Vocal Media has been touted as Medium’s main competition, offering writers a chance to earn money from views on their content.
I’ve been a member of Vocal Media since February 2021; I’m now prepared to give my assessment of the platform and whether it’s definitively worth it for writers to join over Medium. Here are my findings:
I MADE MORE MONEY ON VOCAL MEDIA THAN MEDIUM
When I tallied my earnings on both Medium and Vocal Media, I was pleasantly surprised to find that my earnings on Vocal Media outpaced what I earned on Medium.
However, the reason for my success on Vocal Media over Medium isn’t straightforward.
First, it’s important to explain how writers can earn money on each platform:
How Medium Works
Writers are paid based on a nebulous algorithm which rewards content that is engaged with by members of the Medium Partner Program.
Basically, it means 10 engaged followers and readers that are paying members of Medium do more to impact your earnings than 1000 random readers that found your content through a Google search.
How Vocal Media Works
Writers are paid $3.80 per 1000 views, regardless of whether the reader is a Vocal+ member or not.
There is also a payment threshold for both platforms. For Vocal Media, members have to earn a minimum of $20 before cashing out; non-members must reach a minimum of $35.
In 2021, Medium announced it would raise the minimum threshold to $10. As of the writing of this post, Medium has not yet implemented the minimum threshold, but in the near future, it is Medium’s intent to raise the payment threshold to $10.
What’s interesting is that I received substantially more views on my Medium content than my Vocal Media content.
So why did I earn $103.32 on Medium but $162.18 on Vocal in 2021?
The Answer? Bonuses.
From reads alone on Vocal Media, I’ve made barely $6, a far cry from the $20 minimum required for members.
However, through a combination of tips and bonuses accrued from reaching milestones and creating content deemed by Vocal Media as “Top Stories”, I swiftly made up the difference.
Couple that with an annual membership ($120 value) I was gifted by the Vocal team as part of my willingness to volunteer in a survey, and my returns far outweigh what I made on Medium.
It’s apparent that earnings on Vocal Media are less predictable than Medium. If my writing does well on Medium, I can anticipate a higher-than-average return on investment (ROI).
With Vocal Media, my views and engagement are consistently poor, but as long as the Vocal Media team deems my writing worth sharing on their front page and I can provide value to the team in other ways, it’s a lucrative relationship.
However, given the volatility of Vocal Media’s business model and how it works to get paid, I likely will not renew my Vocal+ membership when it expires.
VOCAL CHALLENGES HAVE ISSUES…BUT THEY’RE GETTING BETTER
Pun intended, I have been quite vocal about my grievances about the management of the writing challenges — Vocal Media’s much-ballyhooed writing contests. Just watch my two Youtube videos on the matter to see my concerns on whether Vocal Media is a scam:
The challenges first appeared on my radar shortly after I joined the site, with the heavily publicized Little Black Book Challenge.
I joined, but was particularly struck by the sweepstakes-esque manner in how the judging process took place. Things came to a head with the Summer Fiction Series Writing Challenges, when participants were quick to point out that a second-place winner ignored the guidelines with an entry far exceeding the upper word count limit.
Since these egregious gaffes, Vocal Media has taken to heart their need for more transparency. The platform has now shared informative posts detailing how they judge their contests and who is part of the in-house Vocal Media Judging panel.
Their most recent writing challenge, The Vocal+ Fiction Awards, was handled in a much better way, with a sizable longlist of 1000 notable stories being announced one month before the top 25 finalists were revealed a month later.
This shows me that they are actually taking the time to scrutinize all of the entries and it doesn’t feel like they’ve randomly picked a story from a list of names.
Another way Vocal Media can improve would be to increase their manpower around contest deadlines. When a challenge is set to close, the time it takes for a story on Vocal Media to get published increases substantially, with some posts sitting in the queue for up to a week.
NIGERIAN SITE STEALING CONTENT??
Earlier this year I made the troubling discovery that a Nigerian site is taking content from Vocal Media and erasing the names of its authors.
I’m not sure if Vocal Media is aware of this theft, or if they are willing participants and are making additional revenue from creators’ output without offering the appropriate compensation.
Since I have little information on this, I will continue to observe the situation; hopefully Vocal Media will address the issue in the future.
USERS NOT GETTING PAID??
Perhaps the most damning revelation for Vocal Media is that certain users were facing difficulty redeeming their earned income.
Writer Abena documented in length her difficulty in collecting payment from Vocal Media, citing that the platform was refusing to pay her $400 because they questioned the validity of her traffic.
I reached out to Abena Talks, and she stated that Vocal Media has since paid her what she was owed (but not before she threatened legal action).
I have not experienced an obstacle in collecting payment from Vocal Media, and I’m unclear if Abena’s situation is an isolated incident, but it’s still something very concerning to consider with Vocal Media.
FINAL VERDICT
Having been on the site for over a year, I can safely say that my opinion on Vocal Media has not changed. Vocal Media is not a scam.
Is Vocal Media worth it? The jury’s still out.
It is a good starting point for novice writers who wish to share their writing and gain confidence in their abilities without starting a blog or paying for hosting fees. But I would not give the platform any money for a Vocal+ membership.
If your goal is to make money, then I would suggest Medium over Vocal Media. Medium may not spotlight its fiction content as heavily as its essays and articles, but its business model has proven more reliable than what’s happening at Vocal.
When it comes to Vocal Media’s writing challenges, there are tons of writing contests online that can be entered for free, so I can’t in good faith recommend that writers sign up for a Vocal+ membership just to be eligible to participate.
My best advice is to cross-post anything that you post on Vocal Media to Medium if possible, to increase its reach.
If you are undeterred by my review of Vocal Media, you can join Vocal+ with a 7-day free trial by clicking this link:Vocal
Vocal is a platform for supporting, discovering and rewarding creators.vocal.media
(This is my referral link; if you join Vocal + using this link I earn $20).
Hi, thanks for adding my name to your article. I personally still think Vocal Media are scammers. I have earned a significant amount from Vocal and they still continue to refuse payment. I have articles on the site still that earn money. I’ve stopped engaging or even sharing my content but my writing still earns money. When I request payment they ignore the request. When I send emails, they are also ignored. I don’t recommend this vile platform to anyone. It’s a dangerous platform because when they see you earning large amounts of money, they tell some story that your traffic is fake. Very strange. Terrible company.
Vocal is far from perfect. Medium is better, but I think I’m going to use 2023 to focus more of my energy toward writing for my novel instead of for these platforms. To me, it will be time better spent.
Thanks for commenting!
Thank you for this topic