advantages to pay-to-play sites

It saves time and energy on direct marketing.

“Cold-calling” potential clients can be tedious, and often yields little reward unless you have a great system down. You might attempt to direct market by sending loads of emails “into the void” to businesses who may not even be in need of voices. However, on a pay-to-play site, you have a list of buyers right there that are actively casting voice talent for current projects. “I have sent thousands of emails in an effort to directly market, and a ton of responses are, ‘Oh, we just use [insert p2p service] to get our talent,’” says Alex Mitts.

Furthermore, by creating a more level playing field where anyone with access to the job can audition, it eliminates the need to “sell yourself” in order to get on a talent roster or hook a client with direct marketing, especially if you don’t already have a big resume to back you up. “[P2Ps] are accessible for anyone at any point in their career. They have the advantage of allowing you to book work on the merit of your audition, without the need for representation or without having to go and find individual opportunities on your own,” says Duffy P. Weber.

It provides a remote-friendly option for talent who live outside of studio hubs.

The majority of VO jobs being cast on pay-to-play sites are expected to record from the talent’s home studio. This allows actors outside of major markets to book VO jobs and potentially even make a living despite being remote (which is often seen as a hurdle for getting into established talent rosters or agencies where talent are expected to record in-person if they book a job). Pay-to-plays are sometimes seen as a “necessary evil” if you’re not in LA, or especially if you’re not based in the United States at all(even some studios in the US who are open to remote recording are unable to work with non-US talent due to payroll limitations, so p2ps provide an international-friendly work option.). “I do think that some pay-to-play sites are worth it for actors who do not have as many opportunities to reach outside the sphere of work they find on their own, whether that be due to not having an agent, living in an area where that may not be as viable, or both,” says Joshua Waters.

It allows access to commercial auditions without an agent.

If you want to do a lot of commercial work, the usual preferred approach is to get signed with an agency. However, agencies are extremely competitive and can be difficult to get into, especially if you don’t have much experience. “In these times, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to even land a regional agent with how competitive the market has become,” says Devin Lauderdale.

But since the auditions on a pay-to-play site are open to any talent willing to pay the membership fee, such jobs can become more accessible (even if they typically don’t pay anywhere close to the commercial jobs that go through agencies.) And even if you do have an agent, pay-to-play sites can widen the net beyond that. “The ability to receive a steady stream of auditions day in and day out, cannot be understated. Even some of the biggest agents are only sending out a fraction of the work that pay to play sites are able to provide,” says August Sargenti.

However, commercials on pay-to-play sites often have exploitative rates and terms, which we will get into in the “Disadvantages” section.

It allows talents to widen their opportunity net in general, including to opportunities they may not find elsewhere.

Unfortunately, certain companies only cast through pay-to-play sites, and sometimes the chance to try out for that major hit videogame is enough to push actors into buying a membership. If a client is looking for voice actors, online casting sites come up as the first search results, and sometimes their relative ease of use and ability to filter auditions without emailing hundreds of potential talent can be seen as a quick and easy way to get things done, especially in a world of constant “urgent” deadlines.

Pay-to-plays can also provide more niche VO opportunities that don’t normally go the routes of agency casting or open auditions on social media. “I’ve enjoyed working on some very unique projects I might not have had access to otherwise, like providing VO for a college professor’s Final Exam Q&A podcast, a talking frog toy, an animated museum guide, and an escape room,” says Michael Malconian. Jesse Hawford points out that “they also give me opportunities to find things for my kids easier as finding stuff for kids can be difficult and many folks cast for kids on VDC.”

And while no one should rely on these sites as their only source of opportunities, it can be a nice supplemental income to talent who are already booking enough to work full-time. “I see joining pay-to-plays as a singular rung in a ladder – it’s never going to be my only way of marketing, of building my income or improving my portfolio. But I’ve accepted it as one method of running a sub-set of my business, and I enjoy that for what it is,” says Aimee Smith.

