logologo
jmichael@jmcvoiceover.com 202-738-1151
  • Home
  • My Demos
    • Commercial
    • Crisis Commercials
    • Medical
    • eLearning
    • Corporate
    • Automotive
    • TV Promo
    • TV Narration
    • Radio Imaging
    • Telephony
    • Political
  • Recent Work
  • Demo Production
    • Demo Production
    • Demo Production Guide
    • Commercial
    • Medical
    • eLearning
    • Corporate
    • Automotive
    • TV Promo
    • TV Narration
    • Radio Imaging
    • Telephony
    • Political
  • Coaching
    • Coaching
    • Voiceover Coaching Guide
  • Photo Gallery
  • Success Club
  • Euro Vo Retreat
  • Public Speaker Training
  • Giving Back
  • Blog
  • Contact
  • Home
  • My Demos
    • Commercial
    • Crisis Commercials
    • Medical
    • eLearning
    • Corporate
    • Automotive
    • TV Promo
    • TV Narration
    • Radio Imaging
    • Telephony
    • Political
  • Recent Work
  • Demo Production
    • Demo Production
    • Demo Production Guide
    • Commercial
    • Medical
    • eLearning
    • Corporate
    • Automotive
    • TV Promo
    • TV Narration
    • Radio Imaging
    • Telephony
    • Political
  • Coaching
    • Coaching
    • Voiceover Coaching Guide
  • Photo Gallery
  • Success Club
  • Euro Vo Retreat
  • Public Speaker Training
  • Giving Back
  • Blog
  • Contact
There is a lot of money in political campaigns. At the national level, this can amount to many hundreds of millions of dollars for a single candidate. Some is well spent, while much is wasted in pursuit of vainglorious ambitions that exceed public buy-in.
Embedded within the political process, however, are a low-profile group of individuals whose presence on a campaign can often make or break the candidate’s chance for success. These people often have vague titles like, “media adviser,” “consultant,” or, “strategist.” Ultimately, they are a highly-skilled group of fixers who can make the most mundane aspirant look electric, and the most scandal-ridden seem virtuous.
These operatives who add tremendous value to a political campaign have one thing in common: While they may draw a fixed salary over the length of the race, they make their real money based directly on the added value they provide, as measured by the media buy of the campaign. The better job they do, the more contributions a candidate receives, and the more money the campaign has to spend on advertising…….a small but significant percentage of which goes into their pocket.
There has been fiery debate recently about broadcast and new media rate structures in the voiceover business. A perception exists that rates are being pushed lower by talent influx and changing technology. Discussions both civil and acrimonious have generally boiled down to a broad consensus that buyouts are bad, and residual pricing based on usage is good.
Is it possible, however, that we may be missing the point altogether? Is there a fairer and more accurate means of determining appropriate broadcast and new media rate structures that accounts precisely for the value our services have added to a project? Can a $150 TV buyout on an online casting site actually be more fair than a national spot at double union scale with residuals?
This author believes the answer is yes to all three questions.
Consider this: The cost of a 13 week national broadcast run for a major brand commercial can run into the millions of dollars. With TV, maybe some cut downs for radio, and Internet pre-roll/social media ads, let’s say a major McBurger joint might spend $2M on the ad buy alone.
Union scale for such an ad might amount to around $4K for the various media for a single cycle. This represents one fifth of one percent of the total ad buy into the pocket of the single individual chosen by the company to give voice to their message.
Does that seem fair?
During a recent coaching session with a talent I am mentoring, we had a browse through job postings on a particular online casting platform. We encountered a TV ad for a nursing organization to run for one month in a single market of maybe 50,000 people in upstate New York. Pay? $150. Now, both of us initially reacted the same way: $150 for TV? That’s laughable!
Then a little light bulb went on.
What might this particular group be spending to air this project? Maybe…..maybe…..$2500? That might be a high estimate considering the market, but let’s go with it. TV only, 4 week buy, small local market, $2500. So, at $150 all-in, the talent receives fully six percent of the media buy.
If the talent working for the McBurger company were to receive the same, their pay for the gig would be $120,000 for a single cycle.
Which one seems more fair now?
It is entirely possible that the debate over rates, online casting, union versus non-union, etc… has completely missed the point. While blanket buyouts are clearly exploitative, especially for large brands, the cycle and usage structures the industry has long relied upon are only a degree less abusive. We are still signing away tremendous added value for a pittance of what we actually contribute to the success of the campaign. Perhaps there is a third way.
Broadcast and new media jobs should be considered in context, not based on holy-writ numbers negotiated in back rooms or dreamed up by entrepreneurs, the majority of which tend to be exceedingly favorable to the buyer.
This third way paradigm applies particularly well to new media like internet pre-roll, YouTube ads, and social media advertising. Tracking usage and impressions is cumbersome if it is possible at all. Tracking the media buy is much more accessible, and a far better barometer of the value we are adding.  A medium to large social media ad campaign might cost $50,000 for instance. While the six percent figure presented in the small market spot example is probably a bit ambitious, one could argue that a minimum session fee plus three percent of the total ad buy would be a fair rate for any broadcast or new media run.
For our social media campaign, that might mean $250+$1,500 for usage. For McBurger, a flat $60,000….and for our nurses in Utica? That $150 suddenly looks a bit more reasonable.
These days, it’s not often that we look to politics for good ideas. The great rate debate will not abate any more than poor alliteration. Nevertheless, perhaps this third way offers promise to bring order to the chaos.

