Jacobs Media’s Digital Dot Connector, Seth Resler, spends a great deal of time considering how digital media is impacting our radio lives, and how we can benefit from the change. Disruption has become a way of life…in radio, and in virtually every corner of the working word. In today’s guest post, Seth takes a deep dive into an area that most broadcasters probably didn’t even know was there.
We are constantly hearing about how the “sharing economy” is disrupting traditional businesses. “Sharing economy” business models allow people to share their goods or services by charging a fee. For example, AirBnB, which allows people to rent out rooms in their homes to travelers, is forcing hotel companies to rethink their business models. Ride-sharing companies like Uber and Lyft are not only having an impact on taxi services, but the entire automotive industry. And a number of sites like TaskRabbit and Upwork (formerly oDesk) allow people to hire independent contractors to perform small jobs.
On Fiverr, you can hire people to perform a wide range of tasks — from painting a portrait to optimizing a website to writing a poem — starting at just $5. You can also hire people to perform voiceover work. Like all of us, I have friends and colleagues who make a living in this line of work, so I was curious to learn more about the impact of sites like Fiverr.
Many of the voiceover professionals I spoke to say they have felt no impact on their businesses from these inexpensive sites. For the moment at least, Fiverr is not even on the radar screen.
Jude Corbett, who is represented by Atlas Talent, voices radio stations all over the globe. Over the years, he has been heard on K-Rock in New York, Q101 and The Loop in Chicago, and The Point in St. Louis, among others. I had the good fortune of working with Jude at WBRU in Providence.
When I asked him what impact Fiverr has had on his work, he said, “I’ve only just learned of the site, so I guess none at all. I honestly don’t know of anyone who has gotten a job from them, nor do I know of a radio station who has found their voice talent on them. I’m not saying it hasn’t happened, it just hasn’t happened to anyone I know.” Jake Kaplan, the Imaging Director for KAMP in Los Angeles, who is represented by CESD and voices radio stations throughout the country, echoed the sentiment. “I had never heard of Fiverr until you asked me about it.”
Major market radio and television personality Nik Carter, is an Abrams client who has performed voiceover work for networks like MTV, VH1, and Nickelodeon and companies like McDonald’s, Toyota, and Subway. He explains, “As an agency-represented, union talent, Fiverr does not impact what I do because the talent advertising themselves there are almost exclusively non-union, so they do not compete for the same auditions that I do.”
“I don’t really operate in the $5 per 30-second spot space,” says voiceover artist Rich Van Slyke, who voices stations like KUFX in San Francisco, WBIG in Washington, WXYZ-TV in Detroit, and WWSK in Long Island. He says that Fiverr’s VO talents aren’t targeting his market. “You rarely get a 5-star dinner for the price of a burger. But sometimes, you just want a good burger.” But he sees Fiverr as a great place for young talent to start their careers. “I’m certain there will be people who start on Fiverr and eventually wind up voicing TV networks.”
Eric Scott is a Production Director for Northeast Communications and does voice work through his own company, Shelcom Media. He is also one of the administrators for the Facebook group, “You Know You Work in Radio When…,” where radio professionals often debate topics like this. He agrees that “the top end of the market — most union and big agency work and the voiceover folks with agents — aren’t going to be be affected by this.”
But Eric worries that sites like Fiverr devalue voiceover work as a whole. He says, “There are some clients that once they see that magic $5 number, they feel there is no need to spend more. Many industries have seen a ‘race to the bottom’: airlines, telecommunications, and now audio production.”
Nik Carter agrees, saying, “While we all have to start somewhere, sites like Fiverr are part of the recent erosion of the voiceover industry. I’ve seen people on Fiverr offering $20 to do a commercial, seemingly unaware that this devalues the entire industry. Everyone makes less money in the long run.”
But Eric Scott see some upside potential: “A poster in the Facebook group made some excellent points: There are many upsell opportunities through that platform, and you never have to worry about marketing or late payments. So I’m considering trying it out to see if it’s right for me.”
Alicia Perrone, a voiceover artist who goes by the moniker JetsetSound on Fiverr, also points to the upsell opportunities on Fiverr. “It’s much more common to make more than $5 per gig now because of the changes Fiverr has implemented and the pointers they give along the way.”
