Voice Over Work Insights From The Voice123 Platform
Whether you’re a seasoned voice actor, or just starting your career; this quarterly report has voice over work insights from the Voice123 platform to help you better optimize your voice over work opportunities through your online profile, voice samples, and auditions.
Voice over work
From January to June, 2022, over 47,000 voice over roles were completed as a result of clients submitting voice over work through casting projects, and contacting and booking voice actors via Voice123.
For the last 20 years, Voice123 has helped countless voice actors and clients to create meaningful and lasting connections. These voice over work opportunities are vital for the voice actors who earn a living through voice over; either full-time or part-time.
The main avenues of our platform that are used to establish these voice over work connections are via clients who create casting projects, book voice actors, use the search tool and interact with voice actors’ samples and profiles.
So, we’ve created this data report to share valuable insights into some of these main platform features, which you can then use to optimize your voice over work experience. We’ve also included helpful takeaways, and directions to other platform-related content that can be of use, regardless of whether you’re just starting out, or a seasoned pro.
Insights from Voice123 Casting Projects
Voice123 casting projects are submitted by clients according to their voice over work requirements. These projects have specs or details that provide more information on the individual voice over work. Upon receiving an invite to a project, either by the Voice123 algorithm or directly from a client, voice actors can then submit their online voice over auditions.
From January to June:
The most commonly requested audition turn-around time by clients was 24 hours.
The monthly average of projects with a budget was 73%, clients looking for a quote was 24%, and zero-budget project endeavours were 3%.
In the accordion table below, you'll find another 3 data points related to Voice123 Casting Projects from January-June.
1. Audition Amounts: The top 3 audition amounts clients chose; based on a choice between 5 and 50.
2. Audition Type: The percentage breakdown of projects that requested custom auditions (when a client attaches a specific script) and related samples (when voice actors submit audio samples of their past voice over work)
3. No. of Auditions Submitted & Reviewed: View the average number of auditions submitted by voice actors and reviewed by clients.
Top 3 Audition Amounts
What does this mean for you?
If you’re a new voice actor, you’ll find it helpful to learn how to best use voice acting scripts with tips from pros.
If you have a Voice123 membership, you can filter the project invites you receive by the number of auditions clients request for their projects. Click on the 3-line hamburger menu on the top left-hand side of your profile > Select Invitation settings > Get invites for projects requesting > Click Save.
% of Custom Auditions and Related Samples
What does this mean for you?
If you’re a new voice actor, learn how to create short, voice over samples for different categories, instead of one demo reel.
If you have a Voice123 membership, be sure to add your voice over samples with relevant keywords and arrange them in playlists according to voice over work categories.
No. of Auditions Submitted and Reviewed
What does this mean for you?
If you’re a new voice actor, download our free auditions checklist with 10 tips to create successful auditions.
If you have a Voice123 membership, you can improve the chances of clients listening to your submissions by submitting for projects that suit your voice and by following the brief!
Insights from voice over work trends
Here are some of the most common keyword tags from Voice123 projects, from January to June, 2022. These provide more insights into the different voice over work trends and styles that have been popular so far this year.
- Direct
- Warm
- Radio
- Old
- Real
- Open
- High
- Local
- Strong
- Present
- Casual
- Current
- Deep
- Quick
- Raw
- Tonal
- Older
- Soft
- Human
- Mental
- Proud
- Southern
- Bright
- patient
Insights from Voice123 Bookings
Compared to last quarter, 9% more voice actors got booked by clients via Voice123’s free booking feature.
What does this mean for you?
Voice123’s free booking feature is designed to help you build long-standing relationships with clients as it’s the ideal foundation for recurring voice over work. Most importantly, the feature is free for all voice actors. No fees or commissions are deducted. So, regardless of your membership, what you earn from bookings is yours to keep! In addition, since the majority of bookings are generated from existing Voice123 projects, it’s vital to put your best foot forward when auditioning because successful auditions lead to successful bookings!
Another beneficial feature is our Secure Payment system, which makes it easier and safer to receive your funds from bookings. This is where Voice123 acts as a bond for booking transactions and is free for all voice actors.
Clients use the Secure Payment system as they often:
- Book voice actors for multiple roles and this makes their payments easier and safer.
- Need to pay voice actors across the globe and Voice123 can help to simplify international payments.
- Prefer to centralize booking and payment information.
Why should you use the Secure Payment system for your next booking?
