Voices in Asia: Remote Creative Work for Global Audiences in a Virtual Working World

At Voices, the world’s leading voice over marketplace, the future of work has arrived. Global sonic branding and audio content campaigns are executed remotely utilizing professional native voice actors, sound engineers, and musicians to deliver audio branding from their home studios. The marketplace recently announced a service expansion that now includes translation services for authentic, localized campaigns. 

“Voices enables the creation of digital audio content at scale for a global audience. The market is advancing in Asia, responding to a massive demand for voice-branded content for the global distribution of products and services,” says David Ciccarelli, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Voices.

The platform’s top talents from Asia highlight the benefits of remote work and offer insights on the importance of localized script translations.

Global Voice Adaptations

Like many voice actors, Chonrada Chayachinda of Bangkok started her career in sound engineering before taking over the microphone herself when a major client insisted on using her voice. In 2019, she was able to expand to a global clientele through Voices. “Before Voices, my jobs came from local clients. The Voices platform gave me the opportunity to set up shop on a global platform, expand my client list internationally, and allowed me to pursue voice over full time. I can offer my services to global brands as they often require adaptations in multiple languages. This was right before Covid-19 happened, and I feel blessed that I can deliver my work right from my home studio,“ Chonrada says.

With her sound engineering background, Chonrada offers both audio mixing and post-production for her recordings, creating a 360° approach. “Managing production remotely can be difficult, especially in foreign languages. It is beneficial if the sound engineer can speak the language to help proofread, craft appropriate VO/Music mix level, and lay sound design that is appropriate and relevant.”

Script Translations

With the recent launch of translation services on Voices’ platform, Chonrada reports, “English to Thai translation can become overly lengthy. A general translator’s focus on delivering the full message can cause the script to exceed the allocated time, resulting in production issues. If you use Voices for translation services, translators who are also voice over artists will have the creative mindset to ensure the message is delivered in a production-friendly, character-appropriate and relevant manner, ensuring each international campaign is interesting and authentic.”

Chinese Xiao Ma has been a voice actor for 18 years. At Voices, his clients are mostly from the U.S., the U.K., and Europe, asking for corporate eLearning audio content and voice over for commercials. “Voice is beyond sound. It is about honor, rhyme, love, and power. Clients request time-limited audio and the script translation needs to match it,“ Xiao says. Normal translations from English to Mandarin would often be too extensive and leave him to speak very fast to sync the time. “To raise awareness of the relationship between word count and time limit, and also different grammatical structures, Voices is an excellent platform,“ he says.