Voices.com

Voices.com is a job search website focusing on voice actors and voice actor employers, headquartered in London, Ontario.[3] The company has a user base of more than 500,000 registered individuals and companies, and is reportedly the largest business of its kind.[2][4] In 2017, Voices.com had over 100 employees with clients and voice talent in 160 countries.[2]

Voices.com
Founded15 December 2003
Headquarters100 Dundas St. Suite 700
London, Ontario N6A 5B6
Canada
Area servedGlobal
Key peopleDavid Ciccarelli CEO, Co-founder
Stephanie Ciccarelli CBO, Co-founder
Drew Forrett Chief Financial Officer
Andrew Ackles VP, Sales
Alina Morkin VP, Marketing
IndustryMedia / Entertainment
Revenue$10 million (2014)[1]
Employees100+ (2017)[2]
URLwww.voices.com

History

Voices.com was founded in 2003 by husband and wife David and Stephanie Ciccarelli and was officially incorporated in 2004 in Ontario, Canada.[5] Prior to founding the company, David studied audio engineering at the Ontario Institute of Audio Recording Technology, and operated a recording studio.[6] Through the studio, Ciccarelli met his eventual wife, a musician and vocalist studying at University of Western Ontario.[7][8] As his studio received more and more inquiries from actors looking for voiceover work, the pair saw the opportunity to connect the actors with businesses looking to hire voice talent and decided to focus on creating an online marketplace instead of producing content.[9][10]

The original name for the business was Interactive Voices. Later, it purchased the website Voices.com for $30,000 from the medical journal Silencing the Critical Voices in Your Head.[11] In 2006, the company's CEO was criticized for claiming that the Google radio ad product, was nearly identical to the one offered by Voices.com despite having not seen it.[12] In 2011, the company moved its headquarters from Western University's research park to a larger space in downtown London, Ontario.[3] From February to May 2013, the company participated in the Canadian Technology Incubator in Silicon Valley.[13]

The Ciccarellis' book, Voice Acting for Dummies was published in 2013. In 2014, the company launched its first non-English site, for Spanish speakers in Latin America.[14] That same year, the company began a $3.6 million expansion project supported by the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario.[15] In April 2015, Voices.com raised $2 million in funding from a division of the Business Development Bank of Canada.[16] As part of the 2015 Canada Technology Accelerator, the company set up a temporary office in New York City.[17][18] In 2016, the company relocated to a roughly 45,000 square foot location in downtown London, Ontario.[19]

Voices.com raised $18 million in funding from Morgan Stanley Expansion Capital in July 2017.[20] In August 2017, the company purchased the California-based Voicebank.net, an online casting and project management platform for an undisclosed amount.[21]

Overview

Voices.com is a platform that provides prices for different kinds of voice services, such as commercials or voicemail messages. Actors are not required to join a union to secure work on Voices.com and can audition for all jobs after joining the company's marketplace, however some of the clients seeking voice actors for national network campaigns, feature films, movie trailers and video game work require that talent joins the SAG-AFTRA union.[22] It also has a library of articles to educate users about the voice acting industry and trends in the field.[23] It allows employers in small markets to connect with voice actors in other regions, as well as connecting larger companies with voice actors.[24] The site offers freelancers in more than 100 languages and dialects. Beside each freelancer's name there is a demo of the person's voice that employers can listen to.[25][26] In May 2012, the website launched an app for iPad and iPhone devices,[27] followed by the release of an app for Android devices in January 2013, both allowing job seekers to interact with potential employers directly over their mobile devices.[5] The company added an app for the Apple watch in 2015.[28] Clients that have worked with Voices.com include ESPN, PBS, The History Channel, Reader’s Digest, NBC, DreamWorks Animation, Sony, and Greer & Associates.[3][5][29]

Controversies and criticism

In 2015, Voices.com has been accused by several voice actors of funneling client's budgets intended to pay the actor's fee to the company by installing an intransparent system of "managed services" fees. Neither the talents nor the clients had been informed about how much of a given budget would be taken by Voices.com.[30] In an interview with Graeme Spicer, David Ciccarelli finally admitted to that practice.[31] After realizing the backlash the interview would create, it was not published as intended. Over the following months and years, more talents have voiced their concerns about Voices.com's business ethics.[32][33]

