Drop the mic!
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Is it a good or a bad thing for a voice talent to protect himself from the eventual misuse of an audition? Until recently I thought it was an amazing idea to use watermarks in a casting’s audio. Now I feel the opposite.

In an audition, mainly when the script is short and we are asked to record the whole thing, I would confront myself with three options to avoid the possibility of the audio being used without me being paid for the service: I could mix beeps with my voice, explaining my concerns; I could change some words, explaining the same motive; I could deliver the audio as it was to the final recording, without beeps or changed words.

My fear was real. Many years ago, a client used the audio I sent for the audition without adjudicating the work and, consequently, not paying me.

To avoid these situations, for years I chose to mix beeps with the audition’s voice-over. Have I been picked in any of these castings? Zero. There were potential clients who complained about “strange noises” despite the fact that I explained they were watermarks and that I would send the perfect audio if I was chosen for the job.

More recently, I switched the tactics. I started changing some words in the scripts, mostly inventing brand names instead of saying the right ones. Have I been chosen in any of these auditions? Yes, a few. And playing with brand name can be fun!

But today I have a different point of view.

I just read a very interesting article by David Goldberg with the casting directors’ perspective, the one from the studio that receives numerous auditions and shows them to customers who probably won’t understand why there are beeps or changes in the script they provided. Even if potential clients realize the voice actors’ fears, they will get the idea that we don’t trust them. So, why should they trust us the work?

Leaving watermarks in a voice-over’s audition is assuming that customers can be dishonest, despite believing that the vast majority isn’t. They won’t like it. We won’t get the job.