Should a Voiceover Artist sign a Work for Hire agreement?

We’ve written a lot about rights that voiceovers should be aware of. As a voiceover agency and recording studio we work hard to keep on top of all this for our voices. We are always aiming to get all the information from clients as well as educating them to ensure they know about intellectual property and copyright. 

Now Fishy will take us through the final rights (wait what? Oh right not that last rites, rights rights). Yes, let’s talk about Work for Hire agreements (WFH). Many voiceover artists have been asking about this and so here is the latest about it all. We’ve discussed creative work previously. Overall, in the UK and in many places such as the USA, copyright sits with the author of the work of art. So, Fishy voices the words in some copy. Let’s say Fishy is an employee of BigFish Media. So far so good. In this case the work that they create during their day job is subject to copyright. Note that because Fishy is an employee of BigFish Media and thus with rights such as holidays, sick leave etc then work would come under BigFish Media in terms of copyright.

However, in the situation that Fishy is not an employee and simply swims up and blows bubbles at the mic for an hour then we could suggest that we get Fishy to sign a WFH. It would make us, BigFish Media the copyright owner of those Fishy bubble sounds. So Fishy would relinquish their right to being that owner.

However there are certain categories that can make the work exempt such as (1) a contribution to a collective work, (2) a part of a motion picture or other audio-visual work, (3) a translation, (4) a supplementary work, (5) a compilation, (6) an instructional text, (7) a test, (8) answer material for a test, (9) an atlas. Another point is that the work must be specially ordered or commissioned and have a written agreement where the parties use the “WFH” phrase.

So Fishy must have more than a verbal agreement on this. The WFH must be negotiated and though not necessarily signed before work on the project begins. Retroactive WFH is not permitted. 

It is not legally possible for a UK voice talent to sign away their copyright but many websites (based in USA or Canada) which insist on their voice talents signing WFH agreements have this term buried deep in their terms and conditions. 

If you sign a WFH agreement, then you are signing away your copyright. They own your audio and can re-sell your voiceover recording to someone else, or to another platform or application. They will get paid for the additional usage. But you won’t.

Here at BigFish Media we do not allow our clients to use the audio recordings of our voiceover talents for any platform and duration other than that which has been agreed by all parties. Voiceover recordings are not the work of the client or a third party, it is the work of the voiceover artist.

How do I work as a Voiceover Artist?

Here at the BigFish Media HQ we love anything audio at any time (ok enough alliteration Fishy. Ed.). And so, do our voiceover artists. And we would love to book all of our voices either a lot of work all the time or one off huge well-paid jobs. However, it can take years and years to get picked (oh yes, it’s a little like being picked at sports at school) and you many never score that huge commercial. (In any case the way advertising is going, a global buyout for you to pay off our Aquarium mortgage is unlikely). So how do you as a voiceover actor keep yourself afloat when waiting of juicy voiceover jobs to come in after fishing around for them?

The simple answer is that you get a job. Yes. There is absolutely no shame in doing so. All of us have jobs, all of us have to have jobs (Fishy likes to eat us out of house and home and we have bills, bobs and brendas to pay). Recently there have been some reports about an actor from the well known and long running TV show Eastenders being papped working as a security guard. Well now, there seems to be a rule for big fishes and little ones and so we repeat again that we all have jobs. Some of us even two or three other jobs to keep us going. 

Here is a list of jobs that we Fishes are do either at HQ or freelance;

1.     Sound Engineer

2.     Copywriter

3.     Producer

4.     Director

5.     Social Media curator

6.     Role Player

7.     Sound Designer

8.     Trainer

9.     Coach

10.Consultant

The list goes on and on. We are proud of being slashers and having one/two/three jobs or more. Its what we enjoy, what we do and who we are. We actually revel in the constant flux and flow of our lives. Yes we all voice but yes we do so many other things that we would chat your ear off at dinner parties when you ask that “So what do you do?” question.

