With over 80% of the national workforce confined to home due to a global pandemic, the processes for producing and delivering voice-over recordings is transforming.
Apart from the TV Broadcasting stations, most in-house recording studios have been forced to temporarily close their premises on the basis that they are non-essential. This has created a significant advantage for many thousands of voice actors on Voquent, the majority of which have professional home studios.
TV, radio and streaming have had a record-breaking surge in growth. The sheer volume of captive viewers and listeners is off the charts.
This article looks at the institutions, operations and companies from around the globe that are currently scrambling to get voice-overs recorded for both new informational content and new sales opportunities.
Voice-over for explainers, eLearning and IVR.
These types of projects can be for national and local governments, healthcare services, logistics, transport or banking. Basically, all facilities relating to the ongoing provision of essential services.
It includes everything from explaining often complex government policies and support applications to how to administer coronavirus/COVID-19 testing kits. Educating remote workers on software and processes they may be unfamiliar with has never been more necessary. IVR systems are also being rebuilt to handle unparalleled incoming phone traffic in multiple languages.
Promotional voice-over for consumables.
Supermarkets are benefiting from record sales and business is booming for a wide range of manufacturers, online retailers and all of those in and around the supply chain.
This is not just groceries. Everything from beauty products to pet supplies is seeing a surge in demand. It’s not just big-business making a killing either; small independent firms are seeing increases in order volumes as retail therapy via online delivery is embraced by consumers.
Voice-over for gaming narration, characters and sound effects.
Unsurprisingly, the market for digital gaming is exploding right now – everyone is at home, and a lot of people are either on sick leave, vacation or furlough! This could be for consoles and PC games, online casinos, bingo and slots or mobile apps.
Video MOCAP (Motion Capture) for AAA gaming titles requires actors, stunt performers and props. This obviously can’t be done during a lockdown, but these productions only represent a tiny fraction of the overall market for voice-over in gaming. The demand is still high for: narration style voice-overs to match a storyline, tutorials for user controls and the conversations and atmospheric effects of gaming characters.
Naturally, promotional voice-overs for the games themselves are also experiencing an upsurge.
Voice-over promotion of electrical goods.
Record numbers of households with money are now upgrading everything from their computers and laptops to televisions, smart speakers, vacuum cleaners, power tools and car washing kits.
Manufacturers and distributors of these items are urgently creating ads and promotions in an effort to capitalize on this demand.
Voice-over for TV broadcast narration and news.
Whilst Television Stations and channels continue to provide a vital service, the availability of crew is limiting producers to graphics-based storytelling and stock video, typically interjected with webcam footage of an interview.
The most polished part of these productions has become the audio, be it from a news presenter or the narrator.
Voice-over for animated series and films.
TV and digital steaming stations are rapidly moving investment to the offline production of animated content, and to procure foreign language video content that can be dubbed with remote voice actors in new languages.
This has lead to an increase in multi-lingual voice actor casting.
voice-over for wellness, exercise and home leisure.
CNN recently reported on the abrupt cessation of Deepak Chopra’s live meditation broadcast on Vimeo after a huge influx of people tuned in seeking some peace of mind.
Providers of both live and offline content for everything from home workouts to meditation are gaining huge increases in viewers and customers. Equally, vast numbers of people who would otherwise go to the gym are now purchasing exercise and fitness products that can be used at home.
Retailers of fitness and home leisure products are placing record orders with manufacturers to urgently restock whilst demand remains high.
Voice-over for audiobook narration.
An industry that was already enjoying incredible success has just been supercharged. Audiobooks are one of the rare means that people can escape confinement merely by closing their eyes, listening to the voice of a storyteller and letting their imagination run free. Curiously, fictional works about epidemics are soaring up the charts worldwide. As audiobook sales across the board enjoy a major upswing, it is also creating new opportunities for titles to be narrated in more languages than ever.
Voice-over for gardening.
Many households lucky enough to have a backyard or home garden are now buying up seeds for fresh produce. Some of this can be attributed to the panic-buyer/ prepper/ survivalist mentality, but gardening has long been a cathartic hobby for many.
It’s also a great way for families to participate in an activity that is both educational and emotionally fulfilling. Overall, this is creating a rush of new digital media content aimed at both serious and leisure consumers of gardening supplies.
Videos covering everything from how to grow your own vegetables to simple cosmetic work have seen a big increase in traffic. Companies producing and selling seeds, practical gardening tools and accessories are now seeing increases in sales.
Voice-over for print, arts and crafts.
Arts and craft suppliers are another surprise beneficiary of home isolation. A major driver of this is homeschooling, as parents start printing workbooks and buying pens, ink and other utilities to replace the tools and materials that would normally be provided in class.
Chemical and paint manufacturers are now making gains selling not only to stationery suppliers and consumer’s but also to adults using their time in confinement to redecorate the interiors of their houses. In the space of a few short weeks, sewing machines and knitting needles are suddenly in high demand.
Summary
These are just a handful of the sectors and industries in which we are seeing major increases in inactivity, and this is just the beginning. There will be many more. 2020 will forever be remembered by the tragic and unfair loss of loved ones to the coronavirus and the startling impact it’s had on the worldwide economy. This dark and anxious period also marks an introspective and potentially revolutionary change to how we, as a society find new resolve to adapt, operate and interact together.
If you are working in or serving any of these industries or sectors and seeking to get a professional voice-over recorded remotely for your production, Voquent is uniquely positioned to assist you.
Built to service the future of digital media production. Voquent offers the largest roster of vetted and exclusively professional voice actors in the world, as well as providing a fully managed online production service to meet the requirements of any project. This could be from a single, one-off promotional voice-over for a family business or national media campaign to a worldwide project in over 30 languages.
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