Voice Over Artist Jobs

A voice artist has an exciting and flexible job with the opportunity to earn a lot of money without very much time invested. It will initially take a bit of time to train and build up a decent portfolio before the big radio stations will consider hiring you to present certain spots and advertise for them. For radio commercials, you might have to join a VOX agency and get voiceover jobs via castings and auditions.

This kind of work is not permanent as such and you will get paid per job you do.

Voice Over Artist Job Description

A voice over artist is needed for radio commercials and various radio announcements to convey a message or to act out a scene for the purposes of advertising. The voice talents are hired by advertising agencies to take part in radio commercials from a VOX agency where they are collected on a database. This agency will represent the voice talent and get them jobs in film, TV, radio, corporate, online, or any other area in which voice artists are needed.

Training

There are lots of areas where you can train to be a voice-over artist. You should have a naturally good sounding voice to start off with. Course instructors look for good quality, strong tone, interesting voices, and naturally good diction. The training will include all the areas that you may be required for such as radio commercials hard sell and soft sell, film, narrative, and acting. You can also get short courses in voice over training for radio, which includes hard sell, soft sell, diction, tone, inflection, accents, microphone technique, characterization and more. The training can last anywhere from a few weeks to a few years depending on how advanced the student is and how much they need to learn about the different sections of the voice recording industry.

How to Become a Voice Talent

There are often adverts online or in newspapers that ask for voice artists. You can usually get trained specifically for a company, or if you want to start off with some training first, you can find out from radio DJs or acting agencies where you can get trained. Becoming a voice over artist has been made very easy nowadays with the Internet.

There are hundreds of websites you can join as a voice-over artist and perform voice recordings online if you have the necessary equipment. There is a lot of potential in this line of work, but if you really want to break into the radio broadcast arena as a voice recording artist, you can apply with a demo and CV to as many radio stations as you can. It is advisable to start off applying to community radio and in-store radio stations to get some radio experience and a name for yourself. For work that is indirect and where you have to get hired by an advertising company, you must first join a voice agency in your area. Many acting agencies also accept voice talents for their books, so apply at as many places as you can.

Voice Artist Rate Card and Earnings

The voice recording artist has varying rates at which they work. A voice artist rate card can also differ from agency to agency and depending on where you live. Certain adverts will pay more than others and your voice artist rate card will also vary between radio work, TV, online, corporate and others. You will get paid a usage fee for your voice as well as a flat rate per day for your time. For radio work like announcing, a voice recording artist is usually paid anywhere between $200 and $1,000 per minute of recording.