VO-BB - 20 YEARS OLD!

Steve Knight · Posted: Wed Feb 20, 2013 9:27 am Post subject: Voice-zam

It's a media player designed exclusively for voiceoverists

www.voicezam.com

Anyone here using it?

It looks nice, it seems easy to use, but 19.95 per MONTH seems a bit too pricey for me

Jeffrey Kafer · Posted: Wed Feb 20, 2013 9:45 am Post subject:

They were all over Faffcon. Agents loved it because they were able to isolate parts of your demo (such as hard sell, soft sell, etc). I think Bob Souer uses it.

I had a free trial, but I let it lapse. The monthly fee was ridiculous for what amounts to a web player.
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Steve Knight · Posted: Wed Feb 20, 2013 11:39 am Post subject:

Exactly how I feel..for $19.95 a month, they'd better be giving me job leads..damn shame too, because it's a nice looking player..

Bish · Posted: Wed Feb 20, 2013 12:40 pm Post subject:

I have looked at VoiceZam quite closely. The stats are useful, but that's an additional $5 per month bringing it up to $25... or to put it more witheringly... $300 per year!

It is a nice product and has some good value-add over a regular demo... but the price is a major barrier to entry. $10 per month for the full package and it might be a good idea... and will probably get at least 5x the uptake. Most people I have spoken to are baulking at the price.
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imaginator · Posted: Wed Feb 20, 2013 12:59 pm Post subject:

...am about to give it a try, thanks in large part to a generous faffcon discount period. if i can determine it helps more people hear more of my work and gets me more jobs, i'll stay with it.

still in the testing phase right now as a new HTML5-built website is being put together.
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Lance Blair · M&M Joined: 03 Jun 2007 Posts: 2281 Location: Atlanta

Oooh, I like that. I'm dissapointed that the HTML5 Soundcloud Player doesn't really work on mobile, from what I've seen. This would be nice.

Hmmm...I'm about to let one of my P2P subscriptions lapse, which would be the price of this, and more useful.

It's an investment!
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Lee Gordon · Posted: Wed Feb 20, 2013 2:43 pm Post subject:

From what I saw at Faffcon it seemed pretty cool, but I have a quite a few other items ahead of it on the list of things that have their tentacles out in search of my money.
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Mandy Nelson · Posted: Wed Feb 20, 2013 2:52 pm Post subject:

Well, interesting that you have to qualify for an account. Just interesting.
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Steve Knight · Posted: Wed Feb 20, 2013 3:47 pm Post subject:

Saw that too Mandy,..it's as if they're saying "We need to decide if you're worthy of our exorbitant prices.....Nice product, poorly priced..

FYI, the players I'm using on my site aren't nearly as expensive, and are Html5 friendly...I just wish they come up with some better skins

www.podsnack.com

Diane Maggipinto · Posted: Thu Feb 21, 2013 10:00 am Post subject:

hmmmm, that qualification thing is ... weird.

chris mezzolesta sang its praises recently on fb. maybe he'll chime in here.
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bobsouer · Posted: Thu Feb 21, 2013 9:42 pm Post subject:

I'm using it. I love it. And it's able to be skinned to match one's site without a lot of fuss and bother. From my point of view, it's money well spent on a service that provides me with exactly what I want in an audio player for my site. Yes, there are cheaper solutions; but I am not interested in the "cheapest" solution to every problem.

But then, my clients can't be either; because I'm not the cheapest option for voiceovers. However, each client gets exactly what they want, when they want and in the format they want, every time.
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ChrisMezzolesta · Posted: Mon Feb 25, 2013 8:02 pm Post subject:

I don't mind having to be qualified, we have to be qualified to go to Faffcon and I don't see anyone bitching about that. Laugh

As I have mentioned on the Faffcon FB group, there's been email blast after email blast after email blast. Nuthin. Added the link to the player (containing 6 demos) in the email with the same other info. One was a link right to my website that contains the embedded player, and I also put a link in my email sig that opens the player in a web browser window. Suddenly I am getting emails back from people asking for rates, asking for demos, putting me on studio rosters. This did NOT happen prior. Same qualifications offered in the emails. The only variable I could identify was having the player functionality.

And having the statistics is no small matter. In fact, I noticed that at first, people were starting to play my commercial demo and leaving (started with a jazz rap thing for a lottery) - which may not have been the strongest opener. I switched that with the second spot (a suburban dad read) and from that point those coming to listen were not only staying thru the whole demo but clicking to other demos. So it's definitely not just another player. It's making it as easy as possible for someone to listen, or making it hard for them NOT to listen, putting it right in front of them. Sure I had players on my site, one for each demo. Not much use if nobody is listening. All I know is that I had a major uptick since including the links to the player. I'd much rather pay for that and have some control over how I put myself out there rather than pay a P2P and keep on submitting auditions into the black hole.

Naturally, YMMV. For me, it's a groove. Smile

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jerrysvoice · Posted: Fri Mar 01, 2013 3:47 am Post subject: Let me chime in here too...

I agree with Chris and Bob. VoiceZam is not just a player. It's a complete system to manage your demos and the individual tracks. It's a tool for sending those demos to prospects, then tracking with info on when they were played, for how long and who played. It best feature is its ability to get past that 10-second hurdle. We all know that many prospects may or may not get past the first ten seconds of a demo or read. We know this to be the case with auditions. VoiceZam allows the listener to be the "car radio button pusher." And one other thing. It allows the prospect to download your complete demo or an individual track, and reports to you when the download takes place. So, if you send a prospect a ZamLink (special coded link) and that person listens to your demo, then downloads it. You will know this. If used correctly VoiceZam can bet your single best marketing tool. Is that worth the monthly charge? It is in my book. I don't look at VoiceZam as a demo player. I look at it as my #1 marketing tool. By the way, watch the video Dave Courvoisier did with Bob Merkel. It's very good.
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agettig · Posted: Fri Mar 01, 2013 7:59 am Post subject:

Here's another vote for VoiceZam. Bob, Chris, Jerry said it well, so scroll back and re-read that. Smile

To each his own, but for me, it's a tool that has proven itself very well.

heyguido · Posted: Fri Mar 01, 2013 8:40 am Post subject:

Spent a fair amount of time, both at FaffCon and afterward, tolking with Bob Merkel about both his product (software/player) and his service (tracking and analytics). I like them both... and I genuinely like Bob. Nice, sincere guy.... and a genuinely good soul, near as I can tell.

My problem, and the reason I haven't bitten the dangled hook,,, the business model. I'm happy to buy software when it's good (and it is), but I'm not a fan of the subscription model. And, as a geek with one foot in the software/startup world, I can count on one hand the number of successful subscription-based businesses I've worked with. Very few make it that way.

I like Bob, and I wish him well with this. It's a cool product, and worthy of your investigation. I just think he needs to look at the return on his business model, and consider whether he might not be better off with another way to sell it.... How many of you would buy it if you could own it, not lease it?
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