In a time of ever-changing career paths, when careers no longer last 20-30 years, but more like 5-7 years. And when new industries are sprouting up as technology changes and the demand for both information and services takes over manufacturing and assembly-line industries of old. Information is king, and we are consuming it at ever increasing rates, for ever-increasing interest segments, and there is no end in sight.
We have an almost insatiable demand for content, whether its news, entertainment, commentary, public discourse, politics, at this point there are demands not being met, and podcasting and voice-over work is booming!
Currently, there are around 1,750 television stations in the United States alone, according to Statistica.com. There are exactly 168 hours a week, and after you exclude work, sleep and necessity times like cooking cleaning showing and other required things, you are left with at most between 28 and 35 hours a week for entertainment and anything else you want to spend time doing.
Television is not an option when you are driving, commuting or walking anywhere. But most of us, have a pocket computer, it has video, and audio, and its that audio that we can take advantage of while walking, commuting, or other activities where we might need our eyes for other things.
According to the Pew Research Center, more than 90% of Americans 12-years-old and older listen to terrestrial radio in any given week, and 64% of that same group listen to some online radio each week.
For podcasting, individuals listening to podcasts have increased to 44% in 2018, up from 7% in 2008. Data collected through app usage between 2014 and 2017, showed a significant growth from 3 million to over 15 million podcasts a month across Android and iPhone users.This trend is only growing, as the number of podcasts and online radio shows continues to grow, due to the low cost of entering the industry and not being tied to any particular media organizations. In the third quarter of 2017 over 90 million dollars of capital was raised for just podcasting.
Voice-over has also benefited from this trend, as audiobook sales, and consumption has increased thanks to companies like Audible and Audiobooks.com. Audio books have become popular because as time becomes more limited through responsibilities and hobbies, the desire to be able to do several things, like cook or workout and listen to a book has increased as well.
Audiobooks have become the fastest growing segment of the digital publishing industry, according to GoodEReader.com
With the introduction of so-called smart-speakers or connected speakers, people can listen to audiobooks from these speakers, their computers, and smartphones as well. The trends are also seeing publishers ditch traditional printing, and go straight to audiobooks since the cost is so low and the return is staggeringly high.
This growth is not without its issues. There is the constantly changing landscape of technology and media production, distribution and consumption to begin with. There are copyright and royalty issues that face content creators.
Make no mistake, the Internet at the moment is almost like the wild west of old. As new opportunities emerge and make some people millionaires, others might toil away for years before they can see the fruits of their labors.
The voice industry has seen unprecedented growth in the last ten years, with no signs of stopping, slowing down or receding. There are many avenues to make a living in this unusual career choice. When I was a child in the 70s, the only people who listened to audiobooks were those that were blind.
These days, a busy executive might listen to ten to twenty audiobooks a year, between commuting, running and traveling. Voice actors have many more opportunities to sell their work as many countries can now hire freelance work via the internet, and so not even geography limits a person’s ability to get work.
This industry has few barriers to enter, as with a few simple tools bought on Amazon, many hours of practice and trial and error later, and you can be ready for work done from your home, at the very least that can be just as professional as spending hundreds of dollars to rent a studio.
Microphone Photo by Jonathan Velasquez on Unsplash
Walking My Journey 