The process of getting paid can be less of a hassle.

Some online casting sites handle the entire payment process for you, so you don’t have to worry about manually creating invoices or chasing down clients who don’t pay. The site may even be able to step in on your behalf to get you paid if it’s taking unreasonably long. On VDC for example, the client must pay up front and funds get held “in escrow” until the talent completes the job—-which means they have to actually have the money in order to hire you (though unfortunately the site does take a hefty fee in exchange for this service.)

It provides a way for talent to build experience even if they don’t have fancy demos or a large resume.

To get into an agency or private talent roster, you’re generally expected to have some type of VO or acting experience already (many ask for a resume or IMDB page) and a demo that is either professionally produced or sounds close to it. But as pay-to-play sites are largely audition-based, it’s entirely possible to find auditions and work without prior experience. And while some clients may cast off demos, plenty do not care about the demo whatsoever and only cast based on custom auditions. Melody Muze found value in pay-to-play sites during the very early stages of her career as “I knew I had to build up a portfolio if I wanted [agents, roster opportunities, and connections] and having a portfolio was very helpful for me for future clients when I did begin cold marketing.”

It provides an avenue of continually auditioning and practicing.

As new auditions tend to be posted on casting sites every day, it’s a way to get lots of practice “throwing spaghetti at the wall”, trying out different genres and archetypes and seeing what sticks. Even if a good number of your auditions don’t end up being listened to by the client, it can still be seen as valuable auditioning experience. “It was a way to keep my acting skills sharp for commercials promos, phone trees, etc. when casting calls weren’t accessible otherwise,” says Brittany Ann Phillips.

disadvantages to pay-to-play sites

While the advantages above may make pay-to-play sites seem like a no-brainer for anyone looking to increase their voice acting opportunities and income, it’s also important to factor in the many drawbacks when deciding whether to subscribe to a P2P.

Rates often range from low to atrocious—-sometimes even grossly exploitative.

Because these sites are filled with voice actors hungry for work and hoping to make back their investments on the membership, clients learn quickly that they can post a job for virtually any low amount and people will still jump on it because they need the work. “There are projects that are listed at FAR less than they should pay for the market they’re aimed at,” says Duffy P. Weber. There are some sites that aim to be more ethical pay-to-plays with proper rates, but unfortunately, the volume of jobs and auditions available tend to be nowhere near what the bigger sites have that don’t curate their jobs.

While some sites used to have per-job minimums of say, $100, the prevalence of race-to-the-bottom sites like Fiverr lead to minimums going away in order for p2p sites to be able to continue to attract clients—many of whom quickly learn that they can post a job for virtually nothing and people will still audition. Brittany Ann Phillips notes that on VDC, “casting calls literally start at $5. Why would someone pay a $500 membership fee for that?”

It’s sadly easy for newer talent to get taken advantage of, especially if they don’t know what these jobs are supposed to pay. “You sometimes see national spots for 200 bucks, which is ridiculous,” says A.J. Beckles. That money can seem great to someone who is living in a small town, working a day job for minimum wage, and just trying to get started in VO…but a quick trip to the GVAA Rate Guide can be quite a rude awakening!

Some sites allow “bidding”, which further encourages a race to the bottom.

Let’s say a client lists their budget with a range of $250-$500. This means that they will consider “bids” from talent anywhere within that range…or so they say. In reality, unless all the $250 auditions sound like they were recorded on a potato, bidding $500 – even if that’s the bare minimum that a job of that type should pay – can get your audition tossed from consideration.

This is problematic, because at its core, it encourages talent to underbid each other in an attempt to win the job. While perhaps not every client will opt for the lower bidders, it sets a dangerous precedent of letting people undercut their peers by saying they’re willing to work for less, which in turn drives rates down for everybody. “A lot of P2Ps lack common ethics, or a respect for the industry, by undercutting industry rates as much as they can to market to clients who don’t want to pay those rates. It’s a cyclical issue that will slowly drive the bottom-line lower and lower,” says Devin Lauderdale.