You may be asking yourself why would you have to work all these jobs – and the answer is that unless you are a well-known personality or celebrity or acclaimed actor then chances are that you won’t be voicing all day and all night all the time. (Though if you do narrate audiobooks then you probably are and we applaud you, as that is a long slog). The reality is also that your voice will voice what it can. So Fishy won’t be able to voice Cat or Dog (well Fishy can try but let’s face it Fishy can’t). And Cat and Dog won’t be able to voice Fishy. It means that your voice won’t be on trend all of the time.

Also working means that you gain insight and experience of real people which is incredibly important as a performer. When you get cast in any role, you can think about experiences that may have been similar and then get into character more easily and get it more.

However, if you happen to book a regular equitably-remunerated voiceover gig then yep give up the day job (well if you want to – I mean it might be quite fun right Fishy?!). Many voiceover artists work real jobs because they need the income, they might need to because of their life situation or they might not need to because of their life situation and voicing is their only income. The point is that we are all different fishes swimming in the sea and we all need to pay the bills and there is nowt wrong with that. It means you are a grown-up who knows that this is what it means to be a working professional voiceover artist.

How do I get to be a Voiceover Artist?

Every week we get many people calling or emailing for advice on a voiceover career, so I thought it worth posting this.

So how do you become a voiceover artist? How do you get to be as good as the people who do voice-overs for radio stations and provide the voices of so many commercials?

Well do you know who they are and what they do? Why do you want to become one? Why do you think you can do it as well or better?

Things for you to do and think about. What you need to do first?

Get involved with your local hospital radio station. It will give you technical experience, experience in front of the microphone: everything you will need to give you a thorough grounding in using your voice.

Do you have a local theatre group or amateur dramatic society? Find them and volunteer, voiceover work IS ACTING!!! Even the simplest voice over requires performance skills.

Do you have a mobile phone? Change the voice mail message on it every day, try to impress people with it. Make a note of what works for your voice-over and what doesn't.

Find someone to whom you can regularly read a story. If you're good at characters, well a good story will give you plenty of opportunity to prove it.

Do you want to go on a course and get some professional voiceover training? They'll teach you how to get the best out of your voice.

Enthusiasm is great and it will get you through the tough times, but a space shuttle pilot got to sit in his seat through a combination of training, experience, dedication, enthusiasm and hard work now you must do the same.

I suspect like most people keen to follow a career in voice-over work you would like to phone someone up tomorrow morning and be paid to voice something for them tomorrow afternoon. I've never known that happen for anyone. Now it's time for you to put in the work.

A good, clever or flexible voice is only rung one on a very long ladder. Imagine I am a producer and you need to give me a reason why I should use you in preference to someone else, what would you say? You can't say good voice, good impressions, good at accents; the other guy has got that already.

Work in the voiceover industry can be feast or famine and in the early days it will be thin on the ground, you just need to keep telling people that you are out there. Remember it is not a salaried job so if you don't work, you don't earn. There can be travel involved depending on what voiceover work you are doing.

With the right equipment it is possible to work from home but you will need to find the space for an office and voice-over booth. You can set yourself up for about £4,000. You will need to buy at least one computer and printer, an ISDN codec, editing software (eg Pro Tools or Adobe Audition), Microsoft Office and a decent microphone (Neumann are the best by far but very expensive).

Using ISDN technology you can be accessed live from around the world; most local radio commercial voiceovers are recorded this way. If you are working alone from home (especially without an agent) you will need the drive and determination to succeed, as well as being your own IT expert, accountant, office manager and marketing manager. Just having "a good voice" is not nearly enough.

You will then need to build up your voice-over contacts book, market yourself using the internet, the phone and email. It is possible to break in, and there are lots of people who will give you a first chance, but if you try before you are ready you could very easily blow it. Producers of voiceovers talk to one another so your first session could also be your last.

