Rejected samples, but no reason was given for the rejection
I had 3 audiobook samples rejected for no reason. When I say "no reason," I mean that no reason was given. The email simply provided a link to a page titled: What constitutes an effective sample? [https://help.bunnystudio.com/hc/en-us/articles/360000253639]
The email said:
* The sample could be a great fit for a previous project but may not be suitable as a sample in our search. To help you decide on which samples to upload in the future, read “What constitutes an effective sample?”
* Keep your samples lean and clean so that they can better represent your skills. Learn more from “How can I remove a sample?”
NO reason given.
I've been a full-time, professional, audiobook narrator since 2016, and I've recorded over 100 audiobooks. Clearly nothing is wrong with my samples from a technical, or audio, point of view. In fact, my narration quality is far better than most narrators as I've been doing audio engineering since 2006. These samples are absolutely perfect according to the technical standards of VB, and fantastic sounding reads that clients of VB would be interested in hearing (and for which I received rave reviews). (I've uploaded the samples for you to listen to.)
I stopped using VB a couple years ago, because I found issues like this far too disruptive and a waste of my time. And I have enough work outside of VB. However, I thought I would give it a try again recently. I thought that if I uploaded samples and replied to every contest I received, etc., perhaps I would get more work here. (I did win a contest with my audition read just yesterday.) But that's not possible when my samples are rejected for no reason.Literally no reason was given for the rejection, simply a link to a page of suggestions. None of which applied to my voice sample. My voice sample didn't violate any of the suggestions on that page.
I'm hoping you can help me so that I can finally take advantage of VB and make some money here. At his point, due to being unable to market myself on the VB platform due to unreasonable (no reason given) rejections of my samples, I couldn't possibly recommend VB to anyone. It seems like a promising platform, but there's too much inconsistency in the approval process that it makes it virtually impossible to market oneself here.
Thanks
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Hi Adam,
Thank you for reaching out to the community again!
We do understand how frustrating it is to receive inconsistent feedback from QC from time to time. I checked all of your audio samples, and I believe that the quality is all good and should be approved!
With that said, the team is currently reviewing where the rejection reason came from to make sure this doesn't happen again.
Please re-upload your samples so they can be approved. If ever this issue happens again, kindly let us know!
Best,
Hiroshi
Hello Adam,
Thank you for getting back to us. Upon checking with the team, it seems like there was a bug in the system and they are currently troubleshooting this issue.
I also got the chance to review your samples along with the QC team this time and we have all aligned that there is some boxiness in the audio which may also have been the reason for your sample rejection.
Feel free to send us another sample once this issue has been addressed.
I'm confused. You said there was a bug in the system, so my samples should have been accepted. But then you also say that it may have been rejected due to some "boxiness." Though twice now my samples have been rejected without any reason being given, and it appears it was a "bug."
I don't hear any unnatural boxiness in the recording, and I sent the audio to other voice talent who agreed with me that there was no issue except perhaps a slight reflection around 1k, and if there is boxiness it's so minimal that it can't be heard unless you turn up the volume incredibly high. And this is the same recording environment I used when all of my previous submissions (over the last few weeks) have been accepted without exception - including a submission which won and was used immediately by the client with no revision requested. So, I'm really confused. All of my contest submissions have been accepted, yet, my samples recorded during the same period were rejected due to a "bug" (or, maybe boxiness). I'm not sure if I should re-record my samples, or wait until you fix the bug.
I'm still confused on what you'd like me to do. Am I waiting for a bug to be fixed, or what? Still over two weeks waiting for a resolution to this issue.
Thank you,
Adam
How long do I have to wait to get my questioned answered? I just want to know if I need to re-record the samples, or if I’m waiting for your team to determine if it was a bug.
Apologies for not clarifying. There seems to be a bug in the system which sends out a generic rejection reason without specifying the issue when QC rejects samples.
Regarding your audio, I do agree that it generally sounds fine. However, the audio has some boxiness and it can be the reason why QC is rejecting your sample. It would be best to upload samples where there is minimal boxiness or room reflections.
I did find one of your samples that had great quality and no boxiness at all: https://bunnystudio.com/voice/samples/170828/
Please re-record and try to match the quality you had in the sample above. Feel free to send us your new samples so we can have them checked with the team before uploading them to the platform.
okay, at this point it is clear that my samples are being rejected automatically without anyone listening to them. By last sample was perfect. No boxiness, or anything.
PLEASE help me solve this problem.
My sample was rejected for NO reason, AGAIN.
Hello Adam,
That is really weird. If the issue of boxiness was addressed, then your samples shouldn't have been rejected. Could you send us your most recent sample that was rejected and a snapshot of the e-mail or view of your sample rejection?