- 0 deductions from your earnings
- Save time, energy, and resources
- Resolve the problem of receiving international payments
- No need to worry about following up on invoices
- Track the status of the payment directly in the booking
- Monitor your voice over work under the ‘My earnings’ dashboard
- Choose from 5 different payment methods to receive your funds
Insights from the Voice123 messaging system
Clients can use the Voice123 messaging system to reach out to voice actors regarding projects, bookings, samples, and anything that has voice over work potential. This allows for flexible communication; with the main goal of helping both sides to make a meaningful connection that leads to recurring voice over work.
Did you know that clients can book you for voice over work directly from the Voice123 message inbox?
Ask your client to book you directly from your conversation by clicking 'BOOK VOICE ACTOR' in the message thread. Or SHARE YOUR BOOKING LINK from your message thread!
Insights from the Voice123 search feature
The Voice123 platform allows clients to independently search and contact voice actors directly for their voice over work requirements. Think of the Voice123 search feature as Google’s search engine. When you type in a specific keyphrase, the system will display related results.
In the same way, when clients search for specific phrases or words, the system will display related voice actors according to their membership tier and voice over samples with matching keyword descriptions. Voice actors with paid profiles can also set their own voice over rates, which allows clients to get instant quotes directly from the search feature.
While seasonanility is a big part of VO and there is a summer lull, from January to June, 2022 - a monthly average of over 100,000 client searches have been performed.
What were some of the most popular keyword searches for voice over work?
- African American voice actor
- Cartoon
- Deep voice
- Female adult
- Adult content
- Conversational
- Authentic
- British
- Morgan Freeman
- Warm
What does this mean for you?
Adding relevant keywords to your voice over samples is vital. These keywords should best describe your vocal styles and categories. Also, with an increase in more diverse search requests, uploading authentic samples with accurate descriptions can contribute to securing more voice over work opportunities.
Insights from Voice123 profiles and samples
January to June, monthly average:
- Less than 10% of voice actors had a complete voice actor profile.
- Clients left 400 reviews.
What does this mean for you?
As already highlighted, voice actor profiles are displayed in client searches. So optimizing your chances of getting more voice over work starts with optimizing your profile.
Having a complete profile is like having a complete online resume. It shows potential clients key information about your training, experience, studio, vocal range, and abilities. It should be your best online representation of voice over work you’ve done and can do.
But while you can remind clients to leave reviews, it’s up to you to review and update your profile.
Voice over samples
January to June, monthly average:
- Close to 10,000 voice over samples were uploaded to the Voice123 platform.
- 9 million voice over work samples were listened to. (*Directly from profiles and not including samples that were submitted with auditions.)
What does this mean for you?
First, keep in mind that voice over samples are short audio clips that showcase your vocal range and ability. They’re also examples of voice over work you’ve done and/or can do. These can be uploaded to different playlists directly on your profile, which can then be embedded on your website, or shared via customized links.
Subsequently, by adding suitable descriptions and choosing the right categories, your profile and samples can also appear in client searches. Be sure to add or update the descriptions in your samples according to our platform best practices.
FAQ
Voice over work is generated by clients looking for voice overs for various projects such as audiobooks, narrations commercials, etc.
The first 4 steps to getting into voice over work are:
- Do your research to learn about the voice over industry and your own vocal abilities.
- Invest in setting up a DIY home studio.
- Build your own unique brand while auditioning for voice over work.
- Set up your voice over business and learn the best tools to run it successfully. Learn more in our how to get into voice acting guide.
Yes – but keep in mind that it’s not a get-rich-quick career. While you don’t need to wait years before starting a career, becoming a voice actor involves research, practice, and honing your craft.
Voice over work insights: Key takeaways
Here's a quick recap of the key insights from this voice over work report.
Projects: Update your invitation settings to adjust the voice over work you receive, and be sure to follow the brief and description when submitting online auditions.
Bookings: The booking feature is free! It’s also designed to help you get recurring voice over work. Share your free booking link today, and enable the secure payment to receive your funds with ease.
Messages: You have the flexibility to communicate and negotiate with clients directly; you can also ask clients to click ‘BOOK VOICE ACTOR’ directly from the message inbox, to track your earnings and bookings in your voice actor dashboard.
Searches: Use your profile and samples to showcase your vocal range, abilities, and experience. But be sure to review, update and optimize them according to best practices.
The approximate data points in this report are from January to June 2022. As the year progresses, we will update these figures accordingly. Be sure to check back for quarterly updates.
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