Best Voice Over Services
Do you need a great professional voice to use with your YouTube videos or podcasts?
Voice Over artists have become very affordable. Here is how you can find talented voice over actors for your next project. Voice acting, or voice over, refers to a recorded audio file to be used commercially in some way. Many commercials, YouTube videos, podcasts, audiobooks, and corporate on-hold messages all utilize the services and talents of voice over professionals. But how do you find these individuals, how expensive are they to hire, how do you avoid the scam artists, and is AI the way to go? Use this quick guide to help you locate and hire quality voice over artists to help with your next project.
What is a voice over service?
A voice over service is where an actual human being provides their voice for customized audio-video material. These types of services can be obtained through a hub where many artists have samples and portfolios. On many of these hubs you can post your project and then have interested voice over artists bid for the job. Service hubs offer human only voice over talent, which means that you will receive the right emotion, tone, and style for your project. However, using a human being for a voice over project is not your only option. Artificial Intelligence (AI) has come into its own regarding producing voice over products.
Voiceover by AI
It can be more affordable to use a computer-generated voice to create narration for your video product. Many go this route and enjoy how quick it is compared to a human being. However, if you opt to go this route the voice does not always sound human. The tech has come a long way but is not completely where it needs to be to pass as “human”. And if you want regional branding for your product, AI does not employ an accent.
Audiobook Narrations
If you have written a book and wish to cover all the marketing basics, then you most undoubtedly want to get an audiobook made. Most audiobooks are recorded by voice artists using their own in-home studio, and then uploaded to a platform, such as ACX (a division of Audible) for production. It costs nothing to search ACX for voice actors, and you can set the terms and budget you have in mind.
Cost of Hiring Voice Over Services
The cost of hiring a voice actor is not straightforward. First, there is the expertise of the actor. If he or she has worked for top companies, is an on-screen actor as well, then expect to pay top dollar. However, there are many voice actors who are not movie stars or television actors, and whose sole career is in offering voice over services. In general, expect to pay between $50-100 per finished hour of audio for an audiobook (this is on the lower end of the scale), and around $300-400 per finished hour on the high end. Per finished hour refers to the number of hours the actual audiobook is upon completion, and not the number of hours the performer put into recording and editing the book. If you need someone to do a small 30-60 second spot, expect to pay anywhere from $75-250 per project. Larger projects, such as narrating YouTube videos, creating bumper spots and so forth are all negotiable in pricing. The best strategy is to go onto several platforms that voice actors use for finding work and post a project.
Top Voice Over Platforms
When you begin looking for voice over talent, it is recommended to stay with a known and reputable platform. This means the actors have been verified, have samples available, and are known to be who and what they say they are.
Upwork
This is a freelancing platform that offers a wide range of voice over services. In addition, if you need someone to do voice over spots in a foreign language, you can find an artist there to handle it. Filter your search on this site by location, gender, level of proficiency, budget, and delivery time.
If you do not want to spend time sifting through voice services platforms, then let Voice Crafters do it for you. All you must do is post your project details, and then the algorithm sends out an invitation to vetted and professional voice over actors who respond to you directly via email.
Fiverr
Most recognizable is the freelance platform, Fiverr. It is a very sophisticated search system that allows you to narrow down exactly what you are looking for, and the budget you want to meet. You can also set parameters such as delivery time, gender, accent, location, experience of the artist and more.
Now you can hire from the same pool of talented people as larger corporations. Voices is one of the oldest voice services companies and often supply voice talent for top tier companies. They also offer audio engineering so that the final voice over product is perfectly mastered and ready to go, all from one platform.
Other Noteworthy Voice Over Companies
- Voyzapp
- Voice Crafters
- Voices 123
- LOVO
AI Voice Over Services
- Replica Studios
- WellSaidLabs
- Voices Over Maker
- Resemble AI
Hiring a Voice Over Artist
If you find an artist you want to work with, depending on the platform you are using, it is as simple as accepting their bid, or the artist will accept your invitation to the project. Most platforms have their own contracts that spell out the rights to the work upon completion, what to do if the artist is not as advertised, and how much you are agreeing to pay upon completion. A key question to ask your potential candidate is if a clean and ready to go product is going to be produced, or if you will also have to hire an audio engineer to make it broadcast quality. Not all voice artists have the background or ability to do both, so if you find one that can, he or she can save you money and time in the long run.