Double Dutch

Is there a hidden link between price and perception? Do we get what we are paying for? Are we more satisfied when we’ve paid top dollar?

On January 14th, 2008, a team a of scientists from the California Institute of Technology and Stanford University, published a paper called:

“Marketing actions can modulate neural representations of experienced pleasantness.”

It was the result of research I would have loved to be part of. The hypothesis was that the price of a wine affects the way a person experiences it in their pleasure circuits in the brain. It should answer the age-old question: does an expensive bottle of Bordeaux taste better because of the price tag?

The theory was put to the test using functional MRI scans of people while they tasted wine samples they thought were from different wines at different prices, when in reality they were the same. What a mean thing to do!

Lead author Antonio Rangel, associate professor of economics at the Division of the Humanities and Social Sciences at Caltech, said he was “shocked” when he saw the results.

What determines the price of wine? Here are a few factors:

• Profit the wine maker & distributor & seller wish to make
• Resources used
• Expenses such as production cost, labor, transportation, promotion, overhead, taxes
• Skill level of the wine maker
• Uniqueness and positioning of the product
• Market demand and market value
• Experience: the older the wine, the more expensive

SHAKESPEARE
Since this is a blog about the art of voice-overs and not about vinification, here’s my question: “Shall I compare thee to a Chardonnay?” Well… that’s a rather risky idea and I’ll tell you why: a nice bottle of Chardonnay is probably richer and more expensive!

Let me give you a taste from the bottom of the barrel:

Craigslist: “You have an awesome British accent that Americans go crazy for. I want to have an awesome British accent as the voice of the message on my voice mail. It’s really simple and shouldn’t take more than 10 minutes (at most!). Compensation: $20.”

Virtual Vocations: “Voice talent – 60 second recording. You need to be British or sound British. You need to be able to record this at your home with your computer. P.S. I’ll happily pay you for this. I was thinking $5 to $15 by PayPal, since it’s pretty simple.”

Odesk: “Voice over is for a 20 page presentation naration. If your bilingual that will be the best if you able to do only on just mark it in your letter and make you price in concideration. $50 fixed”

LOW AND BEHOLD
Mind you: I did not make these examples up. They come straight from the source.

Is it just me, or is there a serious disconnect between what you and I need to earn to make a decent living, and what these voice-seekers are prepared to pay? Of course you can always argue that these examples are extreme. But are they, really? Here’s my challenge:

Sign up for Odesk; go on Craigslist, VirtualVocations and similar sites, and report back to me in a few weeks. And please, don’t limit your search to voice-over jobs. Ask your friends in IT, copy writing, translation and graphic design to join you in your quest for fair compensation. You might be as surprised as Antonio Rangel. We’re not talking about incidents. We are dealing with a serious trend.

But if you want another example, here it is: the project I mentioned in my last blog, the 304-page book by a former Goldman Sachs partner. The client was offering between $500 and $750 for a recording that would take at least ten hours, if not more.

Not one single reader of this blog got back to me and said: “Wow, that’s a phenomenal payday!” Nevertheless, how likely do you think it is that this producer found his narrator for even less? Four letters sum it all up: V E R Y.

GAME TIME
Did the rules of  the game change, and nobody bothered to tell us? Go back a few years. How did we put a price on our services in the past?

Remember the days we actually had direct contact with the voice-seeker? A personal connection has always been a pivotal part of any business relationship. It’s the grease that makes things go smoothly. Doesn’t it all begin with building trust? How do you do that, if your client is purposely hiding his identity? It’s impossible to do your own background check to find out if this company is even legit.

These days, you can’t even be sure your demo is nothing but a time-wasting test balloon for a campaign you’ll never be part of.  

But let’s continue our flashback. With the rapport going, we could start talking about the requirements of the job. We could ask simple questions such as:

“What sort of a read do you need? Who’s the audience? What kind of person is the narrator?”

It was an opportunity to go beyond the vague descriptions we’ve gotten accustomed to. Descriptions such as: “Male voice. North-American. Middle-aged. Non-Union.” How much help are those?

In the old scenario, we wouldn’t have to second-guess the word count, what market our commercial would play in and details about a possible buy-out… things that anyone needs to know before putting in a serious and realistic bid.

And finally, with all the blanks filled in, we could talk money. We could educate the voice-seeker about the going rates; the value we’re adding and why we’re worth it. We could discuss a reasonable time-frame for the project and counter objections about our fee, and do the back-and-forth that’s part and parcel of the sales process.