Hiroshi,
"Could you send us your most recent sample that was rejected and a snapshot of the e-mail or view of your sample rejection? "
No problem. 1) I already did send you a link to the new sample compared to the old sample. The link is in my message above, but here it is again. This audio file has the original "boxy" reading and then the new non-boxy reading back-to-back so you can hear the difference. It cuts back and forth between the two, so listen carefully. Again, note that I read the same lines back-to-back for comparison and the audio cuts back and forth between the "boxy" reading and the "non-boxy"reading. https://voca.ro/1oxkkBSr8XbG
2) Here's the full new sample with the boxiness issue fixed (this is what I uploaded to Voice Bunny most recently which was rejected for no reason, again.): https://voca.ro/16xJqIhn59C5
And here is the screen capture of the email. No reason given for the rejection. The rejection came a few hours after I uploaded it.
Hopefully we can ge this fixed now.
Thanks,
Adam
Thank you for sending them over! I'll forward these to the team and I'll get back to you as soon as possible. :)
Did you you have a chance to listen to them? I uploaded some other samples, and they have been accepted without issue. Ironically, I recorded them in the same exact vocal booth the very next day. They were taken from projects I did for paying clients. So, I have no idea why those previous samples were rejected.
I have another question. It's been 14 days since I've had an invite to participate in a contest. Has my account been demoted because of my rejected samples, or something? I'm a full-time voice talent, and I'm available virtually all day to work. It would be nice to get some more work. What do I need to do to get some invites? I seemed to have a lot for a couple weeks, then they just stopped.
It’s been 18 days since this issue started and it’s still not resolved.
As an experiment I submitted two files from the same audiobook recording. One was rejected the other was approved. They’re literally from the same recording. No reason was given for the rejection.
WHAT IS HAPPENING HERE?
Hello? Still waiting for a resolution on this.
I got an email, but I see the comment has been deleted, or something.
Hi Adam,
Upon careful review of your recording with the QC team, there is indeed some boxiness in your recording. This could be the reason for the inconsistencies that are coming from QC's side.
The good news is I found one of your samples that has great quality and which I believe would have no issue passing QC's standards. If possible, I would recommend using the same equipment or recording method that was done with this sample of yours:
https://bunnystudio.com/voice/samples/170828/
Please keep in mind that Bunny Studio implements a stricter quality control process in the North American category due to the abundance of talents that can adhere to quality control feedback and deliver high-quality audio.
Regarding the blank rejection comments that you are receiving, we still have no update from our engineering team as of this moment. I'll be sure to keep you posted as soon as we get a response from them.
Best,
Hiroshi
"If possible, I would recommend using the same equipment or recording method that was done with this sample of yours..."
Yeah, they were the same equipment, method, and recording space. In fact, I had two samples taken from the same recording, just minutes apart. I recorded them yesterday as a test for your QC team. One was rejected and the other was accepted. They were from the SAME recording. My next test will be to upload the same EXACT file twice and see if one is rejected and the other is approved.
Thanks for your feedback so far. My first sample was a bit boxy, yes, but since then I fixed it and have no boxiness. So, I'm not sure how to respond to you, except to do tests to see how inconsistent the QC system is.
Hiroshi,
I haven't had an invite to a context in over 2 weeks? Have I been blocked from participating? How can I get invites? What do I have to do? Please let me know what I have to do to get more involved and get invites to contests, etc. Thank you,
Adam
Hello Adam,
Please know that rejections and inconsistencies in QC do occur when there are issues in the quality of the audio file.
Unfortunately, your latest sample still has some boxiness which could be the reason why there was an inconsistency with the review: https://voca.ro/16xJqIhn59C5
It also sounds quite different from the good sample I sent: https://bunnystudio.com/voice/samples/170828/
To me, it sounds like you're recording in a more enclosed space with your latest sample, or maybe your mic is angled differently. If possible, it would be best to try and match the quality that you had in the good sample that I sent.
Regarding the contests, I don't think you have been blocked or anything but I'll bring this up to the team and let you know within the week.
Regarding the empty rejection comments, I just got a confirmation that there is indeed a bug in the system and we're still waiting for it to be fixed.
Feel free to send us here an improved version of your sample anytime.
Best,
Hiroshi
Update:
I had the chance to complete another contest and my recording was accepted without issue. My contest entries continue to be accepted almost 100% of the time while my samples are still being rejected. Meanwhile I listened to some of the other contest entries approved by QC and accepted by clients and I couldn't help notice, in some cases, even more boxiness than I had in my samples that were recently rejected again. The QC process is incredibly inconsistent. As a voice talent who's completed thousands of jobs in my career, and who continues to complete voice work daily that keeps my clients incredibly happy, I'm totally confused as to why the QC "standards" for my samples are so extremely high while the standards for my contest entries aren't as high. I recently finished two audiobooks and several other shorter projects in that same recording space and received praise from my clients. I think that Voice Bunny is making a big mistake by not allowing me to upload my samples. I think clients would be very happen with not only the quality, but more importantly, my performance.
My next test will be to begin uploading samples that were previously accepted in contests. I'm curious if they will be rejected after having been accepted in contests.
Hello Adam,
Although I do understand how frustrating it is to receive inconsistent feedback from QC, I do believe it may also be a good opportunity to reassess and improve your quality. I look forward to hearing an improved version of your recording in the future.
Our support team will now reach out to you regarding the matter.
Best,
Hiroshi