In many cases, not only must you bid for the project, but you must submit a written proposal explaining to the client why you’d be the right fit, as opposed to just letting your audition speak for itself. Brittany Ann Phillips notes that one of the less-talked-about drawbacks to P2Ps “is having to submit a written pitch with your auditions as well.”

In addition to the membership fee that you pay to access auditions, certain sites will take a cut of your pay from each job as well.

On Voices dot com (“VDC”) for example, the talent must present a total “budget” to the client which is inclusive of the hefty cut taken by the site. So for example, if the talent wants to make a mere $100 for the job, they must quote $125. Or, if the client’s budget is listed at $500, the talent will take home only $400. “A yearly fee AND an additional 20-25% feels like a crime,” says Alex Mitts.

In contrast, a fairly standard commission for an agent to take is only 10% of the job payment (and a reputable agent also won’t charge you a yearly fee for the privilege of being signed with them.) *At the time of this article, we were told that another very popular pay-to-play site, Voice123, does not take a cut of each job the way that VDC does.

There is also a lack of transparency to the client in regards to just how much of a commission a casting site takes, so clients may think that talent is quoting “too high” for a job without being aware of how little of the budget they are actually walking away with. According to Luis Torrelles, it’s a “client-focused business model that punishes the artist twice: both with the yearly fee AND with the percentage cut from the quote.

P2P sites are often flooded with low-budget AI voice training jobs.

P2Ps are an attractive option for companies looking to train AI voice models, as they have access to a wealth of newer actors who may be willing to sell their voices to technology that’s ultimately meant to put them out of a job. These AI training jobs offer a relatively low one-time buyout – often less than a few months’ rent – and can be used to generate a replica of those actors’ voices that can then be used for anything and sold to third parties without ever having to pay them an extra cent. “With jobs for AI companies and calls for voice-cloning invading these spaces, it is even more important for talent considering joining a P2P to be vigilant and highly selective,” says Michael Malconian.

There is often a lack of transparency regarding the client, project, and usage.

Some clients will deliberately obscure certain information knowing that talent would bid higher rates for a job if they knew what it was for. For example, someone could record a video narration that they assume will be used internally for employees at a mom-and-pop shop, only to find out later that it was used for a major national company on their YouTube channel. And because you sign away all usage rights to your recordings, there’s nothing you can do about it.

There’s also a bunch of commercial jobs demanding in-perpetuity usage, which can create a potential conflict for the talent if they have the opportunity to voice ads for competing brands in the future. While commercial clients should be paying usage fees based on how long they want to run the ad, this is a rarity on most online casting sites!

The lack of transparency can also cause issues for talent looking to build a portfolio, as contracts/NDAs for some websites may prohibit talent from publicly claiming credit for or announcing their work. Even if such a policy isn’t present, the fact remains that you may never know what or whom you are recording for or how your voice will be used.

Deadlines mean very little in the P2P world, and your audition may not even be heard at all.

If you get an audition from a reputable studio, agency, or closed casting pool, you can usually feel confident that the stated deadline will be honored. Many actors submit last-minute, and are still considered as long as they turn in submissions on time.

However, in the P2P world, all bets are off. Many projects, especially those with decent pay, get an immediate flood of auditions and the client may simply cast the first one they hear that reasonably fits what they’re looking for. “I feel that unless I am instantly there to audition I am always auditioning after 100-200 people in the first 3-4 hours,” says Jesse Hawford. Depending on your time zone, many jobs may be cast and closed before you are even awake. Heidi Tabing reiterates the frustration with clients not sticking to deadlines: “(I have) to be very quick with auditions if I want to stand a chance of being heard.” The first-come first-serve culture has become so ingrained in the online casting market that some sites, such as Bunny Studio, deliberately cater to clients who want to cast their projects ASAP to the first submitter!

