Working from home has always been the ideal situation and the pandemic only made it more necessary. Ugh, is Voices.com legit? Let’s get this voices.com review going.

For those of us in entertainment, it was a scramble to find a new way to generate some type of income and express our creativity.

If you’re like me, one thing that popped into mind was voice-over work.

With a simple google search, several companies popped up, Voices.com, Voices 123, ACX, etc. I chose the first option to explore.

So, is Voices.com legit? Well, I made the official decision based on a sweet Black Friday sale and I’m here to tell you my honest review.

Let’s begin our Voices.com review. WHAT is it?

Voices.com is a stand-alone site where you pay X (keep reading for that exact $) amount of money to audition and apply for voice-over work.

Essentially, it is a “pay to play”, which usually I would advise against and say this is illegal, but I can say 100% Voices.com is LEGIT and you CAN make money from the site.

I don’t know specifics and what makes this one legal, but you can read about “Pay to Play” in this article from Backstage.

Once you create your Voices.com account, you will find non-union jobs from companies looking to hire a voice actor for whatever project they need.

You don’t need to be a professional, and so anybody can sign up as long as you have the equipment, a quiet space, and a lot of dedication.

Most jobs on there started at around $100 and go up into the hundreds and even thousands. There is also an option to quote your own rate.

So is Voices.com legit? Yeah.

Learn from an expert Voice Actor

I recently had the opportunity to interview my friend, Brent Mukai, on Always Acting Up podcast, who just happens to be a professional voice-over actor- (Gary from Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart, Daimu from Lost Judgement, and Minamimoto from The World Ends with You…just to name a few)

I had reached out to him some time during the quarantine to answer some of my questions on how to get started as a voice actor, what equipment I would need, and basically every other question you could imagine.

Obviously, I had to get him on the podcast to share some of this information with everybody else.

Make sure to SUBSCRIBE to my channel so you can watch the episode!

Useability

Here’s what I really like about Voices.com, they provide a LOT of information on how to get started with voiceovers, sample scripts, examples, tutorials, webinars, etc.

I had a general idea of how to do voiceovers from all of the on camera commercial classes I’ve taken in the past. plus the audio experience from doing my podcast. However, I didn’t really put much effort into learning the specifics of voice-overs while I had my membership.

Full disclosure, I had my account for maybe 5 months before I actually started auditioning. The process was a bit intimidating for me, especially since you can see how many people have already turned in their submissions.

My brain automatically went,

who is going to listen to 43 audition samples and how am I going to compete with people who are more experienced than I am?

My brain

Once I got going, I still found the process to be quite time-consuming. Speaking of the process, here is a quick overview.

Voices.com Audition Process

1. Create a demo or sample reel of your work. Include different styles i.e. narration, cartoons, radio, health care, etc
2. Filter the types of auditions you want to be considered for, your gender, age range, word length, rate/$
3. Download auditions sides (aka your script/copy)
4. Mark up any words or parts you want to emphasize
5. Record a few of your best takes
6. Edit your requested* different takes together. *Note* I was advised to send over raw samples, meaning you don’t have to clean up your audio
7. Upload to the site.
8. Write any notes as to why you’re the best person for this job. Include your rates and what you are and are not willing to do if retakes are needed.
9. Submit and make sure to turn notifications ON so you don’t miss any messages.

*Pay attention to whether you are requested to do more than one take.

Boom done! I have to admit that this just felt like a long process for me. That may be because I already spend a significant amount of time recording/editing/writing my podcast + blog in addition to the on-camera auditions I already have. Perhaps if I could record directly onto the site, that would have made the process much more appealing to me.

Although, I do understand that you need to be able to demonstrate your capability of recording the best audio quality possible.

Let’s Chat Money

You gotta spend money to make money, right? Well, investing in yourself is always a win, but as I mentioned earlier, you need to be driven to make your money work for you.

I chose to give it a go during a sweet Black Friday sale. If you’re reading this during the holidays and have been contemplating trying voiceovers, I highly suggest getting your membership during this time period.

Right now with the Black Friday special, it’s $299 and that’s $200 OFF the original price.

Now, let’s do the math here $299+200= $499/year for a membership.

Holy moly! It sounds like a lot, and it is, but if you’re going to be auditioning daily, you can pay that off in 5 jobs or less. It’s really just a matter of your commitment.

Still, that is a LOT of money and was the primary reason I did not renew (it goes up to full price the next year). If Voices.com would like me to try again with a new account and affiliate link… ha then I would absolutely try again. Wink Wink

Conclusion

To sum things up, is Voices.com legit, my answer would be yes. If you are really serious about a career or side hustle as a voice-over artist, have the equipment, and are ready to commit, I’d say go for it.

Just remember that there will be some learning curves in the beginning.

For me, a job that was only going to pay me $100 for the time I spent recording, uploading, then potentially recording again didn’t feel worthwhile.

I’m sure that if I had continued I would have found a better workflow, and that would have sped up the entire audition process. Also, I would have been able to aim for the higher-paying voice-over jobs.

It was also difficult for me to find a quiet location where I could avoid birds chirping, neighbors, cars, TV, you name it.

I promise I’m not lazy, but I didn’t have the time to fully commit. If all of the above isn’t a factor for you, then I would say get your sign up on.

Well friends, that is my honest Voices.com review.

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