Nothing much has changed, if you have good and exclusive content they will come.
If you have the same shit every tube site runs for free then of course there is no business.
Content was and is king !!
Just look at sites like Lesbea, iFellmyslef, Metart etc... These guys drive Maseratis and live in mansions I am sure. Can you add 50,000 members with $ 20 / month in membership fees? ... And Kink? As big as all of the listed ones put together and then some.
The next thing you need is a good geeks to run your site, the only reason I have no Maserati.... But hey A8 is not bad either....
If I had a good geeks, they as well as I, would be in Maseratis.