#17 RIP Voice123 API, Sample edit hell, V123 Pros Challenge, Accents & Ethnicities Changes
Holy shit, Batman.
This week:
FYI Voice123 just changed how your page returns data
FYI Samples move all over the place when edited
Join the V123 Pros on a 14-day challenge
Check out the changes to the Accents & Ethnicities section
and PAUSED services
Voice123 API
I use a very gentle spider to copy down into a spreadsheet only the public information on the samples on your profile — like what you named them, and which Purposes of Recording tags you used — to compile an analysis of your profile’s health and give you guidance on how to maximize your profile so that you show up when clients search for you. If you’ve ever tried to do that manually, you’ll know how much of a crazy time sink it is.
Voice123 just changed it. A few minutes ago.
So I have to rebuild my little spider.
I’m not sure if it’s a test, or temporary. Maybe tomorrow they’ll change it back, who knows. But for now, please send me positive thoughts.
It won’t make any difference to your experience on the site though!
Samples still move all around the playlist when edited
If you have sent in a support request to have this glitch fixed, bless you, you rockstar. If they have written back acting like they have no idea what this glitch is or how it works, and asked you to record a video, please remember that customer support are probably not the same people working on the backend of the site, and they genuinely don’t know what’s up because they aren’t in there working on editing samples the way you and I are.
So keep the cheek to a minimum, and if you’re able, go edit a sample and record it, to show them how the samples move after being saved.
14-day challenge to finally get your profile in better shape
Have you been putting this off?
Now’s a great time to get moving on updating your V123 profile!
The V123 Pros are running a 14-day challenge to help you refresh your profile. In just 2 weeks, you’ll make major changes! And each day you get an email with a small actionable step, so it won’t feel daunting. There’s also a community forum to tap in to.
Accents and Ethnicities updates
This is important. Go check the Accents and Ethnicities on your samples.
Some of the old options on the search drop-down have disappeared, and now some of the things you type freehand will automatically convert into something else after you save it.
For example, just plain “American” is gone from the search drop-down. If you type “Black” in, it will automatically switch to “African American (AAVE)” — but you can’t type in “African American (AAVE)” yourself because the field automatically disallows symbols like the (parenthesis), and if you type “African American AAVE” then it saves that way and doesn’t automatically switch.
So it’s a subtle change, but you might notice that if you’d tagged some samples as both “North American General” and “American,” then you might now have two “North American General” tags on one sample. Again.
If you notice anything else while experimenting in the Accents and Ethnicities section, please let me know! nikki@onlinecastingoptimizer.com
And a personal note
Because of the lethal combination of the sample-moves-when-edited glitch and today’s API update, I am pausing all V123 services, effective immediately, until I have updated all my tools and workflows so that they work with the platform’s current setup.
The only exception is for VIP clients who need to upload new samples.
Anyone already in the pipeline will be first in line once I’m able to resume.
Sorry, friends. I’m super disappointed, and am working as fast as I can to understand the new system and update all my tools to work with it.
Best,
Nikki