Auditions used by clients as the job?

Patty Mattson

How many of you are concerned that these clients are using our auditions as jobs even when watermarked? I have several big agents and I consistently get work from them and consistently get work on my own but very little comes through this application despite doing every single audition that has ever landed in my mailbox. I am a pro who has been in the studio working for over 20 years and that, coupled with all the jobs I do get provides me the confidence that my performance is not the issue. Do any of you think it is the number of people using the system, like there are just so many people auditioning the odds are smaller or do you think it is also people using auditions for jobs?

Voice123.com what steps are being taken by you folks to assure our demo's are not used by the clients? Also what is the percentage of client jobs listed that clients select a talent from the system v/s ones where they never select one after having gotten a ton of auditions? this would be good to know.

I also find it interesting on the blog about what is a good standard charge not one person was willing to list what they are f they are sticking to Voice.123com's list of fee's or not. charging, iIt would certainly help everyone if we all stuck by a general standard, however unless we are all willing to work together to support one another in this endeavor it won't help.
Thanks and everyone break a lip!

Rosko Lewis · Posted: Tue Oct 31, 2006, 13:13 (GMT) Post subject:

I agree. Statistics would be good regarding this service to show if it really warrants the subscription. Voice 123 is a profit making company and would clearly welcome as many subscribers as possible. This will eventually saturate what was probably a very good service for the pro/semi pro VO's with anyone with a mic at hoime who fancies their chances.
There is a service out there called iStock which is a service where people can upload their photographs and people can purchase them online. However iStock looks at every application before taking the "photographer" on board, they check out three of his or hers photo's as well as making them take a little test. Clearly a test wouldnt be appropriate but maybe a casting eye over the demo's to ensure not just the quality of sound, but the standard of voice over... Wayarekkon?

Freddie Molina · Posted: Tue Oct 31, 2006, 18:57 (GMT) Post subject:

Hello Patty and Rosko,

We totally understand your concern regarding the possible unauthorized use of recordings and amount of talents replying to a lead.

The good news is that Voice123 is doing quite a few upgrades on to the site and its tools. As an example of these changes we can mention the ¨Voice123 SmartCast¨, a tool designed thinking on delivering a better quality of auditions to clients as well as having less talents replying to single lead.
This will be accomplished by using an upgraded filtering tool that will select the best talents to audition for the specific posting; also clients will be able to choose how many talents they want to listen.

We’ll soon see this upgrade.

Regarding the unauthorized use of recordings there’s two things we can recommend, one is to watermark all your demos, also to never read the complete script for a client, it helps.

Voice123 is looking in to the possibility of having the system place watermarks on the uploaded demos, this still under the development stage and might take a while.

Here’s a link to one forum regarding this topic:

http://voiceoversavvy.com/viewtopic.php?t=24

James Ace · Posted: Wed Nov 01, 2006, 07:54 (GMT) Post subject:

Hello all,

One of the little tricks I have used to keep auditions from being used by clients is to record them at low quality. I've used a crappy little $20 mic that I plug into my computer at home for several auditions and just mentioned at the beginning that it was recorded at low quality for audition purposes only. I've never had any trouble getting responses from these auditions either. I obviously make it clear that the finished product would be done in-studio at high quality to eliminate any worries. It's served me well so far, so that might be something to consider. Watermarks are also pretty easy to add if you're using software like Adobe Audition too.

As far as the SmartCast goes, I do think it sounds like a great idea. I just wonder what the screening process would be for selecting the best talents for a specific posting. Being a new talent I just worry that this may make it harder for people like me to generate more of a client base if I don't have as many clients under my belt already going in. Any thoughts?

- James Ace
http://jamesace.voice123.com

Freddie Molina · Posted: Wed Nov 01, 2006, 14:25 (GMT) Post subject:

Hello again,

Nikki Saco · Posted: Wed Nov 01, 2006, 19:56 (GMT) Post subject: SmartCast and Watermarking

For auditions, I fade out words and fade at the end on longer clips; downsampling alone doesn't work with stuff that may be put on the web, which tends to get downsampled anyway for streaming. I don't think I'd want Voice123 to automatically add a watermark because as a talent I'd want to control where that appears. There may be portions of the script I'm really keen on the client hearing.

As for SmartCast, I have my concerns that it will exclude people who've paid a good fee to subscribe to this service. I'm sorry if some people don't like the competition or some clients feel overwhelmed. Competition is good for both sides. It makes the talent better and gives clients pricing and talent that might otherwise be excluded. I'm not really worried about the clients anyway. One of them already told me he generally only reviews the first 20 responses, although I think I got lucky that day because I'm generally not that fast. Anyway, that's their prerogative.

We're all paying customers. I'm glad I joined before SmartCast was put in place because it's given me an opportunity to audition for a lot of stuff and see how fast I can whip out some quality clips. That's excellent experience for old or new talent. I've gotten what I consider a lot of work from Voice123, 10 projects out of about 270 auditions since I subscribed on 9/5/06 (I joined in August). I don't know how that compares to others but frankly I was skeptical I'd get any work since there are a lot of good voices to choose from.

I don't know what rate sheet Patty was referring to. I don't remember seeing one posted by Voice123. I may underbid because I'm trying to develop a client base since I've been away from VO work for a long time and am just now getting back to it. Just the same, I don't give it away either (except for a couple jobs for non-profit charitable organizations).

