Disruption

Is disruption in the voiceover industry a good thing, a bad thing, or just a thing?

It depends on who you ask.

To quote from a book I recently narrated, "The Periodic Table of Ideas"...

Creative destruction is a process through which something new brings about the demise of whatever existed before it. Capitalism and innovation create new products and markets even as they make old ones obsolete. Joseph Schumpeter defined creative destruction by writing “the gale of creative destruction” describes the “process of industrial mutation that incessantly revolutionizes the economic structure from within, incessantly destroying the old one, incessantly creating a new one.”.

For example, the light bulb disrupted the candle industry. Uber disrupted the taxi industry. AirBnB disrupted the hotel industry.

Is Fi-Core and Right To Work States a disruption to SAG-AFTRA?

Are Pay-to-Play voiceover casting sites a disruption to agents and casting directors?

Is AI a disruption to all voice actors?

To various degrees, yes.

The disruptors call it progress, capitalism, opportunity. The disrupted call it an existential threat. Most likely it's somewhere in between.

TIP OF THE WEEK

What can you do to avoid disruption of your voiceover business?

Create stabilizing forces.

Stabilizing forces include:

• Having an objective understanding of how the voiceover industry actually functions (or disfunctions)

• Crafting a thoughtful business plan

• Mastering the arts of workflow, project management, and time management

• Developing consistent, well-paying clientele and not just audition & pray all day

These are just a few of the things you can do to ensure your voiceover business is not constantly beset by disruption.

NEWS AND NOTES

• Thursday, June 17th @8PM ET: The Edge Studio Marketing 201 webinar "Thriving in a Smaller Market ". In this class, students will see the advantages of living in a smaller voice over market and how to tap into their local resources. Sign up here!

• SOLD OUT!!! Saturday, June 19th @5PM ET: The Voice Actors Studio webinar “eLearning Performance Workshop“. Learn about the world of eLearning and get some live coaching, too.

• Wednesday, June 23rd @8PM ET: The VO How-To Webinar "Online Casting Sites". In this 90-minute webinar, we will explore the world of online voiceover casting sites, the “Pay-to-Play” business model, and how to use Online Casting Sites effectively. This webinar will be recorded so if you can't make it you will get the video! Sign up here!

HAPPY HAPPYS

Happy Cupcake Day and World Blood Donor Day!

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

Tom Dheere is the VO Strategist, a voice over business & marketing coach and demo producer since 2011. He is also a voice actor with over 20 years of experience who has narrated just about every type of voiceover you can think of. When not voicing or talking about voicing, he produces the sci-fi comic book Agent 1.22.