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voice123 new format
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Moosevoice
Club 300


Joined: 16 Nov 2012
Posts: 384
Location: Iowa

PostPosted: Fri Dec 14, 2018 3:53 pm    Post subject: voice123 new format Reply with quote

Can we just talk about how cr***y the new voice123 is now?
Ugh.
I've gotten lots of work there and it's always been pretty easy but this new incarnation is just ....blech.
No budget requirement
No usage
list goes on and on.
Here's an actual audition they posted.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/s8eovewi5mk0yg6/Male%20voice-over%20for%20fitness%20workouts.pdf?dl=0
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Bruce
Boardmeister


Joined: 06 Jun 2005
Posts: 7921
Location: Portland, OR

PostPosted: Fri Dec 14, 2018 6:05 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

V123 is a very sore subject with many successful, active voice actors so you may not get a lot of compassionate support here. However, we’re open to just about every VO topic so let’s see if you’ll get some commiseration.

B
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I'm not a Zoo, but over the years I've played one on radio/TV. .
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Philip Banks
Je Ne Sais Quoi


Joined: 20 Jun 2005
Posts: 11046
Location: Portgordon, Scotland

PostPosted: Sat Dec 15, 2018 1:37 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

There are two, right? One that is used to launder money from South American drug cartels and another that doesn't know yet how an investment bank is screwing them. They both have web sites.

In order to combat the above. The Union in the US is selling cup cakes and selling out its members, A VO organisation has set up a web site for VOs so they may get hired, a group of agents have set up a web site so that they can get auditions to forward to VO people so they may get hired, we have VO managers in LA who charge actors because the manager knows someone who may send the actor an audition, VO managers in NYC who invent auditions in order to entrap VO people into signing away their parent's IRA, high profile people in the VO business have set themselves up as experts in Coaching to combat the problem of a completely saturated market and an award winning voice is anyone able to sign a cheque (UK English) to the value of 3 times their IQ, who looks good in something off the shoulder AND does not DARE challenge the Messiah, the Madonna or any of the tithing disciples.

Be a smart voice. Set yourself apart from the people who will believe anything and believe only the evidence.
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graemespicer
Been Here Awhile


Joined: 25 Feb 2012
Posts: 243
Location: Toronto

PostPosted: Sat Dec 15, 2018 9:54 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I think that everyone here on the VO-BB appreciates the acerbic wisdom from the Sage of Portgordon. The above is probably the most pithy and insightful overview of the state of voiceover today, and it should be required reading by ... well, everyone who considers themselves a voice actor. Thank you, Philip.
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tel • (416) 716-2246
email • graeme@graemespicer.com
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Glenn Moore
Been Here Awhile


Joined: 24 Jan 2005
Posts: 240

PostPosted: Sat Dec 15, 2018 10:52 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I just cancelled my Premium membership a couple weeks ago. Not sure I will ever re-new it or not. They are now spamming me with dozens of "new projects" in my email Inbox that I can audition for ....IF...I renew my Premium membership. Since that is how they have always worked, then fair enough I suppose. I chose not to renew. I asked them to stop sending all the emails but they said they "aren't sure how yet." But, they're "working on it." Yea the new look on the website is pretty cumbersome and not a good move on their part. My opinion of course:-)
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iannyc
Been Here Awhile


Joined: 04 Oct 2016
Posts: 261
Location: Brooklyn, NYC

PostPosted: Sat Dec 15, 2018 12:10 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Are there any, more ethical p2p sites? V123 is still better than v.com right?
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Bruce
Boardmeister


Joined: 06 Jun 2005
Posts: 7921
Location: Portland, OR

PostPosted: Sat Dec 15, 2018 5:48 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Anyone who forces you to compete against hundreds of other voices for below market rates is not your friend. Pretty straight forward.



B
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Rick Riley
Flight Attendant


Joined: 12 Aug 2011
Posts: 807
Location: Portland, OR

PostPosted: Sat Dec 15, 2018 7:36 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

In answer to your question Moosevoice, yes, they’re having a lot of problems. IMO the new website was not a good move. It was a matter of fixing what wasn’t broken. Give it time. With enough people giving them feedback, mostly negative from what I hear, it will hopefully come around. You cite a bogus listing. I’m sure if they went through your files, they could cite a bogus audition. I know they could mine. Not fair in my opinion to pick the worst of something and use it as an overall example of what it is.

Which brings me to Bruce’s comment. “Anyone who forces you to compete against hundreds of other voices for below market rates is not your friend. Pretty straight forward.” I did a job through V123 just this morning. 30 second video for a church that paid $450. The church didn’t want to go through an agent, so they became their own. However, for this writing, I just glanced through a couple of the latest listings from one of my agents, Stars. A reputable agent they are and picking through a few of the latest there was a McDonalds Radio, $450. Pennzoil, internal demo use only, $500. Iridium, web use only, $400. Kinda seems like the church paid a fair rate, comparatively speaking.