And yes, there is the startlingly common chance that due to the algorithms, short deadlines, and sheer number of talents auditioning, your audition may never even be listened to by the client at all. Melody Muze finds it especially a problem that people pay so much money just to be able to access casting calls, yet “there is a good possibility you could not even be listened to, which is a shame and a waste of your money.”

Algorithms and tiered plans can mean there are many auditions that you’re not seeing, despite paying for the membership.

It’s not uncommon for p2p sites to have tiers of membership, which means that if you’re willing to shell out even more money (thousands of dollars per year), you’ll be able to receive better and higher-budget auditions on an earlier timeframe. Voice123 is quite open about the fact that if you pay more money, you’ll receive more auditions, be invited sooner to auditions than other actors, and show up more frequently to clients searching for voice talent.

But if you’re only paying for a standard plan, you may never see the “good” auditions at all, and instead get the lower-budget, less attractive jobs that the higher-tier members didn’t want. “Getting cast in VO is fickle enough as it is; companies that are willing to double down on that notion by offering preferential treatment for members who pay more in terms of early audition time, automatic recommendations to new clients, etc… is dishonest in my opinion,” says Nathan Hunt.

Miranda Gauvin cites “mysterious algorithms and tiered membership levels” as a major frustration with pay-to-play sites. “You could be perfect for something, but if you haven’t paid enough, you could only get the audition after it’s been picked over by the higher levels…and sometimes you won’t get it at all.” The “free” membership tends to be even more worthless, as clients would have to find your profile specifically (extremely unlikely) and the only auditions you’ll likely receive are low-budget “slop jobs” for training AI voices.

It may be against TOS to work with the client off-platform.

This is understandable from a business perspective as the site wants their cut and doesn’t want to be liable for any communication issues that happen off-site. Furthermore, it can actually protect talent in some ways to keep payment on the platform. Joshua Waters issues a word of caution about clients who are insistent on taking the job offsite: “This could very well mean that they are either not going to send you what you are owed, or not send you anything at all for your work.”

But even from a practical standpoint, restricting communication to the platform can make coordinating certain aspects of the job more cumbersome. “This can be a little inconvenient when it comes to scheduling live direction sessions and wanting to give over your contact information,” says Aimee Smith. And if the client wants a couple of pickups months down the line, they may have to create an entirely new job, which can be an additional hassle (as opposed to simply replying to an email thread!)

The good news: After the job is out, it can be possible to attempt to take clients you trust off-platform for future jobs if you are crafty about it…for example, following up with them on LinkedIn or social media.

It sets a bad precedent in terms of what clients expect from voice talent.

Ridiculously short turnaround times, free extensive editing and/or line splitting, unlimited revisions…you name it. Because many of the talent on these sites are either unaware of accepted industry standards or are just desperate to work, the clients get accustomed to talent jumping through hoops no questions asked, and then bristle if they are told that yes, it’s going to cost extra if you want every line and take mastered and in a separate file, and that it’s going to cost extra if you change the script for the third time and want it recorded again, and that it’s also not reasonable to expect most people to be glued to their computers all day long waiting for your message.

And finally, these sites are extremely competitive.

“If you aren’t ready to be competitive on a P2P site, you’ll end up wasting money and have little idea why,” says Bruce E. Hennigar II. Just because you fork out the money for a membership fee and have good demos and a treated recording space, it’s no guarantee that you’ll actually book enough to even make your money back. “You’re going against hundreds, if not thousands, of other talent of many different skill levels…so competition is incredibly fierce,” says August Sargenti.

