State of the Industry Report 2023

Survey Results

Thank you once again for participating in our survey, which focused on the current state of the industry and the impact of emerging AI technologies.

With over 70% of our voices responding, we believe these results accurately reflect the community's sentiments and thoughts at the current time.
In the coming weeks and months, we also plan to offer further guidance, ideas, and insights to help you navigate the challenges associated with AI.

Our initial survey question sought to assess the level of concern within our voiceover community about the industry's prospects over the next 12 months. The findings were clear, with over 91% of voices indicating that they are moderately to extremely concerned about the industry's health.

The responses to this question highlighted a predominant concern regarding the contraction of the voiceover industry and its associated creative fields. Although there is a notable focus on voice cloning amongst industry bodies, it emerged this was not the primary concern within our community.

The results of this quesiton indicate that for over 85% of you, voiceover work is your primary work income and career. With 40% saying it was over 95% of their work income.

This particular question revealed that the majority of voiceover artists attribute their success to their ability to highlight appropriate elements in a script, and the distinct quality of their timbre. The most valued attribute was the ability to bring out all the right elements of a script and to follow direction effectively. This skill set may become increasingly significant if 'speech to speech' AI technologies gain popularity over 'text to speech' systems, potentially maintaining the relevance and demand for voice artists' expertise. NB: Voices were asked to select their top three factors, the percentages will therefore not sum up to 100.

It is encouraging to see that there is a substantial awareness among voiceover artists about the risks and challenges posed by AI technology. However, the responses also emphasise a widespread desire for additional information, guidance, and strategies on how to effectively navigate these challenges. Interestingly, 18% of you mentioned having a plan in place. If you think your strategy could help fellow voice artists, we’d love to hear about it so we can pass on your tips to the rest of the community.

Most voiceover artists recognise that AI is here to stay, and believe that we, as an industry, need to adapt or even embrace the change. A fairly significant number of voices (28%) think that we could use legislation to protect the industry, or possibly even curb the rise of AI. And there's a small but notable group (6%) with ideas on how to lessen these risks. As we've said earlier, if you've suggestions that could aid your fellow voices and haven't yet shared them with us, please do so. We're eager to gather and share such insights.

The results for this question captured the diversity of opinions in the community regarding voice cloning. 40% of participants expressed openness to the idea, provided it is managed carefully and with proper controls in place. 21% prefer to wait and see how the technology develops before making a decision. Meanwhile, 20% are inclined to steer clear of this technology altogether

We were somewhat surprised to find that the majority of voiceover artists are uncertain about speech-to-speech technology compared to text-to-speech. This technology, unlike text-to-speech, still relies on the crucial voiceover skill of performing a script and highlighting the right elements, though it involves mapping these onto a different likeness. A significant point raised was regarding project pricing. Many voices believe that the cost should factor in a usage component based on the scope of the recorded project, rather than solely being a 'recording fee'. Additionally, about a quarter of the respondents prefer to avoid engaging with this technology altogether.

About half of our respondents believe that voice work will remain their main source of income in the next five years. This includes 32% who anticipate combining it with side hustles and 20% who foresee focusing exclusively on voice work. A considerable portion, 30%, feel that their primary income source will shift away from voice work. Meanwhile, just 6% are considering winding down their voiceover activities.

Comments and Ideas

The community have a lot of ideas and concerns and no one single thread or idea takes prominence. But we've summarised the main points below.

Legislation and Regulation: Many artists suggest the need for strict legislation to ensure fair compensation and control over how their voices are used, especially concerning voice cloning.

Human Element and Artistry: Emphasising the unique human qualities that AI cannot replicate, like emotional nuance, passion, and the ability to take direction, is seen as crucial. Advocating for the art and humanity in voiceover work can highlight the value of real human voices.

Voice Licensing/Monetising: Some artists are open to the idea of creating AI versions of their voices that they can license out. This approach offers clients a choice and could potentially allow artists to benefit financially from the use of their "digital twin."

Education and Awareness: Educating clients about the benefits of human voiceovers versus AI could influence decision-making. This includes promoting the importance of human connection and storytelling in voice work.

Collaboration with Service Providers: Working with trusted voiceover service providers could help manage and license AI voices, ensuring that artists have some control over how their voices are used.

Content Protection: There were suggestions about using software to recognise and protect vocal characteristics to help prevent misuse.

Diversification: Artists are considering diversifying their skills and services offered, potentially moving into areas less likely to be affected by AI, such as live events or coaching.

Enhancing Online Samples: Some artists mention they are adding music beds or other elements to online samples to protect against AI scraping (the automated collection of voice samples for AI training) and other unauthorised uses. This is something we've advised previously.

Engagement and Community: Strengthening relationships with clients and engaging with the voiceover community for support and shared strategies is mentioned as important.

Embracing AI for Certain Uses: Recognising that AI may be suitable for some applications, like low-budget non-broadcast work, while human voices remain essential for higher-value or emotionally complex projects.

Overall there is a strong desire to protect your craft and livelihoods against the encroachment of AI. Most voices acknowledge the inevitability of technological progress but seek ways to ensure that their talents are not undervalued or misappropriated.

There is a call for advocacy, protection through legislation, and finding a balanced approach where AI and human voices can coexist with proper compensation and ethical considerations.

Summary

We would like to thank everyone for taking part in this survey and for the candidness in your comments and feedback.

We hope you will find the data informative and help you too in evaluating the impact of this emerging technology on our industry, and the important role you play in it.

It is fair to say that the landscape here is moving at an incredibly fast pace, and we will do our best (as our own resources allow) to monitor the situation and report back accordingly. It may be that we re-run the survey at a future date, with questions appropriate to the landscape at the time; and perhaps use this as an opportunity to obtain data which we could relay to organisations who are also monitoring the impact of AI on SMEs and Micro businesses, so they are aware of what is happening in our very unique profession.

Meanwhile, these survey results will remain internal to our Voiceovers.co.uk community.

In conclusion it appears that we are all viewing this with a level head, and indeed we must resist switching into ‘panic mode’ but concentrate on what make us great.

We suggest we all remain focussed on providing good customer service, accuracy, flexibility and strengthen the USP of using a real voice – by providing a great experience, thus stregthening the differentiators between our service offering and that of AI. We'll have more to say concerning this soon.