Voiceover Industry

I had an interesting epiphany the other day on the decline of commercial voiceover. After booking a big-brand commercial client through a website walk-in, I took stock of my daily rake: One fantastic commercial client and a smaller one. Three Corporate Narration jobs. One new E-Learning client and a repeat from a steady customer. One stray Telephony job. Guess what got me excited? Hint: It wasn’t the big commercial win. I’ll do a few spots for them at a fair rate, and then, like most commercial clients in today’s marketplace, they will probably move on. However, one of those three Corporates will likely become a weekly customer for the next few years. And the E-Learning client has the potential to add tens of thousands of words of narration to my invoice list each year for the foreseeable future.

A sexy new commercial client would have made my week even a few years ago. Having a chest-thumping brand to add to the client list and a sharp spot or five for your portfolio later on was always a signature score. The ego stroke is still nice, but the commercial voiceover business remains in deep flux and substantially declines.

Shifts in media consumption habits, a reflexive aversion to advertising among young people, and a technology-driven increase in the supply of quality voice actors, (most of whom are attracted to the glitz of hearing their voices on air,) have lead to a massive change in the market. Ads are now more targeted, meaning smaller audiences, generally lower budgets, and less ROI. The days of being the “voice of” for years, or even a year, are rapidly ending as commercial buyers constantly react to the latest metrics with new ad concepts. The supply of great commercial voice actors, once limited to LA and New York, is now plentiful and armed with professional  home studios that sound as good as the best storefront locations. Commercial buyers have choices, and in most cases find themselves with substantial power to dictate pay. 

If you’re waiting for my usual silver lining, you’re going to be disappointed. While I strongly suspect commercial rates have hit a floor, things aren’t going back to the good old days. As much as we fight the trend, the inevitable result of a supply/demand imbalance in favor of those on the demand side is that those on the supply side have to adapt and innovate. Commercial buyers will continue to move away from high-cost models wherever they can get away with it. Most will not compromise quality to save a buck, but they WILL look for a middle ground. The union, agents, talent managers, and casting directors are under more pressure than ever before because of this. Many of the traditional commercial VO gatekeepers, while touting their remaining high-profile clients and trying to put on a smile in public, are privately worrying about how long they will be able to keep the doors open. In recent months we have seen a slew of castings from very well-respected sources that five years ago would have been rejected out of hand for the rates offered. Multiple cut downs with little or no extra pay. Long cycles or even buyouts. Occasionally exclusivity without reasonable compensation. The writing is on the wall.

Like all market changes, this isn’t the end of the world, but rather perhaps simply the end of A world, or an era. The future of commercial is likely to be less pay but higher volume. New media means that while the audience and budgets are smaller, there is more actual content than ever before. Advertisers are becoming more clever with regard to creating content that doesn’t scare off younger consumers with hard sells. The content itself is becoming edgier, more authentic, and fun to voice.

Moreover, future-forward talent are embracing the industry’s growth sectors, like E-Learning, Corporate and Explainer Narration, Medical Narration, Political Commercial, Animation and Video Games. The non-broadcast genres listed here require highly-competent, focused, and disciplined voice actors, and the demand in these genres far outstrips the supply, which means pay is rising and talent hold the advantage in negotiations. The same applies for Political Commercial VO, while Animation continues to be a high-dollar holy grail of union work, though with more competition. Video Games, despite middling pay, are launching pads for talent brands which can lead to rapid career growth, and they are the cultural touchstones for millions of young consumers, meaning top actors may be able to garner bigger paydays for commercial work in the future if they establish themselves as influencers. 

The question is, how will you build your career? It’s easy to complain about market forces reducing what had long been one of the industry’s cash cow glamor genres to a volume-oriented hustle. However, the wiser course is to adapt and thrive in the new normal while maintaining reasonable standards, and pivoting to embrace the sectors of the industry that the next generation of top voiceover earners will arise from.

In my last article, I spoke of this as a new Golden Age of Voiceover, in which opportunity is more abundant than ever. However, that doesn’t mean that we live in an era free of dangers. Quite the opposite. Legislation from across the pond can show how voiceover licensing is handled. Our industry has learned that corporate interests would like to exert control over our work, which infringes upon our rights to license what we produce and how much we are paid. What we’ve experienced so far is the first wave of predators. These have mostly taken the form of VO-industry-centric startups that have grown to become significant players in our small little world. Some have acted nobly, some have straddled a fine line between talent interests and corporate/buyer interests, and some have gone full evil.

Yet, this is only the first wave. Our industry is vulnerable for two reasons:

1.) There is enough money at play to begin attracting interest from players outside of our little world.

2.) Technology implemented to control voiceover casting can easily be adapted to the far more lucrative world of on-camera casting.

