A Dialogue with Voice123: Can We CHANGE the P2Ps?
What if we could change how the P2Ps work? What if we could have a real dialog with the decision-makers, the policymakers, at the online casting sites? What if we could make actual recommendations directly to the people at the top of the pay-to-plays?
Now, it's one thing to give a monologue to someone in such a position as we did with David Ciccarelli of Voices in a couple of videos prior to this.
But it's another thing entirely to be able to ask questions from and make recommendations directly to the CEO of a major P2P platform.
Now, as it happens, one such opportunity is coming up. My friend and colleague Paul Strikwerda is going to be interviewing the CEO of Voice123, Rolf Veldman at VO Atlanta 2023 and in his Instagram post, Paul says this:
"I'm asking you to get involved. I want to bring you into the dialog. Let's say you had a once-in-a-lifetime chance to speak to Rolf Veldman about V123. What is the number one question you'd like to ask him? What do you think he needs to know? I'd like you to come up with practical recommendations that would make a platform such as V123 much better."
Well, as you might guess, I have a thought or two on this or subject. And so today I'm going to lay those out for Paul and Rolf here.
Now, to start, for a little bit of context. I made some recommendations to the CEO of Voices in another video. Some of those recommendations included
supporting professional accepted pro rates
complete transparency when it comes to budgets and fees
abolishing the tiered paid membership system, and
fair and reasonable terms of service.
These are just some of the principles that fair and reasonable agents abide by. And while online casting sites are not agents, the roles that they play are actually very similar as facilitators between talent and buyers. Their cut of the action is also similar, so it seems to me it only makes sense that they should abide by many of the same ethical principles that ethical agents abide by.
One such group is the VO Agent Alliance. If you want more information on the VO Agent Alliance, go to VOAgentAlliance.com. Now, if you're not aware of them, they are and I quote
"…a collective of vetted professional voiceover talent agencies from around the world operating individually, but committed as a group to the highest business standards and practices. We have taken the unprecedented step to form an alliance united in response to industry pressures from outside forces..."
Hmm. Wonder who they could be referring to there….
"...which have had a negative impact on talent, their representatives, and most importantly, those hiring voice over talent."
And what's more, the VO Agent Alliance lays out several ethical standards by which all member agencies agree to abide.
These pledges include:
Transparency
"Transparency is our priority. Leading by example means being honest, trustworthy and forthright with talent and buyers. Fair rates and working conditions are a direct outgrowth of our commitment to professionalism. We fully disclose all project information to our talent, both the entire amount budgeted for each project, and exactly how much is deducted for commissions and fees."
Integrity
"No member agency will knowingly undercut talent budgets, and we choose not to work with talent. Who would do so? Our alliance supports the growth and quality of our industry, our agencies, and our talent."
confidentiality
"All information regarding talent and buyers auditions is kept in the strictest of confidence."
And finally, ethicality
"We will always endeavor to refrain from supporting any entities that do not operate ethically."
That last one, by the way, is a good one for pro talent to abide by as well.
So, Paul and Rolf, if you're watching, I call on all pay-to-play platforms including Voice123, Voices (David, if you're watching, I'm calling on you, too) to adopt formally these four pledges as facilitators and connectors. It's your job to take care of the people who take care of the customer, namely the talent.
The question is not is there enough business or enough money out there. There's more work out there than there ever has been in the history of the human voice. The question is, how do we do business so that all of us are treated consistently fairly, both facilitators, that would be platforms and agents, talent, and buyers.
I think these pledges by the VO Agent Alliance are a solid model on which our entire industry can build.
Now, when it comes to pay-to-plays specifically, as opposed to agents, I think that the tiered membership system tilts things in the direction of better-heeled, better-resourced talent. And while I don't ever begrudge anyone money or success, that tiered system often works against newer and oftentimes younger talent.
I believe that voice over should be a meritocracy, that the chief determinant of your success should be your talent, your skill, and your professionalism, and not how much money you have in your bank account.
Now, as we know, Voices already plans to sunset the tiered membership system by sunsetting their Platinum membership in 2023. That's a huge step in the right direction and Voice123 should do the same.
Now, look, it's very easy to sit here in the comfort of this stool and spout recommendations. But I want to be clear.
I worked in software and I absolutely understand the complexity of the problem that the pay-to-plays, the online casting sites, are trying to solve. It's immensely complex and it's almost impossible to build these platforms completely free of bias. Now, for the large pay-to-plays, especially Voice123 and Voices.com, one central question that they have to solve...one central problem they have to solve... is the glut of talent.
If every job was open to every talent, then every buyer would get thousands or tens of thousands of auditions in response to each job. So there have to be filters and parameters and deadlines, and with those always come unintentional consequences and biases. And some of those unintentional consequences and biases...I'm not even sure if they're solvable, but membership tiers are solvable and avoidable, and in my view should be abolished.
As a side note, I think for too long we have taken the, as Paul Strikwerda calls, the Jerry Springer approach to a dialog with the online casting platforms. Granted both Voice123 and Voices dot com have made several unethical moves that have provoked the voiceover community. And I'm not in any way defending them from any of that.
But I do think that both Voices and Voice123 have recognized in some small way that they do need us as pro talent and they need to have a good relationship, a good working relationship with the voice-over community. And yes, I have seen some evidence that they have taken some solid steps in order to improve that relationship.
And I hope they continue to take more steps in that direction.
The four pledges I talked about earlier would be a solid foundation on which to improve the relationship between those two big platforms and the voice over community.
So Paul and Rolf, and even David, that's my contribution to the discussion.
Now, if you'd like to ask a question or make a recommendation directly to Rolf Veldman of Voice123, you can do that directly at Paul's Strikwerda's Instagram post and I'll put the link to that Instagram post here.
Also, for more information on the VO Freedom Master Plan, I'll put that link here and to get my Thursday newsletter, the Move Touch Inspire Newsletter for voice actors that comes out every week, click that link here.
Now, if you found this video valuable, if it helped you, if you think it will help other voice actors, if you think it will help us improve the dialog between the platforms and the voiceover community and give us a like, a subscribe, and bang that notification bell so you'll be the first to know when we publish a new video every week.
As always, thank you for your support and we'll see you back here soon.