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RATES Getting Annoyed At Abusive Voice Seekers ... But What's Really To Blame For It? October 3, 2012  By David RadtkeVoice Actor I'm getting annoyed. Very, very annoyed. I'm getting annoyed at how some voice seekers have become almost condescending toward voice actors. The tone with which they write their job descriptions and the budgets that they post are downright insulting. Yes, I understand that many voice seekers are ignorant of the voice over world, its rates, and what voice talent have to go through to get to a level of professionalism. But gimme a break! CASE #1 - MILDLY ANNOYING A recent voice over job I saw posted on the Internet was looking for a professional, high-quality voice over to narrate a 5-minute script. Their budget? A measly $30. That's it. Their reasoning? Because the voice over would only be used as a mock-up they weren't looking to spend a lot of money. Now, while mock-up fees are not as high as the fees for regular broadcast jobs, $30 for a 5-minute narration is just too low! CASE #2 - YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING !?! This voice seeker is looking for someone to record articles that range from 300 words (about 3 minutes of narration) to 1,500 words (roughly 15 minutes of narration). The fee? $3.60 per article! You read that correctly: three dollars and sixty cents per article! The voice seeker also wants each article to be recorded and sent within 15 hours after being assigned, and reserves the right to ask for revisions - for $3.60 per article! CASE #3: TALKING DOWN FROM THEIR THRONE Have you ever seen this? "Anyone who knows what they are doing can get this job done quickly."First of all, it's insulting and condescending. And why would someone write that anyway? What's the motivation? To justify their extremely low budget by saying you can get it done fast (provided you know what you're doing)? I don't know about you, but to me, someone who is very good at their job (because of their training or experience or both) deserves to get paid well. Should I tell this to my doctor? "Because you know what you are doing, you should be able to get my operation done quickly, professionally, and at a ridiculously low price."Ack! CAST #4: THE BRIBE "Our budget is low, but if you do a good job then there may be future work for you as well."Some of my friends are freelancers in different fields (website design, graphic design, app programming, etc.) and they see exactly the same thing. And they all say that more often than not, there are no future jobs waiting in the wings for them. That "possible future work" line is just a way to get freelancers to accept low pay for quality work. Don't buy into it! I'd love to walk into a restaurant and say, "I'll only pay you a small portion of the price of my lunch. But if I like how you cook, then I'll possibly come back every day to eat lunch here."I'm sure the waitress would kindly turn me away and seat the next paying customer in line. DO YOU ACCEPT THIS? So, why does this continue to happen to voice actors? The answer is simple: Because voice talent actually take this kind of abuse and bid on (or audition for) these jobs! Yes, yes, I know. If you are just breaking into voice acting, then getting your first few jobs is hellish. But accepting this kind of behavior from voice seekers and getting paid such laughingly silly fees is just going to damage you and the voice over field as a whole. Please remember this: You teach people how to treat you by how you respond to them. If you let them treat you badly, then they'll just keep on doing it. Am I off base? Or am I right? I'm curious to know what you think. ---------------------- ABOUT DAVID
David Radtke is a voice actor,
on-screen actor, musician, writer, blogger, graphic designer, website
developer, father of two and ... give him
time and he'll add something else (but he's pretty sure two kids is his
limit). Also, he writes a highly informative VO blog, Voice Actor's Notebook. Email: contact@voiceactorsnotebook.com Blog: www.voiceactorsnotebook.com Web: www.davidsbookofvoices.com |
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Some celebrity Italian radio DJ once contacted me asking me to read a line to promote his radio program (I work mainly in Swedish), with the promise of "it will be on Italian radio"... including additional comments such as "I love Sweden," "let's be friends on Facebook"... (!!!). He assumed I would do anything to work with him. Other times, some clients give me atrocious translations expecting me to re-write it for free.
I agree with Dave Wallace, it's best to reply politely. Telling them what I can offer, what is included and what I charge. Sometimes they will actually get back to me, but even if they don't - at least they've gotten some better info.
I'm sure there will always be someone willing to read 20 mins for 20 USD but if they are any good - they will be raising their rates (only hard to raise them to a decent level so they kinda shot themselves in the leg), and if the client asking for the VO was serious to begin with, they would be looking elsewhere as well. I'd rather stick to clients who know what they want, and continue in pursuit of delivering the best job I can.
.. Then why do some people post their rates on their website? I've seen people charge 250 for 5 minutes of narration, editing, etc. That's lower than what minimum scale would pay! It actually perpetuates the problem. Let the client contact you and find out your low ball rate.
Roxanne wrote: I mean, for $4 a script it's worth it for the producer to go to Radio Shack and invest in a $5 desktop microphone and just record the darn thing themselves on the computer's built-in recording software.
...Funny. This is exactly why the voiceover industry is so crowded with "talent" now. Anybody with a laptop and a mic is a voiceover artist, and this is why the problem with low rates now exists.