It was give-and-take. Negotiate. Communicate. And now? Now, you and I just type a few numbers into the “Your Fee” box and send our hopes and dreams into cyberspace. Someone once said:

“Change is inevitable. Progress isn’t.”

NOT ALONE
Social Media Consultant and freelance writer Deb Ng believes that independent contractors have dropped the ball when it comes to setting rates. Deb writes:

“Did you know many freelance writers won’t give a rate quote to a client and would rather the client set the rate? There are many reasons for this:

• The freelance writer doesn’t know what to charge

• The freelance writer is afraid of bidding too low

• The freelance writer is afraid of bidding too high

• The freelance writer is unsure of the “going rate”

• The freelancer lacks the confidence to request what he deserves”

and she continues:

“Do you know why so many web masters pay $1, $3 or $5 for an article? It’s because they can. They believe it to be a going rate. Since so many freelancers accept the client’s terms and price, the client is able to dictate the payment. If less writers accepted these rates, employers would be forced to pay more money. If you want to break out of the low paying rut, you have no choice but to set higher standards.

By letting someone else set your rate, you’re doing yourself a great disservice. Writers should have an idea of what to charge before embarking on a freelance career. If you enter into it with the mindset that you have to take what is offered, you’ll never be paid what your worth. Remember, you’re freelancing because you want to take charge of your career and your life. How can you do this without knowing how much to charge?”

IN VINO VERITAS
Antonio Rangel and his team discovered that people who were given two identical red wines to drink, said they got much more pleasure from the one they were told had cost more. Brain scans confirmed that their pleasure centers were activated far more by the higher-priced wine.  

One of my favorite BBC programs is “Dragon’s Den”, where “cash-hungry entrepreneurs pitch for investment from some of Britain’s top business brains.”

A young business woman made an excellent presentation and the multi-millionaire investors we visibly impressed with the product and her poise. However, she walked away empty-handed.

Her mistake? She had low balled the amount of money needed. Peter Jones, one of the investors, summed it up like this:

“What a shame. If you had asked for more, I would have taken you seriously.”

Paul Strikwerda © 2009
www.nethervoice.com

PS Do you know how much you’d need to make to break even? Read the next installment for the Double Dutch recommended freelance rate calculator.

Technorati Tags: Antonio Rangel, bidding, determining voiceover rates, does expensive wine taste better, Double Dutch, Dragon's Den, freelance pricing, negotiation, Nethervoice, Paul Strikwerda, Peter Jones, pricing, rates, sales, voice-over, voice-overs, voiceover, voiceover rates

Which orchestra was voted the best symphony orchestra in the world?

Eminent music critics asked themselves that same question at the end of  2008. They narrowed the list down to twenty. Last year, the renowned British music magazine “the Gramophone” published the results.

The famous Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra ended up in second place. But who came first? The New York Philharmonic? The “Wiener Philharmoniker”? The Chicago Symphony?

AN EARFUL
I just spent a few hours on-line listening to YOU… my colleagues, my competition, my inspiration. It was both frightening and enlightening. As I was clicking away part of my day, I was amazed by a number of things, going from Pay-to-Play to Pay-to-Play. This is what I found:

1. Anyone can sign up for a voice-over site these days, on three conditions:

a. you have to have a voice
b. you have to have a credit card
c. you have to have a computer and a mic

2. Fifty percent of the advertised ‘talent’ can’t interpret a simple script;

3. The same people don’t seem to know the first thing about recording either;

4. Amateurs who put themselves out there as voice-over pros, have a lot of guts, coupled with a deadly mix of unrealistic expectations, a lack of experience and the funds to invest in a pipe dream;

5. As I wrote in another article, foreign voices are often not as advertised. We still have Flemish speakers posing as Dutch talents, German speakers who are really from Austria, and Australians pretending to be Americans. Whatever happened to quality control?

6. Don LaFontaine is still very much alive, but he goes by many different names these days. Or is just every other American male voice-over talent riding on his coattails as they are trying to emulate the master?

PAYING THE PRICE
I must say that I don’t envy the voice-seekers who have to sift through over one hundred auditions to find the perfect voice for their low- or no-budget project.

Then again: they asked for it, so we shouldn’t feel too sorry for them. It’s the price you pay when you’re asking every Tom, Dick or Harry to tape a custom demo for that cheap frying pan you’re trying to sell on late-night cable television. You often get what you pay for… frying pan, voice-over talent, it doesn’t make a difference.

What do I make of all this, you may ask? Well, here’s what I think (and feel free to disagree)…

Having a microphone, a MasterCard, a laptop and a fantasy doesn’t mean one should be allowed to join a professional site, no questions asked. We have websites for amateur dog breeders, amateur sports people, amateur musicians… why not design a site dedicated to amateur voice-over artists? I bet you’ll make a lot of money in the Odesk-market segment. It could be a kind of Bargain-Bodalgo.

