Dear Rob:
Thank you for taking time to negotiate a new agreement with voicejockeys.com. I am not an attorney, and would have never appreciated the pitfalls of the original agreement language!

I have had very positive interactions with the voicejockey.com founder over the past two days and find him to be open and honest during our conversations. When asked if a new agreement was available, he produced a copy and even sent me the link to this VoiceOverXtra update of your negotiation ... with all the blogs I follow, I was amazed that I had not already seen your update in the first place!
I have decided to be a "jock" for now and see what comes of it.

Thanks again for your willingness to make it a better situation for all of us!
Sincerely, Mike

Outstanding, Rob! Personally, this site is not a good match for me. The rates are just not reasonable and they devalue the time, effort, expertise, talent, and importance of the VO's role in any recorded presentation -- for entertainment or advertising.

But, I'm grateful to you that you've made such huge strides here, ensuring that talents who do work for them don't get into an abusive contract!

Hi Rob,
I would like to echo the sentiments of others here and applaud you for the outstanding service you have provided the voice over community.

It could have been easy just to look the other way and decide that this website was not for you, however you took them on and as a result, created another option for VO artists to find work. True, it may not be for everyone, but it is an option for all. Thanks again!

Joseph
www.jandradevox.com

I am not a "desperate talent" (frankly I am desperate for downtime), but I have decided to give them a chance. Since it is free to join, I signed up today. I am more interested in seeing how this operation conducts business more so then trying to make a buck here and there. I will give it six months and see what happens. However, I never would have considered it if Robert had not intervened. Thanks for your time and expertise, Robert!

Look what I just came across on the web, posted by an influential buyer. The problem is not so much "voicejockeys" as it is those who want to ride such a cheap horse.

Here's the post:

"Voice Talent for the Web - For the past 12+ years we have worked with Digital Waterworx for our audio and Message On-Hold needs …. Dave and his team are simply the best! It doesn’t matter if we need a script created, a jingle, audio for the web or a video … Digital Waterworx delivers!!

"This week I came across a great, inexpensive, resource for voice over talent – VoiceJockeys.com …. as you may know we are working on the launch of the official Michael Jackson bobblehead and creating a TV spot with Creative Taco … .Digital Waterworx is doing some work and we also tested out VoiceJockeys.com, their pricing is extremely reasonable check them out …. we were very happy with the :15 second voice over we paid $45 for!"

@AndrewHazen

This entry was posted on Thursday, May 27th, 2010 at 9:24 pm and is filed under Internet Marketing, Social Media. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

One Response to “Voice Talent for the Web”

Duane says on May 28th, 2010 at 4:36 am :

"Andrew, I think voice over is realy big and expanding on the net. We also started jumping on this and worked a deal with one of the U.S. famous voices and he is recognized worldwide.

"If you are interested in a top quality voice with recognition for an outrages good offer send me a message.

"The voice which I am talking about is the Mastervoice of all the big Tennis championships like the “U.S Open”. He is the voice you here in the Stadium on TV and Radio. He also does all the “USTA spots” and much more.

"This is about as good as you can get when it comes to voice over with great recognition.

"Like I mentioned If you have a client that wants top notch for a good price, give me a shout. I’ll be happy to help out."

I just ran across this quote today by Tom Brokaw, and I thought of you, Rob. "It's easy to make a buck. It's a lot tougher to make a difference."

Thanks for dedicating your time and expertise to help make a difference for the VO talents in regards to Voice Jockeys. You've opened dialogue, and begun a process that has already yielded some positive results.

Naturally, the larger discussion of rate variables will be an important deciding factor for VO talents willing to work for this company.

Thanks, Rob and John, for sharing this update.

First, I am so new to VO you can smell it, however, in reading the first article that you posted exposing the VO talent contract of VoiceJockeys, I was taken aback that such a contract could even exist in today’s VO market, but I guess if you're not in a union it's the wild wild west.

There were so many landmines in the contract it was unbelievable that anyone would sign up with them, or still will. I mean, 50% commissions, free ads, the VO talent could be sued, dragged into court, and the beatings went on. Well, you don't have to be a VO pro to see the red flags.

Although I am a newbie, I strongly believe that accepting work under conditions that lowers the value and standards of any business is not good practice. Also, being a newb, I want to work to have fun, be great, AND be paid a respectable fee commensurate with the time, effort, experience, and talent that I have worked hard to develop. I mean what’s next SweatShopForVOTalent.com!

Point being, that all VO talent out there needs to think about how low they will go just to get the work, as it affects everyone in the business by demeaning the craft, AND they are selling themselves short in the process.

Thanks again Robert; your efforts are appreciated even at my newb level.

The Dutch term for attorney is “advocaat,” which literally means “advocate”. Thanks for being an advocate for voice-over talent, Rob! Hopefully, you’re not betting on a losing horse…

I’m glad to hear that VoiceJockeys seems to be responsive. Now they should go beyond damage control and reputation management to repair their tarnished image.

There are a few things VoiceJockeys can and should consider:

1. Reach out to the voice-over community and be open and accountable. Don’t leave it up to an attorney to bring us up to date on the latest developments. Posting changes on a website that most people who’ve read the previous articles won’t visit, is not enough.

You messed up. You should own up, and you should live up to your promises and do whatever you can to earn our respect, our trust and our money. Start by stepping on to the stage and take ownership.

Realize that you have a long way to go, and that you really need to give talent compelling reasons as to why they should become one of your jockeys. You’re not the only game in town!

Unlike jockeys, we don’t want to starve ourselves to stay lightweight and win a race. That’s why you have to:

2. Offer first-class jobs at rates above what we tend to find on voice-over casting sites; otherwise you’ll just end up being one of many Pay to Plays, fighting for a share of a saturated and weak market;

3. Implement rigorous quality control that filters out non-professional talent; this would be a service to clients and voice-over pros alike;

4. Prove to us that you truly value talent. Treat people the way you expect to be treated. If your talent does well, you will do well.

Bravo! Thank you for taking the time, for watching our backs and for embracing the odious task of jousting with radio towers. To have the astuteness to not only recognize the problem but to also have the fortitude to offer solutions and the generosity to participate in the reformation process ON YOUR OWN TIME makes you “Aces” in my book. Once they get that fee situation taken care of, I may give them another look.
MarcusWeemsVoiceOvers.com

When I first heard of this site and the requirements that the admins were making, I thought it would never work. Now, thanks to Rob, the site has removed several painful roadblocks that may have prevented it from being a successful business. There are a number of talent sites offering opportunities to anyone who wants to pay. Perhaps a little competition will filter out those which are more in it for themselves and less so for the talent. Time will tell. Thanks, Rob!

well done, rob.

a classic (and too rare) example of someone doing more than just sitting back and griping about unfairness, but actually doing something to make a change for the better.

rg

I'm glad to see they've been willing to give on so many issues. I can't believe they actually had that contract to begin with. Honestly, for now, I'll pass ... the huge commissions, and extremely low pay will only bring them desperate talent who can't work elsewhere ... but this is a start! Thanks for representing talent, Rob!