The second wave threat to the voiceover business will be from big money interests who wish to prove they can profit off of our backs before making sure the next George Clooney can only find work on their terms through their portals. Amazon, Facebook, Google….they are coming. Billion-dollar private equity firms are coming. Heck, some of them may already be here.

How in the world do we fight back against that kind of influence?

Some are working on waking the union from its slumber on technology and prodding them to be both more inclusive and aggressive. This is a highly noble goal that should be strongly supported.

But bigger guns may still be required.

Earlier this month, the European Parliament, the Council of the EU, and the European Commission (together, these are the bodies primarily responsible for crafting legislation that applies to all European Union countries) completed an agreement on new rules to “make the copyright rules fit for the digital era in Europe and bring tangible benefits to all creative sectors, the press, researchers, educators, cultural heritage institutions, and citizens.” Once formally confirmed by the European Council and Commission, which is a formality, the law will be published in the Official Journal of the EU. The member states will have 24 months to transpose the new rules into their national legislation.

According to the European Commission’s press release (https://bit.ly/2TYRuCg), the impact of the legislation will include the following:

• Tangible benefits to all creative sectors, specifically creators and actors in the audio-visual and musical sectors, by reinforcing their position vis-à-vis platforms to have more control over the use of their content uploaded by users on these platforms and be remunerated for it.
• The principle of appropriate and proportionate remuneration for authors and performers will be laid down for the first time in European copyright law.
• Authors and performers will enjoy access to transparent information on how their works and performances are exploited by their counterparts (publishers and producers). This will make it easier for them to negotiate future contracts and receive a fairer share of the generated revenues.

Ultimately, this legislation (though primarily inspired by the difficulties faced by authors and musicians) will substantially influence how voiceover licensing is handled within European Union countries. It is likely to lead to a much more talent-friendly environment and keep that environment from being eroded by corporate greed.

Now, the United States and Canada are not Europe. Politicians, especially in the US, have historically been far more friendly to big business needs than the little guy. But the times, they are a-changin’.

As the worker’s voice becomes louder across the United States, driving political earthquakes on both sides of the aisle, politicians are likely to become far more receptive to backing legislation designed to protect artists and performers from rapacious corporate interests. On both the left and the right, cloaking oneself in the approval of everyday working Americans is the wardrobe of choice at the moment, and it is perhaps a moment that our industry should not fail to seize.

It’s one thing for us to collectively be vigilant, to organize into non-union industry guilds, and reconstitute a stronger talent union if those initiatives pan out…..but imagine how much more powerful our voices would be if they were supported by our congresspeople and senators, and by actual legislation that drew a line in the sand and said to those who would exploit us: You shall not pass!

What do you think? Does the voiceover industry have the collective strength to lobby for our rights and interests?  I have faith that we do.

A few weeks ago, I spoke about Voice123 and the issues encountered by users of the site. At that time, I approached the re-launch from a glass-half-full perspective, believing that the positive things I was being told behind the scenes by Voice123 leadership would bear out over time.

I will not defend the rollout of the new version. We may not fully grasp the technical challenges faced by the Voice123 team, the complexity of the work being done on things that, to us, seem like they should be simple fixes, or the staffing and manpower issues that this company faces. Nevertheless, as paying customers who represent the site’s sole source of revenue, I think we can all agree that Voice123 talent deserved better, both in terms of functionality and communication.

As of right now, there are still many issues that are in flux and that need to be fixed. I will address those shortly.

For the moment, however, I am pleased that I can report some good news today.

Since the rollout, I have been in constant contact with Voice123 CEO Rolf Veldman and other team members and have been feeding back all of the concerns I have seen posted online and my issues and perspectives. As you can imagine, these conversations have sometimes been heated, though cordial. Ultimately, however, promises made to me are beginning to be kept.

About Voice123 Changes

Platinum talent will be pleased to learn that as of just a few hours ago, the system for inviting Platinum talent to jobs has been restored to its previous form, in that all Platinum talent will now receive all job postings that match their profile the moment they are posted, at the same time, regardless of where Voice123’s algorithm may “rank” a given talent. While this affects only a minority of Voice123’s membership base, it represents a major promise fulfilled by management, restoring the value to a tier that elite talent is paying between five and six thousand dollars a year to be a part of. Note that this will apply only to jobs posted since the change was made today, so if you are a Platinum talent, there may still be a few stray jobs in the queue posted earlier but are only now being approved. Those will still be governed by the sorting algorithm. About 75% of the jobs I’ve been invited to in the past few hours have reflected the change, which should increase to 100% over the next day.

The watermark that Voice123 had added to auditions has been removed as of yesterday. It may be replaced with something optional or less obtrusive at some point.

Right-clicking functionality has been restored as of late last week.

There seem to be far fewer network errors and bugs, though some stray ones are still popping up.

