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Had to log in to my old Upwork account to fix something and browsed their VO and copywriting openings for a bit and.... $5/500 word VO? Absolutely fuck you. Let's break that down...
1. You need a base level of audio quality to get considered. That means a soundproof (or close enough) room wherever you live (not guaranteed/a luxury), recording equipment (not cheap), editing software/hard drive (not always cheap), samples (takes time/energy esp if unpaid)
2. Once you have the gig, you need to rehearse with the script a few times, perhaps even mark it up/rewrite so it's easier to read along and find your flow, make sure your emphasis/pauses are happening in the right places, make sure you can pronounce everything. 30m-1h
3. Recording! Depending on how sound-proof your "studio" is you may need to pause around external noises (neighbors, roommates, partner, pets), you'll need to do a few takes, you may even (god forbid) mess up. 30m- 1h
4. Import/editing. You won't always have a full take clean, especially if it's a quick turnaround and you have 8 more of these and you're getting paid shit for all of them. You may even need to rerecord a segment or two. 30m-1h
If we take the quick estimate, that's an hour and a half, or $3.33/hour. If we take the higher quality, longer estimate, that's 3 hours, or $1.66/hour.
That doesn't even take into account if they need you to make a different edit/send a different version, which many do
That doesn't even take into account if they need you to make a different edit/send a different version, which many do
And if you refuse to make edits (not in your original agreement/contract), they can withhold payment because according to them, they didn't get what they wanted. You could dispute that, but it's $5, so what's the point. And your recording is good so now they just get it for free
I used to make ok (never great) money doing VO scriptwriting and VO recordings on sites like Upwork, but it has long functioned with minimal/no moderation, and that shit's exploitative and reinforces that your hour is worth nothing but also you should be so lucky to get work
And we aren't even unpacking the hustle culture/ Fiverr "eats coffee for breakfast, lunch, and dinner" nonsense. We're just talking about freelancer marketplaces where 9 out of 10 posts are actively exploitative but when you're broke and desperate you can't afford to fight back
It's fucking bleak. Freelancer sites, moderate your postings. There should be some minimum pricing tier (ESPECIALLY if you're taking a cut- that $1.66 an hour is often just $1/hr with that fee). Get a working freelancer's board together to advise you on what's fair
If someone wants to advertise basically volunteer work, they can go to a non-professional's site, like Facebook or Craigslist, somewhere where people aren't there for the sole purpose of finding paying work. There's a place for volunteer/barter/exposure work.
And freelancers, talk to each other, especially if you're new. Lean on resources like @freelancersu and don't let yourself or your fellow freelancers get exploited because exploitation is all there is, and hey, you need the work so bite the bullet and be grateful
If these posters didn't value your labor they'd do it themselves. So make them pay what you're worth, and what you need to make that work, which we have to do to survive under capitalism, profitable enough for you to survive under capitalism. Solidarity is important.