Granted, there’s some great gigs that come through agents. Really great ones, but there’s a lot of the above stuff too. And do you think when you audition through agents there’s not hundreds that submit? Especially when you see the same spot come through multiple agents.

So lets be fair here. The job I did this morning came with no threats. No guns pointed at me, no ransom notes concerning my family and no one telling me I’d better sleep with one eye open if I didn’t submit an audition. I wasn’t “forced”. You can see how many auditions they’re looking for and there’s freedom of choice for you to accept or decline, so you don’t “have to” compete with hundreds of other voices.

There are many people who for one reason or another don’t want to go through agents. V123 allows them to act as their own agent. And I for one, don’t mind that. Keep in mind, when you submit to your agent, you’re playing to your agent’s ears not your client’s. Agents don’t submit all who participate. They only submit those they think could land the gig. What if they leave one out that the client would have really liked? That COULD happen. This way, the client is the agent and they get to hear each and every one and make their own decision.

My agents are great and I get great gigs through them, but I’ve been around long enough to know what a rate should be based on the venue played and the terms of use. And if one doesn’t, there’s many resources to turn to in order to educate yourself. And with that combination, I’ve built a large client list that comes back to me again and again and again, without me having to audition, because they’ve used me before and know what I can deliver.

So every cog in the voiceover wheel has their place and I for one don’t think it’s fair at their mere mention to have them become the voiceoverist’s pinata, as P2P’s have seemed to become.
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Philip Banks
Je Ne Sais Quoi


Joined: 20 Jun 2005
Posts: 11046
Location: Portgordon, Scotland

PostPosted: Sun Dec 16, 2018 1:15 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Taylor and Troy work at the local PFFFFFFFFt Store, same shifts. It's one of those stores in which staff are expected to do what needs to be done, pays $11.75 per hour. Both are young and smart, love TV and movies. For fun they do sketches, improvised. The customers laugh, they laugh, it makes the day go by.

Earl who is 127 years old and weighs 682 lbs shops regularly at PFFFFFFFFt.

"You guys oughta be on TV or the radio, do cartoons, commercials!" he chuckles.

"Beer and pizza, my place tonight?" Troy asks Taylor

"Sure ! Why don't we plan our route to Hollywood stardom?"

"Awesome!" Both high five.

FFWD 12 months.

Improvised VO booth in Taylor's closet. Both are signed up to all 12,000 web sites offering VO work. On a good month, between them, there's an extra $400 to spend, thanks to this voice talking thing.

Now it's one apartment. Happy together. First child on the way.

These kids made it happen. They will blunder about making a few dollars here and a few dollars there voice overing plus the PFFFFFFFFt money.

They are not part of the Voice Over Community. They did not come here for a one shot post in the Critique section only to be patronised to within an inch of their lives. So wrapped up in each other, the eager anticipation of a child and their delightful lives they couldn't care less what less Philip Banks thinks AND nor should they.

This job, NOT profession, you can either do it or you can't. I'm lucky enough to have fooled sufficient people of my mediocrity that I pay the bills.

Best radio promo I've heard recently? BBC Radio 4. Trail for a documentary about Apollo 8. Delivery, perfect. Sound, delightful. Polished to a shine.

Will you find the person supplying the voice anywhere in the voice over community? No.

Helen simply does stuff. I couldn't take her job but she sure as hell could take mine!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helen_Sharman

As the Christmas celebrations approach, or your particular choice of festival, enjoy the time with your nearest and dearest. 2019? May it be for all of you the stuff of dreams come true.

Bon chance mes amis. Salut!
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Bish
3.5 kHz


Joined: 22 Nov 2009
Posts: 3738
Location: Lost in the cultural wasteland of Long Island

PostPosted: Sun Dec 16, 2018 5:16 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Once again, Philip manages to nail the state of the industry. I have many issues with people who make money from VOs rather than from doing VO. Many are legitimate and can actually help those who have decided that they need help from someone. Others are cynical predators who see it as the fastest route between a VO's wallet and their own bank account and offer nothing but aphorisms, platitudes, and recycled "wisdom". Determining which is which is probably the hardest job for anyone who is actively looking for the magic pill that will jump-start their career... or take it to "the next level". Unfortunately, we're all so embedded in the "wonderful community" that we're reluctant to actually call anyone out and name names (except for particularly egregious examples). Social media is partly (although not completely) to blame.

