Prostitution is the business or practice of providing sexual services to another person in return for payment. The person who receives payment for sexual services is called a prostitute or sex worker, and the person who receives such services is known by a multitude of terms. Prostitution is one of the branches of the sex industry. The legal status of prostitution varies from country to country, from being permissible but unregulated, to a punishable crime or to a regulated profession. Estimates place the annual revenue generated from the global prostitution industry to be over $100 billion. Prostitution is sometimes referred to as "the world's oldest profession".
Prostitution occurs in a variety of forms. Brothels are establishments specifically dedicated to prostitution. In escort prostitution, the act may take place at the customer's residence or hotel room (referred to as out-call), or at the escort's residence or in a hotel room rented for the occasion by the escort (called in-call). Another form is street prostitution. Sex tourism refers to travelling, typically from developed to underdeveloped nations, to engage in sexual activity with prostitutes.
The Place Pigalle is a public square located in the 9th arrondissement of Paris, between the Boulevard de Clichy and the Boulevard de Rochechouart, near Sacré-Cœur, at the foot of the Montmartre hill. The place takes its name from the sculptor, Jean-Baptiste Pigalle (1714–1785), and it is the best-known district of the Quartier Pigalle, the Pigalle neighborhood.
The square and the surrounding streets were, at the end of the nineteenth century, a neighborhood of painter's studios and literary cafés of which the most renowned was the Nouvelle Athènes (New Athens).
The Place Pigalle inspired a celebrated song by Georges Ulmer: "Un p'tit jet d'eau, une station de métro, entourée de bistrots, Pigalle ... ." ("A tiny spritz of water, a subway station, surrounded by bistros, Pigalle ... .")
"Place Pigalle" is also the title of a song written by Alex Alstone and Maurice Chevalier. It was recorded by Chevalier with orchestra (Jacques Helian, conductor) in Paris on 9 April 1946.