J Michael Collins: "P2Ps Are in DECLINE"

In our chat with J. Michael Collins, he emphasizes the importance of using voiceover sites wisely and not overspending on memberships.

He highlights the significance of having a strong marketing game and reaching out to clients on a regular basis.

He also talks about the benefits of search engine optimization for visibility and attracting clients. JMC emphasizes the importance of networking and building relationships in the industry.

Finally, he provides some insights into what can be expected at VO Atlanta 2024.

interviews, AI/TTS, the vo industry, rates, marketing, conferences/conventionsPaul SchmidtJanuary 29, 2024JMCComment

GRATEFUL for AI?!? SURELY YOU MUST BE JOKING!

I've been getting a little discouraged lately about the voiceover business.

We are hearing stories of lots of people potentially being allegedly hornswoggled by a particular coach. People are making up Zoom calls with celebrities that probably didn't happen. There's La Niña and war and unrest on the world stage and I'm feeling it all heavier in a way that I probably haven't since maybe 2016.

So when that happens, one of the best strategies I've found to manage it myself is to go hard in the paint on my gratitude practice.

Consistently practicing gratitude does a world of good for my mental well-being. It boosts my overall mood, it lowers my anxiety and my depression. And it's not just about feeling good. It improves my relationships, my sleep. It's good for the immune system. Lots of good stuff there.

So, as we head into Thanksgiving week here in the States, I thought it would be a great time to remind myself and count down the top five things I'm grateful for in the voiceover business.

AI/TTS, conferences/conventions, professional development, rates, sag-aftra, the vo industryPaul SchmidtNovember 16, 2023SAG-AFTRA, GVAA, NAVA, AIComment

An Open Letter to Voices' New CEO: 7 Ways to Make Up with the VO Community

It’s November and as we stare down the barrel of the Holiday Season, it's clear that 2023 has held more change and transition for the VO business than any of us knew at the start of the year.

We’ve also seen some change and transition in the PSP platforms, especially at the largest of the VO-specific platforms, Voices, as they replaced Founder David Ciccarelli as CEO with interim CEO Jay O’Connor in October.

So today as we start wrapping our heads around 2024, I think there’s an opportunity here to begin to repair a fraught relationship between the platform and the voice over community, and so I thought I’d write an open letter to Voices and Interim CEO, Jay O’Connor.

I believe that Voices can run a healthy, profitable business, provide significant value for shareholders, and have an ethical, collaborative relationship with the voice actors who provide the services upon which Voices is built.

Here are a few steps Voices can take to start to repair our relationship and show some good will toward the voice-acting community.

A Voice Over MASS EXODUS? Will 80% of Voice Actors Be OUT?

Music Radio Creative’s Izabela Russell recently said on their channel that she sees a mass exodus happening in the voice over industry. And while Izabela’s take is stark, and blunt, it’s not new.

Do I agree with her? Yes. And no. I’ll get to that.

I agree, and I’ve said this for years, that AI will obliterate the bottom end of the industry where price is and always has been the primary driver. And I think that’s a good thing because for those of us who have taken the time and effort to get the training, build our businesses, and command pro rates, AI will take clients who don’t care about quality in the first place off the table. It will give them a better solution to their problem, and it will eliminate or at least minimize the garbage work out there for human voice actors.

And for those who haven’t taken that time and effort, I do think there is a reckoning coming.

So, what do we do? As voice actors? Push is in fact coming to shove, so what do we do when the robots can do what most voice actors can do?

AI/TTS, professional development, the vo industryPaul SchmidtOctober 26, 2023AI, ai voices, Izabela RussellComment

Is Voice Over Work DRYING UP?!? THE 6 BIG CAUSES

As I touched on in my last video, 2023 has been a slow year for voiceover. In fact, this might be the first year in the 21st century that we can honestly say that voiceover work has not… available work… has not grown year over year.

There's no hard data that I know of in the voiceover industry that shows the exact amount of available work. But I talked to a lot of people in this business and pretty much everybody agrees it's been a down year.

This has also been the year that A.I. has exploded onto the scene.

Terms like generative AI were barely on our radar a year ago and they're now part of our everyday lexicon. A year ago, A.I. Voices was a term and a concept we all knew and were aware of and knew was coming. But nobody had any idea what that was going to mean for 2023.

Now, that said, if we agree that voiceover is in a bear market then that begs the question: why?

There are six main reasons VO is slow right now and I'm going to break them down for you today.

acting, AI/TTS, business, sag-aftra, the vo industryPaul SchmidtSeptember 28, 2023AI, ai voices, strike, economy, training, covid-19Comment

Is PANIC Setting In at Voices.com? 2 Signs

I talk to a lot of people in the voiceover business. Voice actors, casting directors, producers, agents, you name it. And while not everybody's business is flat or down at any given time, think most people acknowledge that right now, the voiceover industry is going through a slow period.

Now, as I film this, we're in the back half of September of 2023, and I think most people will acknowledge that this summer particularly was slower than most summers, and it's been that way for several months.

Now, one of the facets of the business that I think is seeing maybe the most change right now are the online platforms.

And today, we're going to take a look at two specific pieces of communication that I think give a really good snapshot in time of just how desperate Voices appears.

casting sites, rates, the vo industry, AI/TTSPaul SchmidtSeptember 21, 2023voices, Voices.com, AI, ai voices Comments

The TOP 7 REAL Reasons You’re Not Booking VO Jobs

It's no secret. Actors historically are notoriously bad business people. We just are.

And statistically, we're even bad at booking work, something that we're supposed to be able to do as part of the job.

Even elite voice actors book maybe 5 to 10 out of every 100 auditions they do. And chances are you're booking way less than that. And today I'm going to teach you why.

Voquent CEO Miles Chicoine: AI's 3 Big Threats to the VO Biz

Today, a fascinating discussion with the CEO of UK-based Voquent, one of the major voiceover service providers globally about their recent stand against AI. It's an especially strong stand in the context of the ones that the other providers have taken in recent months, and we talked to Miles Chicoine today about that stance. Miles has got some amazing insights, some really interesting insights about AI and how it's affecting both the voiceover industry and the world at large. This is our chat with Voquent CEO Miles Chicoine.

AI/TTS, casting sites, rates, sag-aftra, the vo industryPaul SchmidtAugust 24, 2023ai, ai voices, voquent, miles chicoine, interviewComment

SAG-AFTRA & WGA Strikes: Fighting for HUMANITY in Art

Here, today, right now, those developing generative AI are threatening to put a lot of us out of work. In October of 2020, the World Economic Forum said that while AI would likely take away 85 million jobs globally by 2025 (and we’re more than halfway there, by the way), it would also generate 97 million new jobs in fields ranging from big data and machine learning to information security and digital marketing.

But here’s the thing: The jobs it’s taking away aren’t the same jobs it’s creating. It’s not creating jobs for creatives. It’s taking them away. Good luck quitting your job as an actor and waltzing into a machine learning job.

And for a prime example of just how this is happening, look no further than our own industry and the current SAG-AFTRA and Writer’s Guild of America strikes against the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which includes the major streaming services and Hollywood studios.

AI/TTS, creativity, sag-aftra, the vo industryPaul SchmidtAugust 17, 2023SAG-AFTRA, WGA, strike, AI, ai voicesComment

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