As far as Voice123 is concerned...
I dropped them some time ago. They had been promising a new website and operating principles since the VDC controversy broke. Personally, I didn't think they needed to do anything and it was all a bit of bandwagon jumping. They operated on the matchmaking principle with no insertion of themselves in the process. I accept that many found SmartCast a pain, but overall, I just put it down to people wanting to complain because they could... and social media provided a platform. So... more than a year after their announcement, they fixed it... in fact they fixed it so much that they managed to break it completely. It's difficult to judge whether or not it's an improvement because they rushed the alpha (not even beta) version to market. This whole thing would have been a total non-event to me (as I no longer subscribe) but I now get audition notifications which I don't want... and it's somewhat impossible to ignore it as social media is flooded with people complaining. Seriously... don't bitch and whine of Facebook... contact V123 directly or just cancel.

I guess the bottom line for me is that I decided to walk away... and there is now even less chance that I will walk back. Epic fail.
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Bish a.k.a. Bish
Smoke me a kipper... I'll be back for breakfast.
I will not feed the trolls... I will not feed the trolls... I will not feed the trolls... I will not feed the trolls.
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tokyofan
Been Here Awhile


Joined: 13 Mar 2006
Posts: 270
Location: Tokyo, Japan

PostPosted: Sun Dec 16, 2018 7:54 pm    Post subject: V123: new format Reply with quote

Yes, I'm another disgruntled user of the new Voice123 platform. It's glitchy, clunky, and unintuitive. And the project specs are now often incomplete and low budget. Only 1 out of 6 recent auditions have even been opened. But tech support assures me it's not a system problem. Yes, why fix it if it wasn't broken?

I live/do VO full-time in Tokyo so Voice 123 is just my way of nibbling at the U.S. market. I do well enough to pay for the premium subscription but mostly see it as practice and a fun challenge rather than a major income stream.
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Philip Banks
Je Ne Sais Quoi


Joined: 20 Jun 2005
Posts: 11046
Location: Portgordon, Scotland

PostPosted: Mon Dec 17, 2018 1:27 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Upon this very day I decided to vanquish all enemies of the "Voice Over Community"* with my mighty sword of justice. There's scripture for this so it's cool.

*So NOT a made up thing.
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Lee Gordon
A Zillion


Joined: 25 Jul 2008
Posts: 6843
Location: West Hartford, CT

PostPosted: Mon Dec 17, 2018 5:03 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Bish wrote:
So... more than a year after their announcement, they fixed it... in fact they fixed it so much that they managed to break it completely.


They didn't really break it. They changed it. And people hate change, even to things they constantly complain about. It's like Facebook. They go along their merry way with a particular layout that we'll call "Style A." Suddenly, they make changes (adopting what we'll call "Style B") and people are up in arms about the change. Then, a year later, they change again to "Style C." When the people start whinging about the changes, do they want to go back to Style A? No, they want to stick with Style B, the one they were bitching about the last time there was a change.
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tokyofan
Been Here Awhile


Joined: 13 Mar 2006
Posts: 270
Location: Tokyo, Japan

PostPosted: Mon Dec 17, 2018 9:00 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

They did break it if it's not functioning as intended. I've been on other forums with V123 subscribers who have voiced an assortment of complaints about the new platform:

--clients no longer able to directly contact regular talents directly.

--scores of submitted auditions that are never opened or reviewed (this is a BIG one.)

--submitted auditions that suddenly vanish, no longer seen in the invitation or proposal cues.

--submitted auditions that fail to play.

So, this is not really about getting used to a new style. They're foisting a buggy beta platform onto paid subscribers, costing them additional time and money while the engineers play catch up. I suggest they give all their paid subscribers a free month or two for their troubles.
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Bish
3.5 kHz


Joined: 22 Nov 2009
Posts: 3738
Location: Lost in the cultural wasteland of Long Island

PostPosted: Tue Dec 18, 2018 4:55 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Lee Gordon wrote:
They didn't really break it. They changed it.

I guess it could be viewed that way if the changes made were designed to a) not function as intended, b) frustrate users, c) be as helpful to a VO's business as a blancmange.

I agree that people don't like change and they'll usually bitch and whine like it's the end of the world over a simple font change or adjustment to the colour palette. You are right... social media platforms have enabled a lot of opinions to be spewed forth with no filter.

However... they really have screwed the pooch with this. If you forget all the style and operational changes (for they are either simply cosmetic or a change in procedure)... the system is not functioning as it's designed to work within the operation brief. The lists of bugs and inconsistencies are growing on an hourly basis it seems. This is not a change in procedure and style upsetting the great unwashed... the redesigned site does not provide what it intends to supply on a reliable or consistent basis. As a tool, it has become fundamentally flawed. It's not just a case of learning a new workflow... this is alpha software... I wouldn't even credit it with being a beta release.

I do not subscribe any more but I wanted to retain a profile because some of my existing clients use V123 as a conduit to contact me. Despite not wanting them... V123 cannot stop sending irrelevant messages to me about jobs I have no interest in. So... even as a non-subscriber who really doesn't give a rat's arse about what they do or don't do, they've managed to annoy me... and that's quite an accomplishment.
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Bish a.k.a. Bish
Smoke me a kipper... I'll be back for breakfast.
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