Richard Di Britannia offers the blunt perspective that while pay-to-play sites may market themselves as an easy way to make money voice acting, this could not be further from the truth. “Simply paying a subscription does not mean you are deserving of work, because paying a subscription does not equate to having the necessary skill to perform. Believing this to be true would be like buying a Steinway piano with the expectation that it will allow you to play well – it won’t.” He adds that if an actor is desperate for work or money, they may have false hope that joining a pay-to-play site will solve their issues. “In reality, joining these sites means you are competing with established talent with decades of experience who will give their best performance for every single audition and job. In many instances, you must be able to not only match their skill but often exceed it. Pay-to-play sites won’t tell you this when they are asking for your credit card number, they’ll tell you ‘anyone can do it’.”

red flags to be aware of

Not all jobs are legitimate just because they appear on an online casting site. Scammers can easily slip through the cracks, and there are plenty of listings which are extremely exploitative in terms of pay and/or usage. If you plan to join a p2p, it’s imperative to be aware of the below warning signs to help protect and advocate for yourself.

AI / text-to-speech / dataset / machine learning / voice cloning / voice model training

As AI voice applications unfortunately become more and more prevalent, online casting sites continue to be filled with companies looking for actors willing to sell out their livelihoods for a quick buck. Rates are driven lower and lower because sadly, someone will always take it, and the nature of AI training means someone doesn’t necessarily have to be great at interpreting a script or deciphering emotional intent as long as they have a decently quiet recording space (AI voice training often involves talent reading large amounts of random text in order to train a computer to replicate their voice and cadence using text-to-speech technology.) These models may then be sold to other third parties—such as video game companies—who can then generate a replica of the actor’s voice without any additional payment or credit to them, as opposed to actually hiring that actor for their game!

Even IF an AI job offers what seems to be relatively high pay, stop and consider what, if any, guardrails the client is putting on usage, and whether the amount they are offering is worth the potential loss of future jobs and income from clients who could otherwise hire you as a human performer. It’s not impossible to have a text-to-speech job that offers fair pay and terms, but they’re few and far between on P2P casting sites. See NAVA’s Synth & AI page for examples on how a client should behave if they wish to use this technology ethically.

It’s important to be aware of the various terms used in AI training jobs so you can spot them when you see them—these include, but are not limited to, text-to-speech, machine learning, synthetic voice, voice cloning, voice modeling, algorithm training, dataset creation, etc.

Commericals that ask for a “full buyout in perpetuity”

To be clear, buyouts are typically necessary for projects such as video games, apps, and instructional videos where the media needs to remain accessible on a permanent basis or otherwise indefinite amount of time. But when it comes to commercials and paid social ad placements, clients should be paying according to how long they wish to run the ad, especially because it can give you an exclusivity conflict with similar brands if you’re not careful.

For example, let’s say you do a national commercial for a major fast food restaurant on a P2P site with full buyout in perpetuity, and they decide to run the ad on and off for several years. Later, you sign with a great agent who sends you a commercial audition for a competing national fast food chain that pays ten times the amount and is on a union contract…but you can’t take it because it states that you must not have existing fast-food conflicts and you already shot yourself in the foot by being the voice of a competing brand for much less than you’re worth. “Anything listed as “in perpetuity” needs to be looked at carefully,” says Miranda Gauvin. “Are they paying enough for that much usage?”

One way to combat “in perpetuity” asks for commercials is to state that – for example – the rate they are offering (or your bid) covers up to 1 year of usage. Should they wish to run the ad longer, they can renew usage for an additional fee. Be sure to clarify use terms with the client before accepting a commercial job.

Lying about pay

While relatively rare, sometimes projects sneak in by being deceptive about the compensation that they are offering. For example, they might list $100 when filling out the “rate” field, but then in the job description admit that it’s actually an unpaid fan project. Or, they might list a job at an attractive rate to collect high-quality auditions, then message shortlisted talent asking if they’d be willing to adjust their bid to less in hopes that they’ll just cut their losses and accept the job anyway. Most casting sites have a “report” function—report any job that is blatantly misleading about the compensation being offered and chances are it will be removed.

