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Professional voiceover work is an irreplaceable component of media production in the communications industry. Voice work by professional voice artists encompasses Chinese Mandarin dubbing for movies and TV shows, cartoon and video game characters, commercials, and other media.
Professional voice artists comprise two main groups: film and TV voice talents and commercial voice talents. Because the work entailed between the two groups differ vastly, the two are very distinct fields. Besides some occasional overlap in work, there is very little interaction between the two groups.
Past dissertations on this subject have primarily focused on Film and TV voice artists, while studies focused on Commercial Multimedia voice artists are generally rare. As such, this study will focus on and document the epoch of Commercial Multimedia voice talents.
This dissertation aims to cover the many topics and issues around Commercial/Multimedia voiceovers, including the vicissitudes of Taiwan’s media production industry, price-cuts in the market, and a steady decline in voice talent earnings. In recent years, China’s manufacturing capabilities and output have caused audio equipment that easily fetched over NTD$100,000 in the past to gradually diminish in economic value today. A new crop of voiceovers who did not receive professional voice training has emerged in the market. These voiceovers set up makeshift recording studios in their own living rooms and down bid projects online. It has presented a unique challenge to traditionally trained professional voice talents.
The rise of new media forces has enabled a wave of amateur talents to enter the fray of voiceover work. Companies have begun requesting these internet celebrities, who lack voice training, to become overnight voice talents.
While the number of traditional voice-over cases has decreased, the number of voice training programs has actually risen. Although it can temporarily fill the economic vacancies, it ultimately leads to an increase in the number of people who think that they are adequately trained in voiceover and will pursue voice work with a part-time mentality. As a result, the industry itself is has become more competitive and crowded, with even companies now requesting full-time professional voice talents to cut their rates in order to remain competitive against part-time voiceovers.
Based on all of the aforementioned points of view, many changes within and outside the industry, as well as the voice talents themselves, have made a huge change in the economic situation of Taiwan's voiceovers. This study attempts to explore the following four issues stemming from the influence of the rise of online voiceover production, the popularity of digital recording devices, and the influence of Internet celebrities entering the voiceover market:
First: How do the voice actors feel about the changes in the current environment?
Second: How does the trend of the online voiceover production environment affect the work of voice talents?
Third: How has the ubiquity of digital recording devices impacted the professional careers of voice actors?
Fourth: What is the current status of new media influencers participating in voice work, and how do they affect professional voice artists?
This research is based on qualitative research in-depth interviews with current online voice talents. Interviewees range across different years of work history, from 20 plus years to 10 plus 10 years, to less than 10 years of experience. The study found that for voiceovers primarily engaged in film and television work, the overall production environment is not so different from ten years ago, and the changes in work and functions are also less significant. Relatively speaking, voice talents who mainly work on advertisements, multimedia, etc., are greatly affected by this network, and the changes in the amount of work are more noticeable.
Judging by the length of the working years, we find that those who have worked less than ten years in the industry have encountered particularly drastic changes in the nature of their profession. They also use online platforms to share their voices, so as to build their fanbase and interact with customers through Facebook, YouTube, etc. in order to land more voice work opportunities.
This article only documents and illustrates the economic situation of over talents in the current landscape and how the industry is responding to the changes in this ecosystem. Hopefully, this research can serve as a record of the ecosystem and the evolution of Taiwan's contemporary voiceover industry.
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