Take control of your voice over career by adapting to the changing landscape of the voice over industry. Over the last few years, I’ve had a surprising number of Australian voice artists with top tier representation in this country approach me for advice. Why? Because they aren’t getting enough work through their agent.
(Fun Fact: Australian voice talents living in Australia can only have ONE Australian agent.)
Last week, I spoke with a voice talent who is represented, and their situation saddened me. Not only the almost non-existent amount of work they’d booked in the last couple of years but also the habitually prickly way their agent treated them. (What the?)
Water your own garden.
We talked about all the ways they could take control of their voice over career – watering their own garden so to speak, because it seemed like their representation wasn’t watering it at all – despite the annual ‘advertising fee’ each talent is forced to cough up each year for I’m not entirely sure what. (Side note – ethics question – as someone who’s been working as a performing artist of one kind or another since her teen years, I was taught right from the start that agents that charged anything other than a commission on booked work were to be steered clear of….?)
The Australian agent/talent relationship
I should point out that the agent/talent relationship in Australia seems vastly different to the way it is in other parts of the world. Australian voice talent agents have historically expected quite a level of exclusivity from their talent that agents in other countries do not.
Sourcing my own work.
I remember when, out of financial necessity, I first starting sourcing my own work separately to my first agent circa 2016 – at the time I felt like I was doing something extremely risky and I worried about how they might react to my “moonlighting”. But I required more opportunities than that relationship was providing me. So, was I breaking a rule or just trying to make a decent living? In 2019 I moved on to a different agent but I never managed to get to a point where I could stop doing all the pay to play and freelancing site work. So by the time I decided to leave that agent and go solo in 2021, I felt confident I could manage my career on my own better than anyone else and without any guilt that I was being ‘disloyal’ to an agent.
Non-exclusive representation
Side note – The beautiful thing about my overseas agents is that none of them demand any kind of exclusivity from me and they certainly don’t charge any fees beyond commissions on work I book through them. They’re nice to have around but to be honest my bank account wouldn’t notice if they all disappeared.
Anyway, back to the present. After a little over an hour with me, my fellow VO had a bucketload of information that they could use to start building the career that THEY would feel in charge of.
I love these sessions. I’m so passionate about standing in my power as a creative freelancer and I get great satisfaction out of sharing the fire that I have in my belly with other artists.
Having an agent is cool and all, but if that’s your ONLY source of work…..what if that agency folded next week and the directors ran off to a far away island never to be heard from again?
No one is going to care more about your career than you do.
The best thing I ever did was take control of my voice over career and learn to do everything myself. All the things an agent might do, I am now able to do on my own. It’s not hard, it’s just a learning curve and a matter of expanding your comfort zone.
- Start sending cold emails.
- Learn how to determine a price for a quote.
- If you feel uncomfortable with the idea of negotiating…well that’s gotta change.
Industry changes
The industry has evolved a LOT over the past decade (or two!). The COVID era has certainly sped up that change. A lot of buyers that were relying on talent agents to cast their voices are now going elsewhere.
- Pay to Play (P2P) Casting platforms.
- Freelancing websites.
I want to pause here to say that there are a lot of buyers who use these platforms and love them. They’re user friendly and save time and money. These people never got the memo that buying their voiceovers via on online platform is upsetting the industry applecart. They don’t realise that amongst some members of the VO industry there is a stigma attached to some of these platforms. On top of that they probably wouldn’t care. They get professional sounding voiceovers, great turnaround times and value for money, without any drama. It works for them so why would they go elsewhere?
Therefore, if you don’t have a presence on these platforms you will never be considered for the work that is being cast on them. And there’s plenty of work being cast on them. I have found some of the best paying gigs of my career online.
Hiring voice over talent directly
A lot of buyers prefer to side step the voice talent agents by doing a Google search for the type of voice they’re looking for and contacting the artist directly via their website.
If you don’t have a website, invest in one. To achieve a high ranking in a Google search, you must optimize your website for SEO
I say all of this assuming that you have your own recording space and it’s up to industry standards. If you don’t, you might want to get on that too.
Hey! Where did everybody go?
The golden days of only recording voiceovers at high end post production studios are long gone and they’re never coming back. More and more buyers are looking for more affordable options. “Package deal”, anyone? >>> might save that for another post 😉
It’s up to you, of course.
Personally, if I have to choose between crying into my cereal each morning wondering why my agent hasn’t called in 6 months OR going out and finding my own work, I’ll take good mental health and a strong sense of control over my own career thanks.
Online Career Consultations
PS – I’m available for express 30 minute or longer 60 minute Career Consultations via Google Meet to answer your questions about whatever aspect of voiceover you need de-mystified. I’d love to help you take control of your voice over career! I can give specific advice on: How to start. Where to start. Finding work online. How to find work in specific genres. Is an agent necessary. Rates. Quoting. Negotiating. Direct Marketing. P2Ps. Demos. Samples. Websites. It’s what I do best other than voiceovers. See my Coaching page for more info and to book.