BeeAudio announces union deal and major expansion

ASHLAND, Ore. - July 12, 2013 - PRLog -- BeeAudio, the independent producer of audiobooks for most big publishers, has signed a deal with SAG-AFTRA, the union representing narrators.

The company has also cut deals with four new clients and in recent days as news of the imminent deal leaked an additional 30 narrators, including Johnny Heller, Jeffrey Kafer and Tara Sands signed up pending final execution which came yesterday. BeeAudio’s roster now has 225 narrators, editors, proofers and researchers.

“The deal made clear business sense,” said James Adams, BeeAudio’s founder and CEO. “We want to be the most competitive full service audiobook producer and even with the deal, our prices are the best in the business. At the same time, narrators can feel free to go where the work is, which is with us.”

The union had blacklisted the company last November after it claimed there had been a refusal to negotiate. The result was an acrimonious standoff that was broken when the union reached out a month ago.

“Once I started talking to Jane Love at SAG-AFTRA, it took less than a week to cut a deal,” said Adams. “It’s always true that reasonable people on both sides can achieve remarkable things and this deal is right for us and right for the industry.”

"We are thrilled to have an agreement with BeeAudio," said Jane Love, SAG-AFTRA Audiobook negotiator. "It makes sense for the company, the narrators, and the industry and we look forward to working with everyone at Bee going forward."

BeeAudio broke new ground when it began four years ago by offering a fixed price of $295 per finished hour for a completed audiobook. The company developed an exceptionally efficient paperless process that kept costs low while maintaining very high production standards. Since then, prices have fallen across the industry as publishers and producers have become more price-conscious and competitive.

At the same time, BeeAudio keeps overhead to a minimum with no office, no salaried staff and a transparent production and payment process where everyone gets a fixed share of revenue.

Under the new deal, beginning narrators will be paid $150 per finished hour and more experienced narrators up to $240pfh. Despite this increase in costs, BeeAudio will keep the starting cost of a finished audiobook to $325pfh by cutting margin and increasing volume.

For more information:

James Adams

541 864 9930

James@beeaudio.com