See also

References
  1. Philippe de Montigny, "Debt-financing route helps keep voice-over business in the family," Financial Post, 8 September 2014.
  2. Jacquelyn LeBel (9 August 2017). "London's Voice.com to Acquire VoiceBank.net". Global News.
  3. John Matisz (7 August 2012). "The voice of success – Local company up for province-wide biz award". Metro. Retrieved 5 March 2013.
  4. Claire Brownell (29 April 2015). "Voices.com Plans to go Global With $2 Million in Funding". Financial Post. Retrieved 14 November 2017.
  5. John Matisz (21 January 2013). "Voices.com in London gets more interactive". Metro. Retrieved 5 March 2013.
  6. David Ciccarelli, "When Creating an Online Marketplace, Start Local and Think Global," Wall Street Journal, 3 March 2015.
  7. Adela Talbot (16 November 2017). "Backing Raises Voices Among Elite Firms". westernu.ca. Retrieved 14 April 2018.
  8. Angela McInnes (19 July 2017). "10 Questions With Stephani Ciccarelli, Co-Founder of Voices.com". Londonfuse.ca. Retrieved 14 April 2018.
  9. John Lorinc (10 September 2014). "How London, Ontario-based Voices.com Optimized its Services for Foreign Markets". canadianbusiness.com. Retrieved 14 November 2017.
  10. Friedman, Thomas L. (13 December 2009). "The Do-It-Yourself Economy". The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com. Retrieved 25 May 2011. We had a script that called for 4 to 5 voices. Rather than hiring local voice talent – for $250 to $500 per hour – we searched the Internet for high-quality voices that we could afford. We found several sites offering various forms of narration or voice-overs. We selected www.voices.com. In less than one minute, we created an account, posted our requirements and solicited bids. Within five minutes, we had 10 to 15 'applicants.
  11. Sprouter (17 October 2010). "Voices.com founder: Be quick and always give great service". Financial Post. Retrieved 5 March 2013.
  12. "Startup Cries Foul at Google's New Radio Ads Product". https://techcrunch.com: Tech Crunch. Retrieved 25 May 2011. Voices.com CEO David Ciccarelli is crying foul at part of Google’s new radio ad product, which is in beta testing with select Google Adwords customers.
  13. Greg Picken (20 February 2013). "Voices.com Participating in the Canadian Technology Accelerator in Silicon Valley". techalliance.ca. Retrieved 5 December 2017.
  14. Paul Attfield, "Voice-over entrepreneurs make their own good vibrations," The Globe and Mail, 5 May 2014.
  15. "Voices.com Embarks on $3.6-million Project With Federal Support". communitech.ca. 30 October 2014. Retrieved 14 April 2018.
  16. Kirk Falconer (30 April 2015). "BDC Capital Invests $2mln in Voice-Over Marketplace Voices.com". pehub.com. Retrieved 14 April 2018.
  17. Steven D’Souza, "Canadian tech companies look to make it big in New York," CBC News, 18 May 2015.
  18. Brenda Bouw, "Canadian startups take bite out of the Big Apple through federal program," The Globe and Mail, 2 March 2015.
  19. Norman De Bono (29 June 2016). "Voices.com Needs Room to Grow". lfpress.com. Retrieved 14 April 2018.
  20. Amira Zubairi (14 April 2018). "Voices.com Raises $18 Million to Scale Global Operations For 200,000-Strong Voice Actor Network". betakit.com. Retrieved 13 November 2017.
  21. "London, Ont.-based Voices.com Acquires California-based Rival". itbusiness.ca. 9 August 2017. Retrieved 14 April 2018.
  22. Siddarth Vodnala (8 September 2015). "Voice-over Actors Are Talking Up the Apps that Help Them Get Work". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 14 November 2017.
  23. TJ McCue (14 September 2010). "Voiceover Talent for Your Small Business: Review of Voices.com". Small Business Trends. Retrieved 5 March 2013.
  24. Thomas Friedman (12 December 2009). "The Do-It-Yourself Economy". The New York Times. Retrieved 5 March 2013.
  25. Steve Mollman (11 June 2007). "Internet gives voice to unseen actors". CNN. Retrieved 5 March 2013.
  26. Blake Ellis (5 October 2010). "Surprising six-figure jobs: Voice actor for TV commercials". CNN. Retrieved 5 March 2013.
  27. "Voices.com launches new mobile app for iPhone and iPad". London Community News. 7 May 2012. Retrieved 5 March 2013.
  28. "Voices.com Launches Apple Watch App". Techvibes.com. 23 April 2015. Retrieved 14 November 2017.
  29. Friedman, Thomas L. (13 December 2009). "The Do-It-Yourself Economy". The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com. Retrieved 25 May 2011.
  30. "Voices.com Secretly Pockets Almost 40% (or more) of Talent Fees". April 2015. Retrieved 16 January 2021.
  31. "THE INTERVIEW VOICES.COM DOESN'T WANT YOU TO HEAR". 9 November 2015. Retrieved 28 January 2021.
  32. "Voices.com Review by Todd Schick Professional Voice Talent". 13 November 2017. Retrieved 16 January 2021.
  33. "Voices.com Reviews…MAJOR UPDATE! Why did all the top talent leave?". October 2016. Retrieved 16 January 2021.
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