Voice123 State Of The Union Address article

[toddschick]

Hey all...

Better late than never, I always say.

Quite a while ago, Alex over there at V123 sent out his "prediction" of the future of the VO industry.

I promptly started to write an article on it for posting on my website.....and just as quickly got sidetracked. Anyway, I came across the page while updating my site and decided to finish the article and post it.

It's an old article by Alex, but regardless, a relevant subject for us all. I'm hoping that you'll take the time to read it....and perhaps we can all have something to chat about for a while.

Here's the link: Voice123 State Of The Voiceover Industry Address

Enjoy!

Kind regards,

Todd Schick

[JoeActor]

Hey Todd,

I only had a chance to glance through it, but you're a scream!

With that sense of irony, sarcasm, and rapier wit, you'd fit right in in my family...

I cease to be surprised by anything that comes from them - propaganda, platitudes, and predictions ahoy!

Joe

[bigbry]

Todd...thanks for taking the time to ROCK!!! Must be that old prairie boy in you coming out...Cheers buddy WELL DONE
Bry

[Emorgan_Voiceovers]

Now that right there is the flat out truth.

[John Bigl]

thanks for the post, Todd....

its interesting that Alex mentioned an "industrial revolution of the voice over market"... i wonder if he is at all aware of the analogy he is making.. the industrial revolution took the skills of the artisans and crafts people and put them into the de-humanizing and de-skilling atmosphere of the factory.. during that process artisans had little say about the value of their crafts because those crafts became 'work' where the value of their skills was expropriated (a nice way of saying stolen) by the factory owners.... not only was the value of their craft stolen, their freedom and dignity was shattered under the crushing weight of 'discipline' .. not the discipline they at one time used to develop their skills as artisans and communities of proud craftsmen, but the discipline of rewards and punishments.. the same disciplines that the school, the factory, and the prison have in common.... these same artisans, having to devote the majority of their day at the grinding pace of the factory, lost their voice in establishing a fair value for their art as to how it enhanced the value of a finished item b/c their art, their craft had been reduced to a chore and a task... that is why i reject the notion of converting my craft to an hourly wage... as one talent said, its hard to fathom getting paid $50 for being an important part of an effort that resulted in a couple hundred grand in sales....

i for one prefer not to have a home studio (factory) for the reasons Alex implied and Todd responded to quite well... to me the result will be having to do more lesser paying gigs in a day, thus reducing my craft to a chore... of course the deeper reason is that i've got a nasty learning block when it comes to technical stuff.. an analog brain in a digital world, if you will... this isn't a totally bad thing in the way i look at it:
back in the day the artisans and craftsmen had more control over their time and how it was spent.. this included free collaboration w/ associated arts and craft persons... i find it more fulfilling to be in a studio w/ faces i can see, and bodies i can see move as we work together to get me to do what i can to enhance the final value of a project... the body and face speak just as well as the voice... i don't think i could do that in a home studio....


i'd really like to address Voice123 more pointedly, but i can't... errr, i won't ... well, both... the reason is fear.... i'm a subscriber at present... the strict bottom line says my membership has been paid for from gigs i've managed to be talented enough for.... but, and i'm taking a chance here, the "always wronged, but never wrong" character of their customer service has a veiled coreciveness to it: say something that rubs them the wrong way and they threaten to dump you as a premium member... fear as an element of a business model, just like in a factory... isn't that sad?

[JoeActor]

Originally Posted by John Bigl

i'd really like to address Voice123 more pointedly, but i can't... errr, i won't ... well, both... the reason is fear.... i'm a subscriber at present... the strict bottom line says my membership has been paid for from gigs i've managed to be talented enough for.... but, and i'm taking a chance here, the "always wronged, but never wrong" character of their customer service has a veiled coreciveness to it: say something that rubs them the wrong way and they threaten to dump you as a premium member... fear as an element of a business model, just like in a factory... isn't that sad?

You hit the nail on the head, John.

Fear.
Fear that if you don't visit the site often enough, you'll miss an audition.
Fear that if you don't post early you won't be heard.
Fear of ratings.
Fear of bidding too high.
Fear of auditioning too much... or too little.
Fear of posting anything that might be seen as negative.
Fear of losing your "valuable" membership.
Fear of being blamed by "customer service".

It hasn't always been like that. But the institution of the rating system and SmartCast, along with an almost Jekkyl-and-Hyde like change in the customer relations has brought about the beast we know today.

But hey, that's just my opinion.

There are folks that are happy with how it is. They make money from it, and find it a useful tool... More power to 'em if that's how it is for them.

... and since Ronco, Amway, and the Quality-Home-Value-Shopping-Channel Netowrk are still around, I have every confidence that there will be enough people around to keep plugging their money into this little, er, venture.

P.T. Barnum was a Prophet,
Joe

[toddschick]

Hey guys....

Thanks so much for the thoughtful responses.....

John....I especially enjoyed your take on the whole industrial revolution thing......it actually took me back to High School and all that crap I tried to forget over the last 30 years....

Joe.....you're totally correct about Fear....there's simply too many facets of fear that stand in the way of our doing.....well......anything. Some people allow it to rule their lives, never taking any risks for fear of whatever repercussions that may come their way.

That said.....John.....I've been dissing V123 for about....oh....5 years now. By "dissing" I mean I've been quite vocal about V123 and their whole philosophy from the outset. Indeed, this article has been on my website for years now - many have read it and responded to me in kind - for "telling it like it is."

Alex's response to that article was basically:

"Thanks for the feedback. We'll do our best to make some changes."

Alex won't s*** where he eats - it's that simple. Have no fear John, say whatever you want to say....it's my guess that we'll all be better off knowing your feelings than never having known them at all.

We ALL have to stand up and say our piece....or nothing will get done....and some software developer who doesn't have a clue about what it's like to be a voice talent will continue to lay waste to our way of making a living.

OK. I gotta run and delete about 10 leads from my V123 inbox......because they all have a rate of $100 or less......

Giddyup.

TS

[jsgilbert]

Todd,
My client wanted me to see if you were available Tuesday for the Burger King National TV spot at your usual rate of $50 plus a double Whopper with Cheese.

Are we a go?

[toddschick]

Damn!

I got a conflict with McDonalds......they locked me in for $45.00 and a Happy Meal last week.....

Bummer.... :-(

[BobbyH]

Couple of things:

Todd, you are incorrect about voices.com's business model. They receive income from both the talent and the client. When a client hires a talent using the SurePay service, they must pay an escrow fee. ($25, I think.) IMO, this gives voices a huge advantage over V123 for stability in the market.

John, IMO, you are missing the boat by not having your own studio. So much professional work is going on at a moments notice and you are not even considered because of your lack of a studio. Heck, did you see the latest "Ask Joe" over at VO Universe? Cip had a session in the back of his car using a mobile internet connection and source connect for a Fox promo. A studio only allows you to perform your craft more often, not lower your rates.

B