Scammers/fake job listings

Occasionally, scammers slip through by posting what appears to be a legitimate voiceover job. But when actors submit their auditions, they receive a message back from the supposed client asking them to send an e-mail to receive more details. The scammer may claim that the job on the casting site has already been filled, but that they would like the actor to join their talent roster—they just need them to provide personal financial details!

While situations like this can and should be reported to the website, note that once you take communication off the platform, chances are you are no longer protected. The idea of cutting out the middleman can seem enticing, but never agree to work with a client off-platform unless they have proven themselves to be legitimate (for example, a repeat client who has already paid you for previous work.)

Bait-and-switch workloads

Sometimes, a project’s workload isn’t finalized at the time of casting. 500 words turns into 750 words, 2 videos turns into 4 videos, usage goes from social media to broadcast TV, or there are excessive editing/file splitting requirements that aren’t disclosed up front. These things happen, but the client should be forthcoming about any such changes and willing to adjust the pay. After all, when talent auditioned for and quoted for the job, they were operating under the assumption that the parameters listed in the casting call would be the same upon hiring. While an extra line or two probably isn’t a big deal, if the workload is significantly larger than a talent was led to believe, they should be compensated.

Many clients who cast on P2Ps don’t want to pay the extra money to hire an audio engineer, which is fine if they’re willing to handle production in-house. However, be aware that some clients will expect “turnkey audio” (fully edited, mastered, etc) but only want to pay the price of a raw audio. They may also have unrealistic expectations in live sessions by expecting the talent to also act as an engineer (pulling selects, playing back takes, etc). While some talent are comfortably able to do this, in much of the professional industry outside of P2Ps, clients hire a recording studio to handle production, and part of what they are paying for is an audio engineer to deal with the technical side of things so the talent can focus on their performance.

One way to help prevent a future messy situation is to include in your proposal a note that if workload or usage changes significantly, or if extensive editing work such as line splitting is required, your quote will need to be adjusted accordingly.

Unlimited revisions

While this can happen with clients everywhere, it’s especially a problem on freelance/p2p sites as work is often completed independently and some clients have been conditioned that they can ask for as many retakes as they want for the same initial pay.

Some ways to combat this as a talent include clarifying your revision policy at the time of audition/booking (depending on how the site works), providing a short sample first for approval, offering the client 2-3 options to choose from off the bat, and encouraging a live session if the client seems to be overly picky.

Sample revision policy for p2p proposals:
“Once the audition/sample has been approved and we proceed with the job, up to one round of minor revisions will be included in the initial cost to help ensure you’re happy with the work (not applicable to live-session jobs). Note that revisions requested due to no fault of my own, such as script/spec changes, are subject to an additional fee. Please feel free to include any additional context or direction notes to help ensure I deliver what you’re looking for in my initial reads!”

Stolen auditions…?

While unlikely, it’s theoretically possible for a shady client to steal someone’s audition file and use it as the final recording, unbeknownst to anyone else. Watermarking one’s audio tends to be heavily frowned upon in casting, not to mention it’s annoying and distracting, so a tactic some actors use is changing a word or only auditioning for a portion of the script requested. “One of the things I’m incredibly cautious about is not auditioning for a full script,” says Aimee Smith. “If I can see the word count is 100 words, and they’ve listed 100 words as the audition script – I’ll record a portion and send whatever demo I have that matches the sector they’re casting.”

There’s also the concern among talent that some clients may be harvesting audition files to use for AI training. Again, this is relatively unlikely (larger datasets such as dialogue ripped from video games tends to be a more attractive target for those looking to steal voices for AI), but not impossible – so if an audition asks for a very long sample script, only read a shorter portion of it (say, 30 seconds). It’s also best to avoid auditions where the sample text is extremely random or nonsensical with no explanation as to why it’s written that way, as this sort of script is often used when gathering voice data for AI..

tips to be successful as a talent on casting sites

If you’ve read all the pros and cons, armed yourself with awareness of red flags and still decide you would like to join a pay-to-play, what are some must-haves in order to be successful on these sites?