It is hard when you know people have no idea what they are asking for. And then we bid the job. That feeds the beast.
Cage the beast. Don't let it out.
Lynn
I couldn't take this offer because I'm a union actor (and one of the reasons I became a union actor was because I saw how quickly non-union prices were plummeting), but quite frankly, even in my non-union days I would never have taken this. It's just insulting.
On the other hand, I also try to keep in mind--like you noted--that many clients aren't familiar with the day-to-day challenges of running a VO biz. So, as a service to both myself and my industry, whenever I receive a lowball offer like this, I *do* reply to them. I reply with an email containing a polite decline, a link to my website and demos, the rate I would charge, the estimated time it would take me to complete the project, and the benefits of using my services. Just to spread awareness of what it is that we do.
One of the biggest mistakes I made early on was--when replying to a potential client--just giving my rate. BIG mistake. Being a VO talent is partially a sales job, and I quickly started booking more work when I started saying...
"This is my rate because...reason x, reason y, reason z, and the benefits of using my services are benefit x, benefit y, benefit z."
Instead of...
"This is my rate."
All this to say, get your clients to think about your challenges, and they're more likely to pay the rate you want them to!
I have to say that I did translate a few times in order to audition, but it made me feel like I was still in high school...
Clearly, some clients don't have any clue of how to work with a voice artist in a foreign language. Worse, some of them assume that we will provide translation + narration at the same price, like a package deal. :-(
We can't expect clients to respect our craft as long as we don't respect it ourselves by demanding a reasonable fee.
Any idiot can compete on price, but only pros compete on quality and added value.
The only way to weed out these people is to ignore them completely.
The worst customer who fit this abusive description I've come across paid the lowest for my services. So I think that the psychology behind paying very little can accompany poor treatment of the talent providing the service, because the service is not valued enough in the first place. And if they can get it for less, some will opt for that avenue.
I do think you need to stick to your guns and know how low you are willing to go before it's too low, as well as summon up the courage to walk away from a customer and the job if they treat you badly.
At least by reading your article I realize that these situations are not exclusive to us, Spanish Voice Over Talents.
I believe this not only happens because there are "colleagues" who accept this insulting conditions, but also because there are voice banks that o do not filter these abusive situations and they don't care at all what these abusive "potential clients" publish/demand. It's really, really sad.
Today, no matter how much money you invest in equipment, in courses, in events... you have to deal with pseudo-voice-talents who believe that just for having a decent mike, an external sound card and some knowledge of how to record themselves they have the right to compete with you, who owns a solid career... in my case for over 20 years.
But this is the way it goes. What are the options? Not to pay your annual membership on the popular website where they promote jobs for 50 bucks as if they were awesome? Or keep on paying them just in case a good job arises?
The only solution is to keep on training yourself, being the best of the best always, and not look at those who are stealing your opportunities. At least you'll find that the best potential clients can be found in the most unsuspected places... and using the most unexpected personal/marketing techniques...
All the best, always!
Simone
Tom
However, I can add a reading for the blind contact. In Cincinnati, CABVI, the Cincinnati Association of the Blind and Visually Impaired, is a wonderful resource for this city. They always need people to volunteer to read parts of the paper, magazines or other materials requested by their clients. I've been reading the Comics one day a week for a few years now and like the contribution I am making to help others. And, as Dawn mentioned, it was one of the first items to go on my resume.
Thanks for pointing it out.
The best minds, the wisest souls say that this forbidden zone is forbidden with good reason, yet every hour of every day, Voiceoverists travel there in search of riches never to be seen again.
Head towards the light where live Casting Directors, Agents, Producers, Directors and people who need Voiceoverists ... But beware, the light exposes the amateur and the inept.
Yeah, they really talked that way in the 1800's...too much Shakespeare, I suspect. And, my dad had a saying (he was an engineering consultant): "If you charge $50 an hour they view you as 'competent,' if you charge $150 an hour, they all arrive on time for the meeting and hang on your every word!"
YOU HAVE IT EXACTLY RIGHT..."If you turn cheap tricks, the bordello will go bankrupt." (I don't think anyone actually said that...but maybe.)
If no one with any talent, training or skills does this work, the result will be decent rates for professional services - and then those who want to hire someone talking into their Macbook at the kitchen table for $4 can have at 'em!
So, how do newbies get experience then? Volunteer. Simple to do. Some suggestions: Look for a reading for the blind/visually impaired organization in your area. In Canada, it's Accessible Media Inc. In the US it's (somebody help me out here?). If there's nothing like that in your area, or even if there is, AIRS-LA has volunteer reading opportunities you can do remotely.
What's your favourite charity? Most of those require VO for commercials, in-house training, messaging systems, etc. Volunteer to help them out.
Yup. You're going to be missing out on the opportunity to earn $4.00. However, the damage that is being done to VO rates and reputations is worth way more to all of us than that $4.00 could possibly be worth to you. And them are my two-cents worth!