly anywhere in the world, there are a few places on the planet where they seem to thrive. Of these, Bucharest, Romania is the crown jewel, luring in eager web surfers from across North America and Western Europe around the clock. 

In Romania, the demand for models is so great that studios compete to hire and train the best available new performers, placing ads in magazines and online and offering competitive rates. Vice reported last year that the webcam industry is one of the few fields that continued to ear and grow after the recession of 2008 devastated European markets. They estimated that the sex cam industry n Romania brings in over USD 373 million every year. Experts believe that number is closer to USD 500 million, with over 5000 cam studios working with 150,000 models. And that number is only growing!

Models work six days a week in one of three shifts to ensure that there’s always someone online round-the-clock. Many studios provide training in English and how to use technology. They are equipped with high-resolution cameras, large rooms with themes, perfect lighting, and computers with high-speed internet access.

Studios put in the effort to ensure their models look and sound elegant, that they are engaging and knowledgeable, and above all else, that they are as sexy as humanly possible. Good studios make sure to provide sex toys, sexy outfits, lingerie, vibrators, heels, necklaces and other props essential to keep customers coming back. Studios collaborate with hairdressers, make-up artists, working to ensure the models are at their hottest and most self-confident. There are even reports of some opening fitness gyms and dedicated beauty salons inside their offices for their models.

In the cutthroat environment of Romanian studio camming, many models now sign lucrative contracts with studios to keep them coming back. Some offer pensions and medical coverage. These legally binding agreements are renewed every year. Under the contracts, models agree to share a percentage of their earnings with the studio, generally between 30% and 70%. With the average number of models in any given studio being fifty, the average split being 40% percent, and the average model earning around $7500 a month, studios are raking in $225,000a month or USD 2.7 million annually. 

Thousands of women work from studios dotted across the city, as well as their private residences. One such location rests right in the heart of town, ensconced between looming apartments and nondescript business buildings. Boasting over forty private rooms, Studio 20 occupies several floors. Their trained models, who brush up on their English with tutors and take psychology classes to understand fetishes, entertain members from all over the world around the clock.

Studio 20 is the biggest webcam franchise in the world. The popular company has nine branches in Romania, including one that caters to the gay market. Other Studio 20 branches locations include Cali, Columbia, Budapest, and Los Angeles. 

According to the BBC, models that work eight-hour days for Studio 20 usually earn about USD 4,500 in a month, a sum equal to almost ten times the Romanian average wage. As the model’s employer, Studio 20 earns the same amount from the model’s camming sessions. LiveJasmin is the online cam site that streams Studio 20’s content. The company also takes care of processing credit card payments from clients. For their services they take in twice what models do, around $9000 per model a month on average. 

LiveJasmin is the largest internet cam host in the world. With upwards of 40 million daily visitors and thousands of models online at any moment, it is easy to see how the web-cam industry-generated an estimated $3 billion dollars last year alone. Another massive camming operation in Romania is Best Studios.   Maria Boroghina, many of their top models are active on LiveJasmin. COO Maria insists that each of their top models earns more than $50,000 USD each month, with the studio pulling in more than $20 million USD per year.

Other studios that deserve an honorable mention include ABS studio, SmartChat, Bsmart, and Models4Models, who’ve only been around for about a year and they are completely running and operated by former models. Models4Models Founder Evelina started over 15 years ago as a model, but her passion for organizing led her to work as a general manager. She was the organizer of the Bucharest Summit, one of the most prestigious events in the industry. Evelina explains that she started Models4Models because she felt the need for a major change in the industry, time to bring the elegant feminine touch to an industry where management is often overtly masculine. 

Evelina brought with her a team of former models and experienced cam professionals to create a popular cam house that works to train models while treating women with respect and dignity. At Models4Models they consider the happiness of their performers the most important thing. With no signs of demand in the West slacking, camming is sure to be a lucrative business in Romania for many years to come!