VO-BB - 20 YEARS OLD!

[Deirdre]

[mcm]

Urgghh. That's di-goh-ting.



While we're on the subject, can we talk about what you say when someone says, "what do you charge?" I still haven't had a (paying) job, but I'm anticipating getting some soon and want to be prepared. I have been asked by people who have never used voice talent before (e.g. a small independent production company making heartfelt documentaries), "what are your rates" and I don't know what to say. What I have said is that it depends on the market for the film or whatever, and its duration, and the finished length of the VO parts, and sometimes intangibles [e.g., if I feel like it I'll do it for free but I'm not going to tell you that until I find out if you're a penniless artist trying to do something really neat that I'd like to be a part of]. Any advice here.

[billelder]

Deirdre,



I know it's frustrating, but this is the reality of corporate America.



It pains me to think that the same folks I hear on local radio are the same kids who were working at McDonalds the day before. If you can press this button on a computer screen, you too can be on the radio!

But, its all about money because the owners debit service is so high. They're not interested in "quality broadcasting".



Voicceover people will answer that ad. They'll do their $15 spots. But, that is not what you do. Your business model is completely different. You and others offer high quality work and service. If someone is going to hire based on price, then you probably couldn't afford to work for them anyway. The professionals that use you know the value of your great reputation and work.

[Deirdre]

Thanks for bringing up the word "reputation", Bill. It's one's most valuable asset, really--although I think Justin might argue that one's microphone comes in a close second.



It's good to be known as "a nice guy".



It pays to be good natured and available, and it pays to always ALWAYS be excellent.



Deebs



p.s. split infinitives are OK in casual writing.
_________________
DBCooperVO.com
IMDB

[jrkaiser]

Reputation is all you've got, and a mic

[Andy]

Saw that one, too. Probably on the same board. It's pathetic. But that's the game a lot of us play on Voice123 and Interactive Voices.



When I lived in the big cities I could get $400 for a :30. Now that I'm in small town Texas, I've had to swallow a lot of my pride and take the work where I can get it. It's sad when the "workin' girl" that works the back alley downtown gets a better rate for her services.

[Den]

Well, if you compare "their" rates per hour v/s "job expected", then it puts it into perspective. I'd pass.



But you know what? Is there any difference between the local dude offering $15 for a 30 on local cable TV, as opposed to someone who is smart enough to advertise (through voice123 or wherever)? If somebody has NO experience, I'd tell them to do "a spot" for the $15, just for the experience and contacts, etc. Yeah to many, this is a complete rip-off, but those who have a demo - but no work, in my opinion, should get their feet wet.

This business is NOT about making money. It's about doing it for the love, passion and 'groove' you get from being in a studio.

Too many ego folks floating around saying "well, I'd NEVER", blah, blah.

(Not to suggest you Deebs!), but we've all met them at Cattle Calls.

We all had to start somewhere, and good thing there are start-out situations. I've done imaging production work from Dauphin Manitoba (for $60 Cdn.) to Sri Lanka ($900 US). I took them both.



I don't know what my point is exactly,....but it started out good!

-den.

[audio'connell]

...which is a risky business in and of itself :wink: but aside from the ridiculously low amount of money some people post on V123, I have a question about whether those who subscribe use watermarks.



Since I joined in December, I've not closed any biz there but I've had some direct inquiries. One of them thought my watermarks were ridiculous (and because i had his contact info, he wasn't going to try and steal my production which could have been his motivation for mentioning them). He really was trying to be helpful; hell, I am open to criticism of the constructive nature.



My watermark is a series of spaced frequency tones that I play under the recordings. You can hear the spot but the watermark’s purpose it to make the spot unusable for any purpose. Since these V123 inquires come from around the globe, policing any other way could prove challenging. I have a pre-recorded disclaimer at the beginning of each recording about not using the piece for any purpose and tell them the piece is watermarked so they don't think its a technical snafu.



Legally, with said disclaimer and V123's low playback quality, I suppose I shouldn't worry about the watermark but it festers; I'm at a loss as to whether I should or shouldn't watermark.



My thinking then is..if THAT's holding me back from getting work there, THEN I can worry about being under paid. It seems more logical to be offered a job and THEN worry about the fee



Your thoughts?
_________________
- Peter
audioconnell Voice Over Talent
Your friendly, neighborhood voice over talent

[craigieb]

Peter,



I think V123 is pretty good about truncating the scripts. They are well aware of some of the unscrupulous people out there who try to steal tracks, so they rarely post complete copies of the scripts that are submitted.



I've been watermarking my demos for years, on stuff that gets submitted on my personal site. Only once have I had a client complain about it: "We can't get a good idea of what the track sounds like unless it's in complete high fidelity." Because I'm also a video editor, I know this is complete nonsense, so I refused to send them the clean track without payment. They didn't budge, and as it turned out V123 had problems with that very same client, complaining that V123's processing was making it difficult for them to make a decision. Clearly, that guy (based in Australia) was simply trying to get free VO. I say "Good riddance" to those kinds of people.



I think if you mix the watermarks in just low enough to make it unusable, and don't put a ridiculous number of them in, you aren't hurting your chances. And if you're the absolute "must-have" voice for a client, they'll either ignore the watermarks or pay you to do a spec for 'em, or whatever. It really hasn't been an issue for me, over thousands of tracks.



My $0.02.

[Andy]

Again, as you mentioned, Peter, the playbck quality is so poor, I don't worry too much about scum lifting free tracks. Plus, I never give 'em a full read. If the audition script isn't truncated, I give them a truncated read. Seems like a lot of effort to go to go to the bother of watermarking for gigs that pay less than the guy at the Golden Arches Supper Club makes. There's much about V123 I do not like. But it's not worth wasting the bandwidth.