Treat VO Like The Business That It Is

Yesterday I read a post that was a good reminder of why the business side of voiceover is just as important as the art side. The post’s author took issue with a studio charging their client fives times the amount for VO talent than they paid the VO talent they used. The pay was also lower than GVAA rates, and there was no contract in place. The VO talent was on this studio's internal roster. Now I don't know how the poster came across this info, but I do know this situation happens all of the time in VO work. The post’s author was wondering how the studio gets away with it, so I responded. The studio gets away with it because they know there's no shortage of VO artists desperate to get on a studio roster that don’t operate like a business.

I think talent rosters are a great way for voice talent that don't have agents to find work. As long as the roster is kept by the studio completing the project (and not a third party "casting business" that's always selling VO classes) I'm all for it.

However, voice talent must not allow the studio to treat them like a 1099 worker and let them set the pay and terms of the voiceover. The studio is our client. Our voice and style is the product that we sell. WE set the price for that, preferably to GVAA standards. And we record nothing without a signed SOW and contract in place. This isn't being difficult. This is business 101.

When I started doing VO's, I also thought studios held all of the power. If they were only paying $200 for a VO that should cost $2000, that's just the way it was. But I've since learned better. There are studios that are not only fine with what I said in the previous paragraph, they expect it. They know that this is the proper way to do business.

Now instead of approaching the studio with "I'd like to be on your roster. Here's my demo," I approach them with "I'm a VO artist. I've been following you on SM and I think my services may work for your brand." Here's my URL. My demos and work process are on my homepage. My rates are competitive with GVAA." I've set the tone that I'm a business looking for a client, and not an employee looking for a job. If the studio responds with "we don't work that way" that's fine. That's one less studio to lowball me.

And to prevent any pile on, I know this isn't how it works when you go through an agent. Gentle reminder: I'm talking about vo talent that don't have agents directly marketing themselves to potential clients.