How British Accent Actors cash in on Accent Popularity in Voiceover Market

Downton Abbey Lady Mary, which was played by Michelle Dockery, did have the most sought after British accent in the United States voice over business. This is according to most of the market analysts’ research findings.

According to research findings by PeoplePerHour (PPH), the freelance voiceover artists’ marketplace did look at up to 5,000 job adverts which were interested in British accents for recording jobs and anything that ranges from training manuals to audiobooks.

Stars like Kate Winslet, Stephen Fry, Colin Firth and Nicole Kidman have all been credited with the rise in audiobooks sales after making their recordings.

Whenever we are setting up a home assistant like Alexa, wasting time on the internet, driving or shopping, we are in most cases surrounded by pre-recorded voices.

Right from the podcasts to the video games, from the public service announcements to robocalls, the wide range of voices that comes through the speakers and earbuds are more diverse than they were before. This is according to the different industry players who were interviewed by The Cost of Living.

The boom is, in most cases driven by technology that did push the audio recording price down. It can also be fuelled by what feels like the insatiable demand for good representation from the public.

Types of voices used in targeting particular audiences

There are times when that specificity is just the acting role calls nature; although at other times it can be used in targeting a highly specific listener.

For example, York University has targeted the radio for its Lassonde School of Engineering advert where the recording has been done in English using the female Hindi accent.

According to Jonathan Love, a voice actor based in Calgary, authenticity is important. Jonathan Love is well known for his role as Obi-Wan Kenobi in the 2002’s Star Wars Clone Wars video game as a British male voiceover.

The Rising demand for accents

Banafsheh Taherian did lend her voice to the popular Amazon Prime Video’s Lili and Lola and TVO Kids cartoon series 16 Hudson. These series were set in the same universe where Taherian does play a Persian “Maman” that cares for her two daughters opposite their “baba” or father that is played by Maz Jobrani, the American Iranian comedian.

The role is a dream realized for Taherian, who is an actor that managed to migrate to Canada from Iran back in 2020.

Taherian reveals that he was told that if he were voiceover acting, it would be good if he forgets about it since there was never a demand for the Persian or Farsi accent. In case there is any demand, the Canadian actors can imitate the accent much better, something that was a bit hurtful and sad.

Authenticity is Important

Apu Nahasapeemapetilon which is Simpsons’ popular South Asian character voiced by Hank Azaria, the non-Asian comedian, is currently being considered the cultural relic in the voice acting world by most people.

The authenticity quest is so exact and among the fastest growing online voice over companies that have at one point received an elderly female voice request on condition that the actor will have to be a real grandmother.

They were interested in her being a grandmother and the actual grandmother. It means that if she never had any kids to her name, then they were not interested in her doing the recording. This was according to the managing director of Voquent, Miles Chicoine.

The UK based platform has managed to amass a database containing over 20,000 voices in 1,500 accents that are tracked across 500 different languages since its launch way back in mid-2018.

Miles Chicoine did reveal that everyone is trying to get ways in which they can connect with their audiences much better.

The entire concept of being very clear and specific about the person you are trying to reach is one thing that has become very attractive to the advertising world today.

Market is fragmented

Although technology has been of great help in propelling more audio content to the forefront, it has also managed to fragment the voice market by making it cheap and easy for aspiring actors to audition for the roles.

According to voice actor and singer Belinda Brady, there seems to be more of a demand. However, she revealed that she no longer land lots of Caribbean jobs as she used to do. Belinda Brady started performing voiceovers for firms such as Scotiabank and Subway in the 1980s before she moved from Jamaica to Canada. For her to remain competitive, Belinda Brady opted to return to school to earn an MBA and start her business.

Conclusion

Actors having British accent have been cashing in on the popularity of the accent in the voiceover market as many films and plays are always in need of actors having the British male voiceover in their games.