Practice reading aloud, record yourself, listen to voice-overs on TV, radio, film and ask yourself why they are good or bad. Could you have done better?

BigFish Media are happy to produce your voiceover showreel. Please contact us for details. Any demo longer than 90 seconds is too long. What are you going to put on it? That's up to you, but before you decide, get advice from the experts.

How do I get started in Voiceovers?

So by now you either have some experience of being an actor or a broadcaster. You have done your voice training and made your voiceover showreel. So what next?

Get yourself a good professional photograph as agents and some "pay to play" voiceover directories allow you to upload one. There are a number of voiceover directories which allow you to list your audio for free. 

However many of the free sites may not generate much work for you (or they may restrict how their site functions until you pay a fee.) Some also require you to record an audition for every job that you bid for, thereby encouraging voiceover artists to constantly lower their fees to get the work.

We have dealt with the technical aspects of setting up your own home studio in other blogs on this site, but should you invest in your own home studio? Do you even have the space and peace and quiet for one?

Alternatively try to find a local studio (or another voiceover artist who lives close to you) who may let you use their studio for a reasonable price. Then at least you can find out if you are employable. If you find that you are getting lots of work it's time to invest in your own voiceover booth

 

So what next? Contact local radio stations and video production companies. It is a time-consuming marketing exercise, but by the time you have a dozen jobs under your belt you will know what your strengths are. Maybe it is obvious to someone else in the industry if not you.

If you get booked for lots of local radio adverts but no e-learning then maybe this is what you are best at and should focus your energies on pursuing radio and TV commercial work.

Unless you are exceptionally talented - and very lucky - you will probably have to get 2 or 3 years experience of the voiceover industry under your belt before a voiceover agent will consider taking you on.

In the meantime keep at it and update your voiceover showreel - as you should improve with practise. You should also not bother to approach advertising agencies as they only deal with the best voiceover talent via voiceover agencies.

And remember, there are very few full-time voiceovers  - most combine being a voiceover artist with production, writing, acting or radio or TV work.  

How do Voiceover Artists train?

It is easy, all you need to do is read out loud and boom! In the can right? Well no. If only our world of voiceover recording were that easy. There is much more to it than that and we take time, a lot of time to reel in voices that will work for you and work well. It is a never ending process and we pride ourselves on making sure our voices are experienced, personable and great at voicing.

The process is long and with good reason. We listen to each reel, meet and greet voices online or in person and record the voice so we can see how they handle direction as well as being in the recording studio.

From our vast ocean of voices we have actors, performers, radio presenters, singers and voices that have a unique quality to them. Each has a place in our portfolio and each brings experience and abilities that make them unique and able to help you when you need a voice for your audio production. We have asked many of them where they learnt their trade and these are the top answers.

1. Acting Background: Many of our voices are actors and many still focus on film, TV or theatre. These voices are great for when you need character work and can bring a variety of intentions easily to each read.
2. Performance Background: Whether it be dance or song, these voices are great at delivering solid reads and if you need singers then we have those for those all important jingles.
3. Radio Background: We have a rich heritage in radio and we have many voices that have worked at national and regional level. They can handle pretty much anything because they've seen it all before.
4. Presenters: These voices have lived their vocal lives in front of audiences or the camera and are great voices that connect quickly to target audiences.

As we meet as many of the voices as we can then we make sure we know their strengths so we can always give you the best voices for your productions. Call us today to book your voiceover artist.

How do I improve my Voiceover skills?

Being a professional voiceover artist is a talent, gift and a skilled profession. We are proud to represent and work with highly skilled and talented voice over actors on a daily basis. Many have trained through an acting or presenting background while others have worked in radio for decades. However the main thing is that all of our voices love what they do and enjoy working.

Some of our voices have been on our books for years and are solid bookers, working daily. Others are new and fresh to the voice over industry. Many are in between. What they all have in common is that they take voice work very seriously and many train or retrain year after year. What are the best options to improve your voice skills?

