The Voiceover Hustle: The Good, The Bad. THE MONEY!

[Kramer]

This is a comprehensive book about how to do it. No fluff. No hype. Just the real deal.
Click here and grab it.

 

[TheBigA]

This is a comprehensive book about how to do it. No fluff. No hype. Just the real deal.

There was a time when people in radio had lots of side gigs. The idea of making a living playing music on the radio was unthinkable. DJs like Dick Clark, Casey Kasem, Scot Muni, Dan Ingram all did voiceover work, national syndication, commercial voice work, and anything that involved the voice. I know an afternoon drive guy who is also the booth announcer at the local arena. Tom Donohue and Cousin Bruce Morrow used to do concert promotion on the side. Dick Clark owned a publishing company, but he had to sell it when payola became a thing. Today, it's possible to do a local radio show, a show for Sirius satellite, and your own podcast. Plus do imaging for stations, and VT a station in Wyoming like Paul Walker Jr. "Market thyself."

 

[radiofan2023]

Looks like a great book Kramer!

 

[TheBigA]

There was a famous tape of Orson Welles reading a commercial, and getting exasperated by the script.

Part of the job is the ability to take direction. Orson obviously had trouble that day.

 

[Robnoxious]

There was a famous tape of Orson Welles reading a commercial, and getting exasperated by the script.

Part of the job is the ability to take direction. Orson obviously had trouble that day.

Off topic but an episode of Pinky And The Brain under the Animaniacs title recreated this classic word for word (minus the cuss words of course, it is a kid's cartoon).

 

[michael hagerty]

This is the best thing I've ever seen on voiceover:

 

[Ma “Contrarian” Gee]

Loved that video, Michael. And I lived it. Names left out to protect the innocent.

On top of doing VO, I worked a couple of years as a studio engineer. A large market and home to a national fast food chain that used a small local agency. The VO guy comes in to do a six word tag - all of nine syllables total. The thing barely lasted one second. The agency had booked a half hour of studio time.

Everyone arrives. VO guy goes to the booth. Place the mic...set the levels…rack up a new pancake of Ampex 456 on the Otari MTR 10. Agency rep and assistant, smoke and coffee in hand are sitting at the TAC built desk with me.

“Take one…” Rep debates with assistant. Wants a change. “Take two…” Another change. “Take three…” A third change. And so on and so on and so on. For one hundred seventy two takes. One hundred seventy two! Finally the agency guy says “well there oughta be somethin’ there we can use."

Seems our VO guy hadn’t agreed to payment before the session. Walks in to settle up with the agency guy. Debate ensues. Agency wants local non union fee for a national spot with union talent. Phone calls to the agency. Phone calls to the client. Phone calls to the union rep. Finally a fee is settled on. I’m thinking it was around $300.

And then the agency guy says “oh, and we need a non-compete signed.” What term? In perpetuity!?!?! More debate. They kick the fee up to $500. For some crazy reason, the VO guy agrees to it.

Everyone is ready to leave. On the way out the door the agency guy asks me to leader all 172 takes with slate. Seems he’s still not sure which take he wants to use. That half-hour turned into an entire afternoon.

As for the client? They used the tag from that session nationally for over twenty years.

 

[TheBigA]

As for the client? They used the tag from that session nationally for over twenty years.

Mel Allen has been dead for almost 30 years and MLB still occasionally uses his voice in their TV shows. How about that!

 

[Ma “Contrarian” Gee]

And I’d guess Mel and his estate were taken far better care of than the guy in my story.

 

[TheBigA]

And I’d guess Mel and his estate were taken far better care of than the guy in my story.

Let's just say he got more than $500!

But consider that there are people running radio tribute sites with airchecks from 50 years ago, and the talent or his estate makes nothing. Everything lives forever on the internet. It's all "in perpetuity."

 

[Weiserguy]

Let's just say he got more than $500!

But consider that there are people running radio tribute sites with airchecks from 50 years ago, and the talent or his estate makes nothing. Everything lives forever on the internet. It's all "in perpetuity."

People running tribute sites are not raking in the bucks. If, like here on RD, a site carries ads, they at best help someone like Lance offset costs. Or someone like our friend the DDS does it as a passion project, funded significantly out of their own pocket. Many radio insiders and geeks listen to old airchecks, but again, nobody's getting rich from them, and the talent was paid for their work at the time they did it. (And many have been dead for many years.) So it's a very different situation from a recording session for a multi-$Billion corporation, nickel-and-diming their own hand-selected talent for some (shoulda been) 5 minute session that instead takes hours from all involved because someone at their agency is an idiot.

(Great story, BTW!)

 

[xkxrx]

Everyone is ready to leave. On the way out the door the agency guy asks me to leader all 172 takes with slate. Seems he’s still not sure which take he wants to use. That half-hour turned into an entire afternoon.

Did the agency get charged for all that extra work you had to do?

 

[Ma “Contrarian” Gee]

That would have been the studio manager's responsibility. So I don’t know for sure but I’d think so. This was 35 years ago.