Idolator Talks EMI

Quick follow up to the story earlier about EMI releasing DRM-free music (I've quickly become a very big EMI fan ... huh ... ).

Idolator has an awesome write up on what this move means for you, the consumer.

"People who want to pay for music (yes, there are still a few out there) will have even more incentive to buy EMI's albums digitally, and consumers who were, in the past, stymied by attempts to move their iTunes-purchased music around--whether to different computers or to portable players that aren't necessarily the iPod--will have a slightly easier time doing so now. (Even the Zune will be able to play the unprotected AACs offered by iTunes.)"

Read the rest here!

I'm very excited about this. Especially once the Beatles make it to iTunes.

Intro to VO 101

Ok, not quite, but if you're looking for a good podcast on whats going on in VO, you could do worse than VoxTalk.

And I mean FAR worse.

I mean, you could be reading some crappy blog worse...


[ahem]

CLICK HERE TO CHECK OUT VOXTALK!

Another day in the Trenches...

Almost quite literally.

I had all these great posts to start this blog off with, and trying to find some fun clips to audio blog, so what happened?

Today happened.

A royal schedule-fuck of epic proportions. From 9:15am to 7:45pm (with a 30 minute lunch), I was bombarded by a constant stream of audio.
AND, while I love my actors, not very many of them were prepared today.

See, the thing is, auditions in voice over land work differently than other auditions. Thanks to digital audio, the game moves MUCH faster, so a lot of talent agencies now run their own recording booths (the reason why I have a full time job). SO, often a job notice comes out with spec for the auditions, then the AGENCY casts the project, the AGENCY holds auditions, the AGENCY narrows the field, and the AGENCY selects the top picks, and then submits the auditions to whoever is running the casting.
That's a lot of overhead for an Agency to handle, especially considering that, for the cost involved, the agency might only make say...$40 booking a client on a radio spot (after taking the time to audition maybe 15 people for the same role).

So what does this business breakdown have to do with why I had such a crappy day?

Well, the "in-house" audition process creates a second problem.
Actors.
When an actor goes "out of house" to audition for something, they have to be prepared. They have to be warmed up. They have to be on their best behavior to maintain a good working reputation. They know they aren't going to get "do-overs" for their audition, and know that they might only get a slate to show off their personality.
When an actor comes "in house", they know it's in our best interest to send an audition which best represents them and the Agency. Those that really work in voice over understand the business margins above, and aren't about to waste our time or their own time, coming prepared like they would for an "out of house", which is probably a major reason why they work in voice over, and book regularly.
Those actors that do take up time range the gambit from newbies that don't know any better all the way to the self obsessed.

Now an extra minute here or there doesn't seem like it would be such a huge deal, but multiply an extra minute or three by the ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY times I pressed record today, and we now have hours of wasted man hours piling up over the course of the week.

So, whats the moral of this little story?
Actors, if you're lucky enough to have a good voice over agent, prepare your copy, warm up, run a few articulation drills, stretch, BEFORE you enter your booth, and give your booth director a big ole hug.

He probably needs it...
some audio guy, voice over, voice acting, talent agency, abram's artists agency, voice over directing, booth director, recording, auditions, rant