What Still Needs Work

Naturally, these fixes have not resolved all of the issues talent has been experiencing. The biggest outstanding question is how buyers are outlining usage in their posts. I’d love to see them go to a simple and mandatory check box system, but they continue to resist this idea. However, they are planning to adjust things in the coming days and weeks to try to steer clients to give more information, which could take many forms. I’ll report back when I know more, but rest assured that I continue to hammer at this issue in every meeting, along with many other members.

Next up, in my opinion, is removing the mystery surrounding how their algorithm is sorting audition distribution for Premium subscribers. I believe we are getting through to them on this, and hope and expect that a webinar from Voice123 with precise detail of the algorithm’s principles and functionality will be forthcoming. Paying talent have the right to know how the system works. For the moment, the best advice for Premium members continues to revolve around being highly selective in your auditioning choices. Keep an eye on the Invitations tab when you click on a job, where you’ll find your rating (top ten percent, the bottom fifty percent, etc..) This is not visible to the buyers, but it will help you determine whether the way you are using the site is working or not vis-a-vis the algorithm.

The questions surrounding budgets listed as “up to” and the controversial “negotiable” toggle are being addressed. Whether these are removed or more options are added, (such as a TBD button and the ability to add text to the quote box, or even a restoration of the previous budgeting choices,) is not yet certain, but the proactive questions I’m getting suggest that this is an important action item for them based on our feedback.

General functionality issues are very much on their radar. Given the workload, I expect these will be resolved slowly but surely.

What You Can Do

Don’t stop giving them your feedback through whatever methods are available. When you run into bugs, report them. Make your voice heard.

Things are not perfect. They may not be for some time yet. But I am deeply heartened as I look out over the online casting landscape at the moment to see the voices of talent affecting change. Sites are communicating with us about the things we find important. Some of the greatest transgressors are perhaps seeing the error of their ways. New players are popping up with previously unseen frequency and committing to transparency and ethical conduct in unheard-of ways five years ago. This is because of you. Because you refuse to be silent. Because you refuse to allow our industry to be swallowed by the gig-economy maw that has consumed so many others. Because you have the courage to stand up and declare your worth. Because you have recognized that while the march of technology can’t be stopped, it can be mastered and controlled when we stand our ground. Don’t stop now. The future of this industry belongs to all of us.

It’s been a heckuva year. In addition to a growing voiceover workload, 2018 saw me involved in almost every major VO conference, hosting two EURO VO Retreats and working aggressively to further build the JMC DEMOS production brand. People could easily be forgiven for thinking that I crave big events and moments. You might be surprised to know how often I turn to my very patient wife and voice longing for the days when I was just a fairly anonymous monkey in front of a microphone. I’m supposed to be on vacation at this moment, and I’m writing a blog at 11 PM.

The truth is that what I crave is productive stimulation…..a sense of moving forward, both in my own business and for our industry at large, which faces so many worries on a daily basis. The worries drive me more than anything else, and what they drive me towards is a defiant need to showcase the other side of the VO coin: The greatness and success involved in so much of what we do and its continued attainability for anyone with the requisite talent and business sense. This drive leads me to seek out other industry forces equally committed to demonstrating that the worries, while not without merit, can be overcome.

Working in a business constantly morphed and squeezed by technology and changing client demands, where we are treated like celebrities by one buyer and gig-economy shoe gum by the next, can easily breed a healthy skepticism of anything that links VO to glitz, glamour, and razzle-dazzle. Sometimes this healthy skepticism grows into chronic cynicism, which can lead to taking a jaundiced view of sincere attempts to celebrate our business.

Here’s a news flash: Very few things that happen globally, our industry included, are purely altruistic. People create big events to make money. The best ones focus so much on creating value that the cost is a no-brainer. Galas and celebrations involve major overhead and jockeying for exposure. But they can also bring our community together to take stock of all that we have accomplished and to revel in the success of our friends (and yes, sometimes our own.) Scholarships and grants and “giving back,” whenever done publicly, has an image benefit for the organizers and contributors, to be sure……but someone still receives a life-changing opportunity. Big personalities sometimes enjoy the limelight a little too much…..but they may choose to use that platform to make things better for everyone whenever possible.

Over the past decade, our industry has been attacked by entities genuinely interested in subsidizing their own profit by abusing our good nature. There remain far too many companies and service providers out there offering mediocre products to unsuspecting new aspirants hoping to make it big. The VO sea is replete with real predators. However, the hype is sometimes justified, even if it’s a little over the top. I believe our business needs a little bit of fireworks to remind us just how lucky we are to get to do this every day. I’m proud to walk with those who put on some of the greatest shows in VO, and I hope they will continue to strut their stuff while lifting us all up. And if we pop up in your newsfeed a little more than you’d like, I beg your continued indulgence.