A quiet, sound-treated home recording space

According to Duffy P. Weber, room acoustics tend to be a significant factor when clients are evaluating auditions. The grand majority of pay-to-play gigs will record remotely rather than renting out a studio, so if you’re recording in a large open space, using a low-quality microphone, or you have significant background noise in your audition, you probably will not be considered—especially if the 100+ other talent submitting on the same job have great-sounding audio. While audio quality requirements on pay-to-plays tend to not be as strict as with professional studios (most clients on there won’t particularly care what brand of microphone you have as long as it sounds good, and each client casting will have a different bar for what constitutes “good enough”), think critically about your space and setup when deciding whether to splurge on a p2p membership.

Basic editing/technical knowledge + live session ability

You don’t need to go out and spend a bunch of money on a fancy DAW, but you’ll need to know at least the bare bones of how to edit your auditions and files. Many clients on pay-to-play sites prefer “ready to go” audio which can be dropped in over a video file or otherwise used as-is, so cleaning up your audition files can go quite a way in making a good impression (in contrast to professional studio auditions where raw audio is often preferred as they’ll be working with a sound engineer.)

You’ll also need a solid knowledge of how to use your equipment properly, such as setting your gain to a healthy level based on what you’re recording, and using correct microphone technique. It doesn’t matter how good your equipment and space is if your gain is set too hot to where the audio is clipping!

Finally, you’ll be expected to be able to provide a live session option where the client can listen in on a call (usually Zoom, Google Meet, or occasionally Microsoft Teams) to provide feedback as you record the full-resolution audio on your end to send over afterward. Not every p2p client will demand a live session, but it’s a common enough ask that you’ll need to be prepared for it.

Willingness to go hard on the auditioning grind

If you tend to procrastinate or let yourself go long periods of time without auditioning, P2Ps may not be a great investment for you. “It’s definitely a numbers game on the P2P sites and if you’re not pumping them out WITH good skills behind it, you just won’t book and it won’t be worth it in the end,” says Bruce E. Hennigar II. The top-booking talent on these sites tend to be cranking out dozens of auditions per day…but of course, it’s also important not to burn yourself out.

Semi-open availability

Unfortunately, pay-to-play sites aren’t super-friendly to those who have day jobs, school, or nocturnal schedules…or even just busy people in general. Auditions tend to get posted early and close early, quick-turnaround jobs are prevalent, and the workings of the site favor those who have the luxury of sitting in front of their computer all day waiting for one to pop up. “It’s mostly a numbers game, so besides of course just solid acting fundamentals, make sure you have enough time in your day to audition for everything in your queue in addition to all the other auditions you do in a day,” says Michael Malconian. Malconian adds that clients on p2ps tend to expect quick turnarounds in general and may even change their mind if a talent doesn’t reply to a message promptly.

A profile that makes the algorithm work for you

A lot of the algorithms aren’t exactly transparent, but online casting sites typically stress that the more “complete” your profile is, the more job postings you will see. Luis Torrelles considers it necessary to have “basic marketing and branding skills to create a compelling profile and position yourself in the client’s head.” This can mean thinking of various keywords to describe your voice, including targeted demos for various genres of media, and accumulating high reviews/ratings from clients who’ve hired you through the site.

Some type of demo or samples

Unlike with agency and studio submissions, you don’t necessarily need an expensive, fancy demo for a pay-to-play site. After all, the grand majority of jobs are cast off of auditions, not demos. Still, having targeted samples of some kind can help the algorithms to work in your favor, or show off your versatility to a client who liked what you did in an audition but wants to make sure you can do something a little bit different if needed.

As commercial and narration jobs tend to comprise the overall majority of p2p auditions, you should prioritize having samples in these categories.