I asked her how she got involved with Fiverr, and she told me, “I started around August of 2014 and got more serious about it when I saw it really start to take off. I’m the vocalist for my band, Fans of Jimmy Century, so singing is my full-time job. However, I spend a lot of time doing voiceovers. I have real passion for it.”
I asked her if she agreed with the notion that sites like Fiverr devalue the work of voiceover talent. “No, I don’t. Without my start on Fiverr, I wouldn’t be in this industry and I never would have known that this was something that came naturally to me, because I wouldn’t have been given a chance by the gatekeepers. When it comes to Fiverr, it’s not about who you know; it’s not the ‘Good Ol’ Boys’ network. Just because someone doesn’t have as much experience as someone else, that doesn’t mean they’re not better suited for the job. My delivery in my voiceover work is unique, so having an independent platform — a level playing field where the right people can get to me — is important.”
Eric Scott is sympathetic to Alicia’s argument about breaking into the business, but says, “Once you balance all the factors, I think the overall impact is negative. On the one hand, it makes getting into the business and getting clients easier. On the other hand, many of the people I’ve spoken to (myself included), who have invested heavily into our studios to offer better audio quality, and who have more experience, think those rates are too low.”
The debate is following the same pattern we are seeing in other industries. Established service providers view these sites as a disrupting force that devalues their skills, while up-and-coming talent perceive these sites as an opportunity for them to break into the field. “Peer-to-peer-based sharing of goods and services is an awesome model,” says Alicia. “It gives everyone an equal footing, and the cream will rise to the top because of it. I’m a big fan.”
What do you think about the impact of Fiverr on voiceover professionals?
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I looked at the voice-over talent offered on Fivrr for a budget internet radio project and with a few exceptions, the talent there was not up to my standards. You do get what you pay for.
True in radio and in life.
If we look at using voices found on Fivvr through our traditional lens of “Station Voice” and all that has come to mean in terms of sound, delivery etc… I agree with the VO talent commenting here that it isn’t much of a threat to their business.
BUT – what if you don’t want that sound?
What if you realize that increasingly people don’t really connect with the Big Disembodied Voice. Millennials especially.
Fivrr is a potentially great source for natural, real people sounding voices.
Instead of having a single station voice – Imaging Production would be multi-voice – where 5 to 12 different people voice various parts of sweepers and promos. They don’t even have to be the same voices all the time. In fact only 1 or 2 need to be the same.
I’ve “crowd sourced” voices from listeners at every stage of my production career – and it’s always been considered “Spice” in the station sound- but that doesn’t mean it couldnt also be the main course in the right situation.
99.7 Now In San Francisco is great at this – mixing different natural sounding voices to create a unique overall station sound.
I personally love the sound so much I stole the idea and crowd-sourced the VO for the Audio demo for my latest production library. I didnt use Fivrr – but voices from my own customer base. But the effect is the same.
The idea of replaceing the single station voice with many is disruptive – Fivrr only serves the idea for those willing to use it that way.
Thanks for the comment, Jeff.
At last year’s Podcast Movement conference, Sarah Koenig of the Serial podcast talked about how Ira Glass encouraged her to use crowd-sourced voices. You can hear them in the Mailchimp sponsorship that runs at the beginning of every episode (with the now iconic “Mail-Kimp” pronunciation). I suspect Sarah and Ira would agree with you — there is some audience appeal in using that “authentic” sound.
Fred,
Rules were made to be broken, and you sometimes you get more than you pay for – case in point is Dana Hersey. Dana is an industry tv-radio veteran who did all the imaging for my show on WRKO back in the 1997-99 era. Incredibly, he is doing the morning drive show on North Shore 104.9 in the Boston suburbs. This guy is a ten, voice-wise, and he makes 99% of the talent in most cities sound like cub scouts. I’m sticking with commercial and industrial voice overs, because hearing him just reminds me of the state of radio.
Thanks for the real life story, Tai. Appreciate you reading the blog.
Some voice talents on Fiverr are going for a different market, they tell me: the student who needs a voice for his class presentation, the hair salon in need of a telephone message. It doesn’t impact the work I do in professional markets, as far as I can tell. Still plenty busy, at pro rates…but I wonder how these voice “talents” will break away from the hobby gigs and rise, if they choose to. How will their craft emerge?
Randye, those are the same questions we have. Fiverr could end up being the “farm system” – not replacing VO pros like you, but helping radio find the next generation of great voices. Thanks for the comment.
Boom!