The main skills necessary for being a professional voice over artist include;

1. Sight reading – reading copy and understanding the context is key and with scripts changing up to and including in a session, sight reading is a really valuable skill to have. Practice, practice and practice.
2. Vocal exercise – like any other job that requires physicality ensure your muscles are in good working order. Train and understand and appreciate your working voice box and how to warm up, work and cool down. Become a guru of voice exercise.
3. Listen – yes while talking is the job, actually a fair part of it if not more is listening. Do you listen and hear your own voice and what it can do? Do you listen and understand and then act on what the director says? If not, then get working on this. Listening and opening your eyes and ears and not just your mouth will really help your vocal skills.

  

All our voiceovers are used to understanding context and working on upskilling themselves every day. Please get in touch. 

How do I become a Voiceover Artist?

Simples – its simply speaking isn’t it? Actually it is as simple and as complicated as that. Our 2000 + voiceovers are skilled in all manners of speaking and in many languages as well.

But how did they become voiceover actors and be on our books? Yes speaking and speaking with confidence is part of it but we have a list of skills you need if you want to be a voiceover artist. These are essential in our field of work.

Sight Read – learning to read copy that you are given at the last minute and to read it fluently and conversationally is a real skill. Practice this daily, read social media posts, news headlines, newspaper stories out loud every day.

Listen - Taking direction is a huge part of being a voiceover talent. Accepting and understanding that the voice is part of the creative process is crucial. By listening, pausing to interpret the direction and then speaking is a true mark of a voiceover professional. 

Understand your voice - Where do you fit in the voice world? Know thyself and your path will be clear to discuss what your voice can and can't do with producers and casting directors. 

Patience - Be very patient, adverts, IVRs, audiobooks, video animations etc  need a voice. One day it will be yours. Also in a session things can take time, software and cables are involved and many directors as well so having a place where you can practice patience is important.

Be Nice - People work with people and they work with people they can go down to the pub with at the end of a session. So please be sweet and nice, you'll probably be back for a repeat session. 

All our voiceovers at Big Fish Media are chosen to join the big ocean of voices. Each has talent, experience, professionalism, a great voice and are great people.

How do I start as a Voiceover Artist?

We are always being asked about how go get started as a Voiceover Artist...

Please bear in mind that there is so much more to being a Voiceover Artist than having a good voice. Also there is no such thing as a staff job with a company as a Voiceover Artist; they are all self employed and also work either as broadcasters or actors or in some other way in the media field. You don't need your own home studio but it helps (but only if it is a good one.) 

                                Egg-actly the right advice 

I once saw an interesting post on a forum that a newbie had complained that the company who made his/her voicereel, gave them the audio file then just felt abandoned. Yes that is what you do - you have to make your own way in this extremely competitive field.  You need to think of yourself as a (very) small business. And start marketing yourself. 

And this is where most wannabe voice artists fall down. They don't have the time energy and drive to do this. Or real life gets in the way - and they find they can't support a family or pay the rent on what they are earning. With no guarantee that their income will increase in time. It will almost certainly be erratic. 

With the continuing downward pressure on costs, the barriers to entry for new talent being lower than ever and more actors and broadcasters trying to get in on the act, as well as new voiceover agencies and voice directories (or Pay to Play websites - commonly known as P2P sites) opening all the time I don't see this improving any time soon.   

Plenty of people approach us with good voices, but they don’t know how to use it. This blog contains lots of useful voiceover advice.

      

                                   Not such good advice

I am afraid that we are unable to offer auditions. Your first step towards becoming a voiceover artist is to get a professional showreel made. This would be your calling card – which you can use on your website, send to production companies and agencies.

If you do not have a voiceover showreel, we can make you one for just £299+VAT. This production service is highly unlikely to lead to representation as we are only seeking experienced voiceover artists. You can hear examples of our work here; please get in touch if you would like to discuss showreel production. 

