You need a great deal of talent to make your living from voiceovers. Certainly not everybody can do this job well and we explored the qualities of great voiceovers previously. One thing clients often ask us is how to choose the perfect professional – and voice – for their brand. Here, we share our top tips for finding the right voice artist for your radio jingles and podcast intros (or anything else for that matter!). You may think that you should just work with whoever you can find available. Ideally – at a good price. There is a little more to this however, so read on!
Your Audience vs Voice Over Choice
The age, gender and accent of the person doing your voiceovers all need thinking about. Consider what your audience is most likely to relate to, the tone needed as well as your target demographic. Would you like the voice actor to sound authoritative, or are your key listeners more likely to respond to something more emotional, fun and packed with personality? Are you after an announcer, a narrator or an actor? It seems like that’s a lot to think about. If you write it down it will quickly help you narrow down your choices.
Long Term Relationship With The Voice Artist
It is worth to consider if the voice artist in questions can be the voice of your brand in the long term. You want listeners to form an emotional connection and link voiceovers intrinsically with your brand/podcast/radio station. That’s why it’s so important to make the right decision from the outset. Not only do you need to be sure that the person you choose can represent your brand values incredibly well, you need to be sure of their future availability, so you can continue to use them. Some radio stations work with voice artists for a decade or more.
Pay Attention to Detail
Before hiring a voice ensure to listen to demo reels multiple times. Other vocal details to listen out for include pitch – you may not realize that a common medical condition, presbycusis, tends to affect older people, making it harder for them to hear higher pitch ranges. If you’re targeting this audience specifically, go for an artist whose voice is pitched more deeply, so listeners catch all your key messages. Make sure you know what recording conditions your voice over has, what equipment they record on and how they save the files. Hiring your top 3 choices for smaller jobs can easily help find the winner.
The Practicalities Of Working With Voice Artists
With so many professionals to choose from, it could make more sense to work with an agency instead. They often have a bank of reliable voiceovers, tested and checked. This can save you time by matching you up with the right recording artist. When working with an individual voice artist it is on you to ensure the right agreement is in place (with correct usage rights specified) – and this alone can be a very costly affair!
The alternative is for you to ask around for personal recommendations, just as you would for any other service. Ask to hear past work before committing, and identify whether previous recordings match what you need.
Music Radio Creative: Talk To Us First
We create hundreds of voiceovers every month, so make us your first and only port of call. We have 150+ of different voices for you to choose from, including male and female voices of varied ages, languages and accents. Along with a dedicated customer support team – not to mention clients in more than 120 countries.
We’re quick, too – choose the voice you want, type in your script and get a recording back within 24 hours. It’s that easy! Get in touch today.
