Voices.com

Voices.com
Founded 15 December 2003
Headquarters 100 Dundas St. Suite 700
London, Ontario N6A 5B6
Canada
Area served Global
Founder(s) David Ciccarelli (CEO)
Stephanie Ciccarelli (CBO)
Industry Media / Entertainment
Revenue $10 million (2014)[1]
Employees 90 (2015)[2]
Website Official website
Alexa rank Decrease 48,631 (December 2015)[3]
Launched 25 October 2011

Voices.com is a job search website focusing on voice actors and voice actor employers, headquartered in London, Ontario.[4] The company has a global user base of more than 200,000 registered individuals and companies.[5]

Company history

Voices.com was founded in 2004 by husband and wife David and Stephanie Ciccarelli and was officially incorporated in 2005 in Ontario, Canada.[5] The couple first developed the business on the back of a paper napkin while sitting at their kitchen table.[4] The original name for the business was Interactive Voices, and eventually purchased the website Voices.com for $30,000 from the medical journal Silencing the Critical Voices in Your Head.[6] It allows employers in small markets to connect with voice actors in other regions, as well as connecting larger companies with voice actors.[7] In 2011 Voices.com had revenues of $2,266,887, 97% of which came from exports.[8] That year the company moved its headquarters from Western University's research park to a larger space in downtown London, Ontario.[4] In 2014, the company launched its first non-English site, for Spanish speakers in Latin America.[9] As part of the 2015 Canada Technology Accelerator, the company set up a temporary office in New York City for four months.[2][10]

Business overview

Voices.com has a store function that provides prices for different kinds of voice services, such as commercials or voicemail messages. It also has a library of articles to educate users about the voice acting industry and trends in the field.[11] The site offers freelancers in more than 100 languages. Beside each freelancer's name there is a small sample of the person's voice that employers can listen to.[12][13] In May 2012 the website launched an app for iPad and iPhone devices,[14] 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] Clients that have worked with Voices.com include ESPN, PBS, The History Channel, Reader’s Digest, NBC, DreamWorks Animation, Sony, and Greer & Associates.[4][5][15]

People

David Ciccarelli currently serves as CEO of the company, while Stephanie Ciccarelli serves as chief brand officer.[16][17] They are the authors of the book Voice Acting For Dummies, published in 2013.[9][18] David Ciccarelli studied audio engineering at the Ontario Institute of Audio Recording Technology,[19] and opened a recording studio after he graduated.[20] He has been nominated for the Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award by the Business Development Bank of Canada.[21]

Awards

Controversies

In 2006 CEO of Voices.com David Ciccarelli claimed that the Google radio ad product, which was in beta testing at the time, was nearly identical to the one offered by Voices.com. Ciccarelli admitted, however, that he hadn't actually seen Google's product, and neglected to mention that Google's offering was based on technology developed by dMarc, which Google had acquired the previous year.[25]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Philippe de Montigny, “Debt-financing route helps keep voice-over business in the family,” Financial Post, September 8, 2014.
  2. 1 2 Steven D’Souza, “Canadian tech companies look to make it big in New York,” CBC News, May 18, 2015.
  3. ↑ "Voices.com Site Info". Alexa Internet. Retrieved 2015-12-13.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 John Matisz (7 August 2012). "The voice of success – Local company up for province-wide biz award". Metro. Retrieved 5 March 2013.
  5. 1 2 3 4 John Matisz (21 January 2013). "Voices.com in London gets more interactive". Metro. Retrieved 5 March 2013.
  6. ↑ Sprouter (17 October 2010). "Voices.com founder: Be quick and always give great service". Financial Post. Retrieved 5 March 2013.
  7. ↑ Thomas Friedman (12 December 2009). "The Do-It-Yourself Economy". New York Times. Retrieved 5 March 2013.
  8. ↑ "Voices.com (Interactive Voices Inc.)". Profit Guide. Retrieved 5 March 2013.
  9. 1 2 Paul Attfield, “Voice-over entrepreneurs make their own good vibrations,” The Globe and Mail, May 5, 2014.
  10. ↑ Brenda Bouw, “Canadian startups take bite out of the Big Apple through federal program,” The Globe and Mail, March 2, 2015.
  11. ↑ TJ McCue (14 September 2010). "Voiceover Talent for Your Small Business: Review of Voices.com". Small Business Trends. Retrieved 5 March 2013.
  12. ↑ Steve Mollman (11 June 2007). "Internet gives voice to unseen actors". CNN. Retrieved 5 March 2013.
  13. ↑ Blake Ellis (5 October 2010). "Surprising six-figure jobs: Voice actor for TV commercials". CNN. Retrieved 5 March 2013.
  14. ↑ "Voices.com launches new mobile app for iPhone and iPad". London Community News. 7 May 2012. Retrieved 5 March 2013.
  15. ↑ Friedman, Thomas L. (13 December 2009). "The Do-It-Yourself Economy". http://www.nytimes.com: The New York Times. 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.
  16. ↑ Mary Knox Merrill. "Easy High-Paying Jobs – Voice Actor". CNBC. Retrieved 5 March 2013.
  17. ↑ Entries by Stephanie Ciccarelli, Huffington Post. Accessed January 10, 2015.
  18. ↑ David Ciccarelli and Stephanie Ciccarelli (2012). Voice Acting For Dummies. For Dummies. Retrieved 5 March 2013.
  19. ↑ "David Ciccarelli". Tech Vibes. Retrieved 5 March 2013.
  20. ↑ David Ciccarelli, “When Creating an Online Marketplace, Start Local and Think Global,” Wall Street Journal, March 3, 2015.
  21. ↑ "David Ciccarelli". Tech Vibes. Retrieved 5 March 2013.
  22. ↑ Phillip Britt (September 2007). "The 2007 Market Awards: Elite -- Voices.com". CRM Magazine. Retrieved 5 March 2013.
  23. ↑ “Business Achievement Awards,” London Chamber of Commerce. Accessed December 13, 2015.
  24. ↑ “The 2015 Profit 500: Canada’s Fastest Growing Marketing Companies,” Profit, September 17, 2015.
  25. ↑ "Startup Cries Foul at Google's New Radio Ads Product". http://www.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.
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