I just had to write this in my blog for one good reason. I was stupified! Grrrrrrrrr…. That is a word, right?
I was checking out the available auditions on Voices.com when I ran across a budgeted narrative for 100.00. Now, if you know the SurePay system of Voices.com, you know that they keep a portion of that 100.00 for themselves. Ok. That will leave the talent 90.91 for their efforts.
Ok…so why am so dismayed? Well, I usually will not bother with the 100.00 jobs if my plate is full from my regular load. Well, I had a minute to peruse the info and check out the script they wanted the voice talents to audition for. When I opened the script, it wasn’t a few paragraphs or a page for a hundred bucks….it was a 3,125 word narrative. Three-thousand and twenty-five words…for 90.91??? Are you serious? O-M-G! For you faint-at-heart mathematicians – that is almost 20 minutes of copy to be recorded, edited, converted and uploaded for 90.91 and even less if you were to be paid by PayPal which would take another 2.94 out of that!
For an average 3125 word narrative project, my rates, which are competitive, would span from a low of 20.00/min. to a high of 75.00/min. which translates to a low of 390.62 to a high of 1464.85. And this joker was lucky enough to get 20 people to respond and then one of those respondents will cut this lovely script and only be paid enough to possibly fill up their gas tank twice. (Your mileage may vary)
Who ARE these unscrupplus idiots who devalue our efforts and offer such a ridiculous rate or better yet – who are these morons willing to do it for that price? As long as there are bottom-feeders on both sides of the voice business – these rates will exist. And it’s so sad to think that some feel that this is an appropriate fee to pay or that it’s an acceptable rate to receive for that amount of work.
I don’t care if you are brand new to the biz…figure it out or ask questions or challenge things like this to see if it’s competitive. Don’t settle for a low-ball figure or you’ll be looking up to everyone for the rest of your young career. Set a standard. Or follow the advice of some of the pro’s who are always available to offer their help on about every forum out there.
And you, Mr. & Mrs. Thrifty – please ask around and find out what a good rate should be for your project. The Internet is full of information today and there’s just no good excuse for ANYONE not being able to make a judgement call on something that effects so many peoples wallets. This effects us all. Novice or pro. Clients who hire cheap labor are just like the scabs that do it out there in other industries like, clothing, construction, farming, etc… Look on the Voices.com Rates page if you don’t know what to charge or receive. OMG! This should bother EVERYONE, because it touches all of us.
(Climbing down off my soapbox)
Ahhhhh…I feel better now.