We work in an environment filled with audios and voices. Voices are frequently being used in
industries like E-learning, IVRs, and audiobooks which are foreseeing immense growth. So
what are the reasons due to which ‘voice’ is dominating in every sphere? Brands and
companies these days know that to capture customer’s attention it is essential to impactfully
engage them. As people respond and retain better when exposed to visuals and sounds,
most of the marketing campaigns and advertisements are incorporating audios and
images/visuals due to which there seems to be a lot of potential for voice talent and artists.
The voice-over industry has also gone through a drastic change since the 1990s and 2000s
when there weren’t many advanced and sophisticated equipment for voice over recordings
and it required lots of efforts to find Advertisement voice-over artists for Hindi or any
other language. Earlier the microphones had difficulties in picking up high frequencies
especially that of women and child voices, hence male voices were preferred for making any
announcement or voice overs in general. Also, most of the work was done for radio
commercials and television advertisement voice over. But with the advancement in
technology today, women today perform almost half of all voice over jobs and the voice
overs are now more ‘narration-oriented’ as the E-learning and audiobook industry are
evolving remarkably.
Some of the recent trends that the voice over industry has witnessed are:
1. With an increase in voice overs in different languages and accents, English still remains the preferred language: Well, the reason isn’t difficult to understand. English
is the largest language by number of speakers, and the third most-spoken native
language in the world. With brands and organisations focussing more on people’s
local and geographical languages, there has been an increase in voice overs being
done in the accents, dialects and languages of the customers. As companies want to
create an emotional connection with the audience by creating a hyper-local feel, they
want voice overs in the native languages of the customers. But the demand and
requirement of English voice overs still top the list.
2. Social Media and Education sectors have an enormous potential: Internet and social
media platforms have become an essential part of this generation’s lifestyle.
Marketers know that this area can be explored for generating revenue, hence there is
a tremendous increase in promoting campaigns, events and announcements via
voice-overs in the online market. Also, as corporate offices, schools and colleges are
opting for E-learning courses, the education sector has boomed globally for voice
actors and voice over agencies.
3. Human voice is still picked over synthetic ones: It’s not a secret that voice interacting
technologies are evolving everyday. With more and more work being done in the
fields of AI, virtual assistants and machine learning, new developments have taken
place in speech recognition and voice biometrics. But it’s safe to say that human
voice and interaction is still preferred by everyone for communication and for carrying
out business functions. Infact voice over actors can seek new opportunities in
projects related to Artificial Intelligence and computerized voices domain.
4. Gender and Pay disparity: NO MORE! Earlier male voices – mostly with a deep
baritone, were preferred for carrying out the voice-over jobs. But with advancement in
microphones and other studio equipment and more women in the workforce, the
voice over industry has also seen a rise with about 50% women to men ratio. Given
the speed of this trend, females may even surpass the difference in pay scale in the
coming years as companies are opting more for female voice-overs to make their
content sound ‘relatable and believable’.
Today, from commercials to IVRs to brand promotion and announcements – voice overs are
everywhere! Marketers know that audios add engaging elements to any content or script and
also understand the power of a captivating voice. Keeping the industry trends in mind while
seeking voice talent services for your next project may come handy to you or your
organisation!
As voice actors can make or break a brand image, it is important to select the actors wisely
before hiring them. While you need to listen to various voice samples or ask for a demo of
numerous voice artists to make your selection, you should also ensure the following:
1. Voice Clarity
Poor quality or unclear voices create confusion and may tarnish the message you
want to send out to your customers. The voice actor should have confidence and
clarity in his/her voice and each word must be audible throughout the script.
2. Pronunciation
Clear pronunciation and enunciation of words help the audience to grasp the content
easily and process it better.
3. Tone
While selecting the voice over artist, choose the tone that evokes the appropriate
emotion and feel in the listener. This will help to persuade the user to take a quick
call-to-action!
4. Understanding the context
If the voice artist does not know the context behind the message and is unaware
about the terminologies, how will he/she breathe life into the content? You should
ensure that the artists have complete idea about what and how to deliver as they are
the bridge between your brand and the listeners
5. Control on voice and consistency
A professional good voice actor knows how to control his or her voice; importance of
voice modulation and right pitch, volume, and inflection.
6. Details are important
If you hear something you like, you ensure that you are paying details to voice
characterisation, narration speed and pacing. The voice artist should be
conversational, relaxed and confident during voice overs and should have the ability
to deliver a good performance, every time.
If you want to hire engaging voice over actor for Animation video or Audiobooks,
Voyzapp can help you to receive professional voice over recordings in a minimum turn-around time
through numerous professional voice over artists who work in multiple languages and
dialects across multiple categories.
Explore your options carefully while making the choice to hire the voice artist. Undoubtedly,
the perfect voice is out there just waiting for you to take the right decision.
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