Trackback URL: https://www.jmcvoiceover.com/2015/06/20/what-can-the-voiceover-business-learn-from-politics-more-than-you-might-think/trackback/

J. Michael Collins
Previous PostTalent Profiles: The Joy of Coaching
Next PostImagine No Commercials......It's Easy if You ...
1 Comment
  • John Peace July 02, 2015 Reply

    Good formula idea..but in the real world McBurger still wants to pay $ 150 per vo too if they can get away with it. Problem is, as I see it. The talent pool is watered down by two main factions 1) the guy/gal working for "beer money" just a little something on the side for bonus income. 2) a sea of no talents that have no business being in this business…. yet voicing for hire, have not developed the skills to present their vo on a professional level, and they do it at a cut rate. Therein lies the problem for us that depend on this vo industry to make a LIVING. We have to get out and prove our abilities, skills, devotion to the trade, grow in different directions with the ever changing landscape of the vo world, and try to maintain some sort of RATE INTEGRITY. I've paid my dues, been voicing since 1973. National, Regional, Local campaigns and serve as producer and talent manager. I have seen a lot ( can't honestly say "I've seen It All") and I am seldom surprised by anything I run across daily in this business.
    Loyalty from the client, and true Talent is not as abundant as it should be.

Leave a comment

Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Archives
Subscribe
  • Receive News & Updates
  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.
RECENT TWEETS

@jmcvoiceover

March 3rd 2021 11:03:12

https://t.co/ZD5fsCJJZ5

The end is near. For some.
#vo #voiceover #voiceovers #ai #artificialintelligence https://t.co/ZiRAvQHPtQ

@jmcvoiceover

March 2nd 2021 12:03:31

This April, the Unicorn Award will finally change hands again after a year off due to the pandemic. Three talent wi… https://t.co/rwbI2wlW6a

@jmcvoiceover

March 1st 2021 09:03:05

https://t.co/3Gi5So033z

Episode 2 of This Week in Voiceover is up!

Armin Hierstetter joins with his usual subtle… https://t.co/dRkBJURB2W

@jmcvoiceover

February 25th 2021 09:02:14

Group coaching the impressive talent from Impressive Talent never gets old! Congrats to this fantastic lineup on a… https://t.co/t20cd9dVwJ

@jmcvoiceover

February 24th 2021 02:02:17

https://t.co/MNhFF82TIE

@jmcvoiceover

February 23rd 2021 12:02:59

https://t.co/TsWRTGPECx

I'm proud to premiere my new weekly podcast!

Check out Episode 1, featuring the hilarious… https://t.co/6vIV13Povi

@jmcvoiceover

February 22nd 2021 01:02:52

https://t.co/KGOBME8qLb

Check out my upcoming VO Xtra webinar featuring the legend himself, Dave Fennoy. Get the l… https://t.co/uJQFXKCilX

@jmcvoiceover

February 22nd 2021 12:02:54

https://t.co/G9xs7Dvb9P

Everybody was Facebook Fight-ing......... #vo #voiceover #voiceovers https://t.co/0t3SLUQumk

@jmcvoiceover

February 2nd 2021 04:02:01

RT @UKVoiceTalent: My new #commercialdemo. Courtesy of @jmcvoiceover and his incredible team. Having the demo created was one of my prizes…

@jmcvoiceover

February 2nd 2021 04:02:56

@UKVoiceTalent @DebMunroVO @Elley_Ray #rockstar

@jmcvoiceover

January 28th 2021 08:01:45

RT @jasonkappus: #HeyVAs: ALWAYS. BE. LEARNING. Coaching/listening/studying/conversing. Engage with the community, hit those free webinars.…

@jmcvoiceover

January 28th 2021 08:01:37

@jasonkappus I'll send you an invoice. :P

@jmcvoiceover

January 28th 2021 12:01:25

@CodyRockVO @plushiebunnies GREAT job!