I have to say though, I think it's great that "anyone with a mic at home" has a place where they can go to break into the VO business and to exploit local markets and non-advertising jobs. And regardless of what market you want to work in, being able to audition is a huge part of the training, whether you're trying to improve your delivery or just learning the capabilities of new sound equipment.

For my part, I'm not looking forward to SmartCast; as it is, I've only seen a handful of leads this week. But I'm still pretty impressed with Voice123 and what it's trying to accomplish. I'm sure there will be a lot of tweaking with SmartCast and the general operation of the marketplace, and that ultimately there will be a way to balance things out to everyone's satisfaction.

Freddie Molina · Posted: Wed Nov 01, 2006, 20:12 (GMT) Post subject:

Really appreciate your comments Nikki. Thank you 3 mal grin

All of these upgrades are only going to bring better things for all of us.

Julie Williams

Hi Everyone,

I don't worry about people using my auditions. When I do voice a custom audition (usuallyI don't) I change the copy. Change names, phone numbers, etc.
I think if you use low quality on the audition, the client will think that your studio is low quality... so I wouldn't recommend that.

As for Smart Cast...I agree totally with Nikki,

I'm very skeptical. I get so much work from voice123. I don't want any system determining what I can or can 't audition for. I can do that myself. If they want someone to speak Russian, I delete. If they need a madonna impersonator, I delete it. But I can do so many things... and I'm getting hired on auditions that have more than 200 people submitting.
I'd hate to lose out on opportunities because I don't have the right keyword in my profile. And if we all had the same keywords, what's the point? If you limit the number of keywords we can choose, you are limiting the number of auditions that we are suited for that we can submit ourselves on.

I think this is a great site as is. I did make a couple of suggestions on another forum, based on somethings another site does, but Voice123 is a great resource for VO talent. (Of course, I've referred so many people to it... I wish you gave referral fees!!!!!)

I am happy that I can submit myself for so many jobs. And I'm happy that I do so much work through this site! That's what I'm paying for. I don't want to be eliminated from consideration for VO jobs just because some talent are afraid of competition.

And if clients want the right voice, they should be happy they're getting so many responses. Perhaps informing them about the volume they should expect would help.

I signed up to expand my prospect base... not to limit it...and I fear that Smart Cast will limit it.

I also agree with Nikki that it's awesome that newbies can try to get into VO here too. Agents won't take them. Yet some really have potential. One of my voiceover students came to me with no experience. Now she works on Discovery Channel, and DIY!

(By the way, Nikki... 10 jobs since you started v123 is awesome!!!! Good job)

I don't mean to complain, Fred... but I really fear that SmartCast won't be a benefit to talent. It may minimize the huge volume of responses that clients receive, but clients aren't paying you, are they? We are... because we want to be heard.

Thanks for letting me sound off!

Julie Williams
www.voice-overs.com
julie@voice-overs.com

Nikki Saco · Posted: Sun Nov 05, 2006, 20:35 (GMT) Post subject: V123 Leads Conversion

Thanks Julie, I can see now I've been very lucky so that's why I'm turning my attention to marketing.

Regardless of my concerns though, I'm sincerely confident that V123 will tweak SmartCast (as we beta test it) for the benefit of the talent while still keeping the marketplace attractive to clients to encourage more job postings. It's all about balance. Right?

(image courtesy of the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm (http://www.nada.kth.se/)

Freddie Molina · Posted: Sun Nov 05, 2006, 22:18 (GMT) Post subject:

Hello again,

Louis Tristan

It was a concern of mine but then majorty of Voice123ers are complaining about the quality of the upload demo.

So I doubt the client is running off with the uploaded demo aduition.

Paxton Greene · Posted: Mon Nov 06, 2006, 19:38 (GMT) Post subject:

I agree with Louis. Not too concerned about a client using an audition that I submitted, and as mentioned above there are ways you can protect your read if you are concerned.

Pax

Julie Williams · Posted: Mon Nov 06, 2006, 21:17 (GMT) Post subject: To NIkki

Nikki,
I LOVE that picture! Do you use it for your CDs?
It would be great with a slogan like
Out of this World voiceovers or something like that.

GOd Bless!
Julie Williams
www.voice-overs.com
julie@voice-overs.com

Louis Tristan · Posted: Mon Nov 06, 2006, 21:25 (GMT) Post subject: Re: To NIkki

It is isn't it...Kind makes you wanna go out and buy a telescope so you can see the ring of Saturn.

Anyone ever see the rings of Saturn?

http://www.telescopes.net/

Noel Gibilaro · Posted: Tue Nov 07, 2006, 04:30 (GMT) Post subject: Watermarks

It's been discussed here to some degree. I've recently made my own watermark that consists simply of my own voice overdubbed singing in thirds the word "demo." But spacing, placing, and damping it take time. I did one demo today that only had 17 talents answered when I opened it and 100 talents answered by the time I submitted it. Yeh I'm sure that one will get heard....so happy to have 'perfected and protected' it.

I do like the idea of V123 adding a house watermark to all demos automatically so that nobody gets it for free. That was a period at the end of that last sentence.

It will filter out any 'client' that wants a quality VO for free. Now that's a filter.

NoelG