SoundCloud, the German-based repository/sharing/social website for anything audio, is a staple for many voice-actors. Some say the service is a little pricey, and lately it’s had a hard time deciding what it wants to be. Add to that some recent rumors that it will soon be bought by Spotify, and you may be finding yourself holding a subscription to a service you really don’t want anymore.
Which begs the question, where ELSE would you go to post your demos and soundfiles for linking and sharing?
Well, let’s keep in mind first of all, that (as usual) the voice-over industry gets no cred whatsoever in this area. Musicians, audio engineers, and even podcasters have their own sweet-spot for online sites, resources, and vendors. Luckily most of those specialities applies to us, but we have to kinda modify or workaround the platform designs to get it to function for our needs.
Having said that, here are my 6 suggested SoundCloud alternatives (just in case):
AudioBoom
This site has been around for years, and makes it pretty simple to upload, share, and link to your soundfiles. There’s an App for your smartphone that lets you record, edit, and upload. Or you can operate from their website. I’ve narrated a number of my blogs, and posted the audio within the text (something I’ve gotten away from, all to my detriment). I’ve never paid any fee for this service.
AudioMack
This site is also smartphone/website capable, and the monthly fee is minimal (coupla dollars). You can upload, create feeds, playlists, link, and share to social media. Tailored to musicians, but easy to manipulate for your VO demos,and VERY easy to share stuff.
SpeakPage
This site is especially designed for voice-actors, in fact, they’re even looking for voice actors to hire. I worked with the founder of this site for some time early-on, and decided not to necessarily endorse them, because I believe their compensation is below standard (they charge .02 per word for their clients, so what does that leave for you once they’ve taken THEIR cut?). Their goal is not really to provide a site for VO’s to post their soundfiles, but you can do that, and link to your tracks also. In that sense, it’s workable for VO’s, and besides, I think this is a very innovative site for having content narrated.
The following three sites were mentioned in a couple of articles from LifeHacker and Independent (a UK site) as possible SoundCloud alternatives, but they blatantly cater to the musical community. I haven’t dabbled with them much, but you may find them usable for VO purposes.
Honorable mention: YouTube, Vimeo, Screencast. All three of these services are tailored to video production and playback, but you could ostensibly make it work for your soundfile purposes. Vimeo and Screencast would require a paid subscription to really do anything productive. Screencast is a service provided by TechSmith, which also makes CamTasia, Snagit, and Jing…among others.
[One more: added 8-31-2020 SoundFry looks fairly promising]
What have I missed? Feel free to add your SoundCloud-alternative suggestion in comments to this blog.
CourVO
