Become A Voice Over Artist – 4 Factors To Consider And Plan

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First what type of voice over artist work is there available. Three main avenues for a steady stream of work are Radio, Television and on line media like videos and websites. Radio commercials and station ID jingles are produced on a daily basis by the hundreds of commercial radio stations throughout the country.

They make a good starting point as the market is big and growing all the time with new community radio stations popping up as well as the long established commercial radio stations. Television voice over artists for tv commercials are often at the high end of the professional market. These people have been doing voice work for many years and have a distinct character, expression or sometimes celebrity in there style. Not a good starting point for newbies. But in contrast, Online media like videos and narration artists work can be an excellent entry into the business where you can learn you craft. There are so many possibilities online and probably one of the biggest growth areas in this type of work.

Next we need to know where we get work from and who is responsible for employing our voice over services. The easiest way for a start is to work online through free and cheap online advertising. This type of work you are in control generating new leads of work and new customers yourself. Radio stations often have there own editor know as a Commercial Producer. They make the decisions on who they employ for certain jingles and advertisements and generally hold a large bank of voice over artists that they can rely on. You’d have to contact radio stations yourself and see if you can talk to the commercial producer and introduce yourself. Maybe then you could email a demo to them so they can take a snap shot of your style. The world of television generally dealt with by agencies who supply celebrities and well know character voices so this is probably not a good starting point but who knows one day.

Lets have a look at how much we can earn and we will start off with the lowest salary potential which is online. Its a good starting point and recommended if you simply want to gain experience and some modest fees whilst learning the trade. You can place free online adverts and make anywhere between $5-£30 for a 30 second voice over or narration. Radio often pays around $50-$100 for an individual project which would be around 500 words or an A4 sheet of paper with 30-40 station ID shouts. With TV the world is your oyster. The bigger celebrity you are, the more you or your agent can charge. When you get to this status, the commercial agencies often come to you and your phone wont stop ringing.

Finally, you’ll need the following equipment to enable you to start your new career path. A PC or mac, some sound editing software which doesn’t have to be a ground breaking program, and a decent microphone like a Behringer C-U1 which plugs directly into your USB port on your computer. The quality of the microphone is probably the most important part of your tools so a little investment in this area will benefit your services greatly. Be prepared to pay $75 upwards for a good quality microphone and these can be bought on the net.

With these points in mind, you will be able to decide your path and goals in this competitive industry that is expanding with the birth of more and more diverse types of media. I’m pretty sure you’ll appreciate the excitement and different challenges this profession throws up and no two days are the same.

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Source by Nigel Clarkson