Don’t get me wrong. Hobbies are wonderful things. My neighbor takes great pictures, but he wouldn’t dare to advertise himself as a professional photographer, nor should he. National Geographic would immediately show him the door.

A friend of mine is not a bad trumpet player, but if he were to audition for a real job in the music industry, he would never make the first cut (and he knows it). Apparently, those stringent standards don’t seem to be in place in certain segments of the voice-over industry. Why not?

THE PROBLEM BEHIND THE PROBLEM
As long as some sites make most of their money through subscriptions, more members means more money. It’s a business model, not a charity. It’s a model that essentially values quantity over quality. The only way to go, is to grow.

Let’s be honest. The voice-over market is pretty much saturated at this moment. You don’t need a degree in economics to realize that a greater supply in a weakened market can only mean one thing: tumbling prices.

The best way to speed this process up, is to have suppliers engage in a furious bidding war. Darwin would have named it: “Survival of the Cheapest”. Isn’t that exactly what is happening? And if you don’t believe me, why is it so hard to buy products that are not “made in China”? Before we know it, all of us will be replaced by IVONA speech synthesis technology. It’s almost as good as the real thing and I bet it’s a lot cheaper.

NO CURE NO PAY
If it were up to me, I’d rather have a performance-based No Cure No Pay-system in place. Out with the premium, platinum and titanium memberships. From now on, voice-over sites should get paid when I get paid. And the only way I get paid, is when voice-over sites do their job and connect me to reputable voice-seekers that are ready to pay reasonable rates.

Perhaps that will make the Pay-to-Play’s more accountable and selective in terms of whom they’re willing to represent. Perhaps that’s the way to separate the wheat from the chaff. Let the dabblers do their thing. As long as they stay in their own league and stop messing with my market.

PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS
Secondly, I’d like to see these websites publish and uphold certain professional standards, very much like SaVoa’s accreditation criteria. Accreditation comes from the word ‘credo’, which means “I believe“. Although related, ‘credo’ is not the same as ‘credit’.

Our belief in someone’s talent should be based on professional principles, instead of on the spending limit on their credit card. So, let me ask you this:

1. In your experience, are you aware of any professional standards that are promoted and actively upheld by Pay-to-Play sites?

2. If the answer is “yes”, are you happy with these standards, and are they well-advertised and implemented?

3. If the answer to the 1st question is “no”, do you think that voice-over sites should adopt, publish, promote and maintain certain standards?

4. Should talents be denied membership, if they don’t meet certain basic criteria of professionalism?

5. Would it make sense to create a special category for amateur voice actors, or even a dedicated website? Or do dilettantes have no business being in our business?

6. What’s the best and most fair way to compensate P2P’s for their services? A subscription fee? A percentage of  what you’re making for a particular job?  A combination of both?

AND THE WINNER IS…
One question remains.  For that, we return to the quest for the best symphony orchestra in the world. The votes have been counted. The sealed envelope is opened as the audience collectively holds their breath. And the winner is….

the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra from Amsterdam

Why? Because their standards are higher. After a grueling audition process, the Concertgebouw only hires the cream of the crop; well-trained people playing the very best instruments. No amateur fiddlers. The Gramophone’s editor James Inverne, put it this way:

“It is hardly possible any more to recognize particular orchestras by their individual sound. I think that with some orchestras, and the Berlin Philharmonic amongst them, that’s a bit of a worry. Whereas with the Concertgebouw you always know it’s the Concertgebouw. And I think that’s what has given them the edge amongst our critics.

Maybe it’s occasionally very slightly rougher than what the Berliner Philharmonic can produce, but it doesn’t matter, because they’re like a great actor bringing their own charisma and their own personality to every work, and always giving you the sense of the spirit of the work.”

Now, that’s what I call music to my ears! I’ll gladly pay to hear them play any day!

Paul Strikwerda © 2009

www.nethervoice.com

My next blog is a little more lighthearted, and I’ve invited Steve Martin, Peter Cook and Cyril Ritchard to add some  fun to the pirate party!

Technorati Tags: amateur, amateur voiceover talent, Best symphony orchestra in the world, bidding, Concertgebouw Orchestra, Dutch voice over, Dutch voice-over talent, foreign voice talent, Nethervoice, No Cure No Pay, on-line voice-over casting sites, Pay-to-Play, quality control, SAVOA, standards, voice-over, voiceover, voicover accreditation criteria