Getting balled up in the fast, good or cheap syndrome seems risky business to me. There must be a better way.

Perhaps it’s because I’m originally from Europe, but I am used to colleagues arguing in favor of fair rates which allow people to pay their bills, support their families and their communities and even save some for a rainy day. That’s why I want to see reasonable minimum rates, and because of that, some participants called me a proponent of price fixing. I guess that’s worse than working for a symbolic fee and not being able to make ends meet.

Of course this issue is not unique to this industry. My wife, a flutist, is constantly competing with other flute teachers in her neck of the woods, who offer lessons at a third of what she’s is charging. It turns out that these cheap rate teachers either have no idea of what the going rate is, or they don’t have to make a living as a teacher. They are supported by their partner, and what they make from teaching is just gravy. I have a feeling that it’s the same in our voice-over community.

The cost of living is going up and our rates are going down. Going for the quick buck is also the result of a way if thinking that focuses on the individual and not on the community. I call this type of thinking a “ME attitude” versus a “WE attitude”. “As long as MY needs are met, I’m okay. I am not responsible for the rest…” seems to be the modus operandi.

“$20 is a tankful of gas for me and, these days, a tankful of gas is a lot in my world,” wrote someone. I want to know what type of car this person is driving and where I can fill up my tank for twenty bucks!

I also feel that the rise of Pay-to-Plays has more than a little to do with the erosion of rates. Perhaps it’s me, but doesn’t it strike you as odd that almost every project on voices.com is in the $100-$250 budget range, regardless of the nature of the job? Movie trailers, TV commercials, audio books…. going once, going twice…. SOLD to the lowest bidder! What happened to full buy-outs and retainers? What happened to the folks who stood up for the talent they represent, demanding a fair fee?

Thankfully, I have also heard other stories. I read about a voice-seeker the other day, who said that we would never ever hire a talent at $200 per hour. “If it’s that cheap, it can’t be good,” he said. Instead, he always went to an agent and always hired Union talent. “I might be paying more,” he said, “but ultimately, quality pays for itself.”

That’s the thing some people don’t get. If you add tremendous value, you deserve to be compensated accordingly. If you start accepting bargain basement rates, you tell the world that you believe that that’s acceptable. In China, $20 might be a nice chunk of money. But life’s a lot cheaper over there.

In the United States, millions can’t afford health insurance and need to work two jobs in order to get by. Even people with health insurance end up going bankrupt because not everything is covered. I guess that’s capitalism too. It’s the high price of CHEAP. It’s going down FAST, and it ain’t GOOD!