What Is Going On in the Voiceover Industry!?
“What is going on in the VoiceOver industry!?”
This is the exact question that appeared in my inbox a few days ago. I suppose I’ve been in the industry for years, and it’s been a slow change, but I’ve seen it.
Here’s the message I received:
Not sure what’s going on in the voiceover industry, as I've been out of that game for over a decade now, but I've had a rash of requests to book the studio recently for voiceover demo reel recording.
I used to get one per year maybe... we mainly do music here, but I've gotten half a dozen in the past week alone.
Odd... Just wanted to see if I could perhaps chat about how to steer some of these folks in the right direction and let them take it from there.
Our studio usually only deals with labels and management companies. I read your blog article on practice scripts and it's quite impressive. It's probably one of the first places I would suggest to check out, as it's very well presented. If you have any suggestions, it would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!
And my response:
Great to hear from you - I hope you're well! Thanks for writing :)
YES - the voiceover industry has had a bit of an explosion... I've been following this for a few years now. Multiple things are at play here:
The pandemic forcing people to figure out other income streams
People wanting to work for themselves
Voiceover "coaches" and "industry experts" who promise big money by becoming a voiceover talent... so they sell courses...
Maybe someone listed your studio as a place to contact?? Some don't even research and blast any production company for work.
Many want to get right into the studio and record a demo. It's like someone who just learned how to play drums, and wants to record for an album.
The top demo producers in the VO industry are either booked or can cost $3K+ to work with.
The recommendation is to work with a coach first, work on your craft/voice, THEN do a demo.
A good demo producer will write custom spots, so practice scripts aren't ideal for recording a professional demo. Not my words - just industry standards (if we even have standards these days!? lol)
Would you produce those demos -- or just be a studio where they can record?
One thought - would be to find some local, vetted voiceover coaches who can help "massage" the voice and ready it for demo recording. Or reach out to a voiceover booth director? Or be the New York base for recording live - and work with remote voiceover producers?
I don't know business-wise what would make the most sense...
Here are some of the top demo producers -- you can always check out their sites, see their process, hear their work -- connect with them if you want, etc.:
Eric Romanowski - (my commercial demo producer!)
Henry Willard (my narration demo producer!)
Dave Fennoy - VO Booth Coach
Don't want to overwhelm you.... Just passing along some resources to help you figure out what you want to do next! :)
And if someone is brand new -- and wants to get started in VO but doesn't know where to start - I did a blog post about that too - How to Get Started in Voiceover.
I realize that there are many other great demo producers and coaches. I’m only listing a few that I KNOW are professional and highly esteemed. Please feel free to leave a comment below if you’d like to add a vetted demo producer!
Our industry is growing fast. Yes, there are so many “newbies” coming into the industry. I’ve seen this in the photography industry as well. Some will be amazing and some will fizzle out. Most will try to mimic someone else, and there will be a few gems that change our industry for the better.
My bet is on those gems - the ones who carve their own path to success and find their voice to bring hope to the world.
Comment below with demo producer links or helpful advice for studios who are seeing a huge influx in inquiries for demo production! Your insight is valuable.
