Think You’re Hearing Voices? You’re Probably Right

Think you’re hearing voices.com? You’re probably right. Voices provides the talent behind iPhone games, video games, audio books and more.

Online talent marketplace provides voices behind iPhone & video games, audio books and more As sales of MP3 players, mobile phones and gaming consoles continue to rise, voice acting in audio books, iPhone apps, podcasts, and video games is growing into a multi-billion dollar industry. Voices automates the voice talent industry by offering a convenient, secure website where customers find the perfect voice for their project on time and within budget by posting a job, keyword searching for voice talent or browsing audio clips of featured voices, including the top 100 customer-ranked Favourites.

Voices was recognized this week for record growth of 534% in Canadian Business Magazine’s Profit Hot 50, a listing of Canada’s top emerging growth companies. Voices was also recently named to Backbone Magazine and KPMG’s Annual PICK 20 List in the innovation category.

• Audio books are a $2 billion dollar industry. Demand is expected to skyrocket from 4,000 recordings to 24,000 by 2012 according to the Audio Publishers Association. Crime stories and thrillers lead the pack at 70% of the market.
• The App Store contains 75,000 third-party applications for iPhone and iPod Touch. Currently, over 100 million game-capable mobile phones are in the marketplace. Advertising in games is expected to rise to $1.9 billion in 2009, according to eMarketer.  
• iTunes offers more than 125,000 audio podcasts and 25,000 video podcasts. According to joint research conducted by KnowledgeStorm and Universal McCann, 65% of business and IT professionals said they listen to podcasts for both personal and business reasons.

Listen to featured voices at www.voices.com/top100/favorites/thisweek

Approved Quotes

“It’s ubiquitous. No matter where you turn, there’s a voice-over,” says Stephanie Ciccarelli, Chief Marketing Officer and co-founder of Voices, North America’s leading provider of voice-over services. “Even in these tough economic times, our business is durable,” she says with a nod to famous money-maker Warren Buffet. In 2008, $10.9 billion was spent on language services and Voice recording and the industry is expected to grow by 7.5% to $11.7 billion in 2009.

“Audio books are the hot, new form of entertainment,” says Stephanie Ciccarelli, Chief Marketing Officer and co-founder of Voices, North America’s leading provider of voice-over services. “They’re mobile, portable and you can listen while you’re doing other things like commuting to work, gardening or working out at the gym. It’s all about taking a temporary break from the reality of day-to-day life.” Ciccarelli notes that celebrity voice-overs are the next big thing.

The voice-over industry is booming, but what’s next? Ciccarelli sees voice-overs coming soon to grocery store aisles where flat-screen TVs will announce the week’s special promotions. Voice-over technology is already in the self-checkout area and self-serve gas pumps. “You’re not alone anymore,” she jokes. “There’s simply nothing more persuasive than the human voice.”

Recent Coverage

• Backbone Magazine
• “KPMG Pick 20 Web 2.0 Awards”
• Canadian Business
• “Profit Hot 50” list

About Voices

Voices has taken the voice talent industry by virtual storm, becoming the most influential voice-over company on the Internet. Since 2003, Voices’s award-winning service has linked thousands of talented voice professionals to potential clients using web-based technology that facilitates the perfect match for commercials, video games, audio books, voice mail recordings, e-learning, iPod app instructions and more.

Radio and television stations, advertising agencies, marketing executives, casting directors and voice talent agencies rely on Voices to easily search for and hire translators, narrators and professional voice-over talents.

Clients include NBC, ESPN, PBS, The History Channel, Reader’s Digest, Comcast, Nortel Networks, Bell Canada, Microsoft, Cisco Systems, ING, Western Union, Ford, GM, Jaguar, Firestone Tires, American Airlines, the US Army, the US Government and thousands more.