We also offer Voice Training carried out by either our experienced actor or one of two experienced national broadcasters. We suggest you undertake voiceover training before making a showreel. Ok, so now you have a voiceover showreel but what should you do with it?

Call or email potential clients/producers/production companies and send them your MP3 or CD.

Or use the internet.

You need to get potential producers to hear your reel. You can get your own basic website built fairly cheaply. The hard part is getting search engines to find it and list it within the first two or three pages. This is extremely hard to do for the competitive keywords of voiceover and its variants. So consider using Google Adwords. Facebook also sell ad space.  Use Social Media - Facebook, Twitter, Linked in etc

1) Voice Directories. There are lots. Some will work for you; some won't. Some are free - some charge an annual fee. 
Here are a few:

Fiver.com Voicerealm Voice Bnny Gumtree VoiceXpress Voice Registry Entsweb Freelancer.com Media uk.com Radio Today Elance.com Vivastreet Star Now Voices.com Voice Bank Voice123 Voiceovers.co.uk Bodalgo Piehole Radio Talent Ukvoices.co.uk Voicetalents.co.uk Peopleperhour.com Voices Pro Casting Call Pro Freeindex Voice Emporium Hotfrog ODesk                                                                                                            

                                                                                                                            
2) Voice Agencies. If you can get one to take you on, they will take a cut of your earnings. There is no guarantee of any work even if you do get one. And getting one is harder than you think. Without a few years experience of voicing under your belt this is extremely unlikely. 

However you can still make a living without an agent. Many voice artists work from their own home studio. And you don’t have to have ISDN these days. Many producers will monitor you on the phone or skype; you email the completed voiceover audio files after the session.   

Should a Voiceover Artist go to VOX?

"Take ownership of your voiceover job and don't put yourself down" was the wise advise of renowned US voice trainer Nancy Wolfson at last weekend's Vox near Derby.

This was just one of several nuggets of useful information during this event for professional voiceovers and the industry.

Sessions on social media, negotiating rates and character voices were well attended, as was James Cridland's entertaining lecture on The Future of Radio. 

Yes, it does have one ... he reassured us! Pop-Up radio stations is the current craze.

Langley Gerrard told voiceovers not to spend too much on equipment, make sure your home studio is properly sound-proofed and is properly set up.

Agree rates before starting a job was a further tip and many vos now have an availability/booking facility on their websites.

We glammed up for the evening meal and presentation for the Vox Awards. Check us out!

BigFish Media's Andrew and Ricky with Voiceover Talents Jill K and Clare at Vox 2015


The event saw us meet up with many of the agency's voice talent, so it was good to network and catch up on wider world of the humble voiceover artist.

Do I need experience to be a Voiceover Artist?

We had a call recently from a lady asking about voice training - so we talked her through the process.

Me: "So do you have any voiceover experience?"

Her: "I am a regular caller to XXX radio station"

Me: "Hmm. I don't think that counts"

Her: "But the station's heard all over London - in fact all over the UK on DAB"

Can I be a full-time Voiceover Artist?

We are often asked by voiceover newbies who come to us to make voiceover showreels if they should quit their job and take up being a voiceover artist as a full-time occupation.

We also get many people asking us for a job as a voiceover artist. There is no such thing as having a job as a voiceover artist, unless you mean being booked for an hour. That's a voiceover job. Voice talent are freelance professionals.

Very few people indeed are full-time voiceover artists. Even great voice talent can be part time - fitting it around childcare or their partner's job. Most voice artists combine "voiceovering" with stage or screen acting, directing, producing, broadcasting on either TV or radio, voice coaching or doing translations.

Figures out recently showed that the number of newly self-employed people is growing twice as fast as those being given jobs. As people get made redundant and can't find a conventional job, they become freelance, effectively starting their own company.

The insecure freelance life doesn't suit everybody. If being freelance and running your own business (however small) isn't for you, then neither is being a voiceover artist.