@jmcvoiceover

January 25th 2021 11:01:23

This is what being a dad is all about. #goat @TomBrady is pure class. https://t.co/0u7leKhx7e

@jmcvoiceover

January 20th 2021 04:01:58

https://t.co/TAbOBrCwXH

@jmcvoiceover

January 19th 2021 04:01:59

@TheAlixMartin @GravyForBrain @JMCdemos You rocked it! Always a pleasure working with you. :)

@jmcvoiceover

January 18th 2021 05:01:45

https://t.co/FPkETFCxTZ

@jmcvoiceover

January 18th 2021 01:01:22

https://t.co/89rhMteg8P

Are you honoring your colleagues' kindness when they give you the gift of a recommendation… https://t.co/ewP1XnGptL

@jmcvoiceover

January 14th 2021 11:01:17

@jasonkappus LOL :)

@jmcvoiceover

January 14th 2021 11:01:13

Always a blast working with talent repped by Impressive Talent, and this group was legit impressive! #vo #voiceover https://t.co/lDCKvMQNRW

@jmcvoiceover

January 9th 2021 07:01:49

@aganguzza This x100

@jmcvoiceover

January 8th 2021 11:01:05

Devastated by the loss of @bradvenable May you rest in piece, my friend.

@jmcvoiceover

December 25th 2020 12:12:20

From our family to yours, have a very Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays. Wishing all safety, health, and prosperit… https://t.co/eUp74u7F1Y

@jmcvoiceover

December 22nd 2020 07:12:48

#vo #voiceover https://t.co/DOE7PurDKv

@jmcvoiceover

December 21st 2020 01:12:06

Congrats to JMC Demos clients Doug Turkel, Stacey Kimble, Gaynor Kelly, Jason Kappus, Jenn Henry, and Paul Cartwrig… https://t.co/rAPSAfM4lq

@jmcvoiceover

December 15th 2020 12:12:24

#vo #voiceover https://t.co/rZpdx4tHpn

@jmcvoiceover

December 12th 2020 03:12:27

#vo #voiceover #voiceovers https://t.co/yZQjxA7gC2

@jmcvoiceover

December 11th 2020 12:12:40

https://t.co/BBWJse3954

Check out part 2 of my blog on where the industry stands in the year of COVID, featuring t… https://t.co/TEOzp7WNqT

@jmcvoiceover

December 11th 2020 12:12:03

#vo #voiceover #voiceovers https://t.co/DvppE8uffb

@jmcvoiceover

December 10th 2020 04:12:28

https://t.co/Ow7dpfkQ7D

@jmcvoiceover

December 9th 2020 09:12:18

@jemrosenfeld @Joanthevoice @rgaskins1 @SovasVoice @ThatsVoiceover https://t.co/nEQ2uvdOLs

@jmcvoiceover

December 9th 2020 07:12:08

#vo #voiceover https://t.co/VWtvRtIInx

@jmcvoiceover

December 8th 2020 01:12:50

https://t.co/kjrMJggjFc

@jmcvoiceover

December 7th 2020 12:12:31

https://t.co/6isS4eNAd1

@jmcvoiceover

December 7th 2020 05:12:29

@UrbanLegendVO @jasonkappus That gives new meaning to food porn.

CONTACT
202-738-1151
jmichael@jmcvoiceover.com
  • Home
  • My Demos
    • Commercial
    • Crisis Commercials
    • Medical
    • eLearning
    • Corporate
    • Automotive
    • TV Promo
    • TV Narration
    • Radio Imaging
    • Telephony
    • Political
  • Recent Work
  • Demo Production
    • Demo Production
    • Demo Production Guide
    • Commercial
    • Medical
    • eLearning
    • Corporate
    • Automotive
    • TV Promo
    • TV Narration
    • Radio Imaging
    • Telephony
    • Political
  • Coaching
    • Coaching
    • Voiceover Coaching Guide
  • Photo Gallery
  • Success Club
  • Euro Vo Retreat
  • Public Speaker Training
  • Giving Back
  • Blog
  • Contact

Privacy Policy ©2021 J. Michael Collins // Voice Over Site by Voice Actor Websites