A business-minded approach

There’s nothing wrong with being a hobbyist voice actor, but if you’re not at the point yet where you treat your VO work as a business, it can be easy to be taken advantage of. P2Ps are the “wild west” and you don’t have the benefit of an agent or casting director working out the terms for you. Be aware of how to negotiate rates and usage, how to spot exploitative rates, and how to determine a revision policy. Talking about money can be scary, but it’s a necessity!

And last but certainly not least…acting skills!

“Much like any other industry, pay-to-play site clients demand that you have the skill to perform well enough that your voice represents their product,” says Richard Di Brittania. It is highly advised to have at least some sort of basic acting foundation and/or training before jumping into a pay-to-play site if you hope to see a return on your investment. Being able to break down a script and believably interpret the copy is crucial not just for character work, but anything where your voice is meant to tell a story or deliver a message to a client’s audience. You also need to be able to self-direct efficiently enough to ensure you are delivering quality reads.

if you’re a client thinking of using a p2p casting site

We know it seems quick, easy and cheap to hire talent through a pay-to-play site. But consider these advantages to auditioning and hiring talent directly (via our Discord, social media, agencies, or through a reputable casting director):

• Ability to negotiate fair and transparent pay rates without worrying about how much a middleman might be skimming off the top
• Easy, direct communication with talent rather than relying on a third-party site for messaging
• Ability to easily reconnect with talent later for additional work or role reprisals (if talent leaves an online casting site and deletes their profile, you may not have an easy means of contacting them later)
• Ability to set customized contracts, NDAs, and other paperwork, without being forced to use the boilerplate agreements set by casting sites
• Ease in coordinating live directed sessions, if needed
• Files delivered through platform of choice or directly to your email
• Better reputation and working relationship with voice actors
• Access to a more diverse talent pool, especially if specific representation is needed
• Access to a high caliber of voice talent who are at a point in their career where they don’t use pay-to-play sites
• Potentially more chance to credit voice talent properly as well as arrange promotions/events if desired (many talent use a pseudonym on pay-to-play sites due to fear of angering current or potential agents or being taken less seriously in the industry)
• In the case of working with a casting director, access to a curated set of auditions by professional and vetted talent with high quality audio (without having to sift through hundreds of unusable submissions!)*

*Believe it or not, we’ve received reports that clients who tried out pay-to-play casting sites actually received a handful of submissions that were AI-generated, either by bots or because the talent couldn’t be bothered to actually create a custom audition!

how could p2p sites offer a better experience for talent?

Based on an informal survey of VAC members as well as discussion in Facebook groups, voice actors have proposed the following ideas for how p2ps could improve—or what might make them consider using or returning to one.

• A ban on—or at the bare minimum, heavy regulation of—AI voice training jobs
• Minimum rate requirements as well as educating clients on rate expectations
• Vetting of clients to minimize low-quality/low-effort castings or scams
• Requirement to adhere to deadlines, encouragement to listen to multiple submissions or other efforts to minimize first-come first-serve casting
• Lower commission fees, particularly when working with repeat clients, and/or more transparency to clients on platform fee markup
• Direct communication with client / ability to take jobs off-platform
• Ability to search and apply to open castings without having to maximize the algorithm in order to view auditions

Are more ethical p2ps an option? Have they been tried?

Yes—multiple companies have attempted to rework the pay-to-play system to operate in a way that is more favorable to talent. However, these sites have varying results (the crash and burn of voiceovers dot com being a cautionary tale). It can be difficult to compete with the larger, more established platforms like V123 and VDC that already command so much of the online casting market, and while stricter vetting of jobs and rates sounds like a great idea in theory, it often means far fewer jobs for talent to choose from. The lack of jobs on these newer or lesser known sites creates a vicious cycle where talent often do not see the value in paying for a membership that doesn’t provide enough audition opportunities. This may lead them going back to the bigger sites—even if they don’t agree with their business practices—purely to access a wider range of auditions.