There’s a time in your voice-over career to say YES to a lot of projects in the commercial sector. For a lot of us, this happens in the first few years.
“YES, I’ll do that local car dealership ad because it feels awesome to hear myself say Chevrolet.”
“YES, I’ll do a million credit union spots to pay the bills.”
“YES, I’ll agree to three years’ usage on that pharmaceutical spot because I need the experience.”
And then, at some point, things shift.
You start getting auditions for bigger, better-paying gigs that demand exclusivity in a category. Sometimes you get put on hold for those gigs. And sometimes… you have to pass up some very big, very lucrative audition opportunities because of those local automotive, credit union, and pharma spots you agreed to back when you were saying YES to everything.
This is the inflection point: the time when you transition from a “Season of Yes” to a “Season of Selectivity”. This transition requires a calculated risk: saying no to some things in the short term in order to make yourself available to better things in the long term.
How do you know you’re at this point? When do you know it’s worth it to say no to some things in order to make room for others? If you’re not there yet, how can you prepare yourself for when that day comes?
First of all, what is exclusivity?
In the commercial realm, sometimes you’ll see that an audition requires “exclusivity.” This means that, for the duration of the intended media buy, the voice-over artist for this job cannot have other paid ads running for a competing client. So, you might see an audition for Best Buy that says, “Exclusivity: Big Box Stores” – this means if you want this job, you can’t also be working for Target, one of their competitors.
Exclusivity comes in all shapes and sizes. Some contracts demand exclusivity over your voice for advertisements that have visuals, but do not limit you from having a competitor’s radio ads running at the same time. Alternatively, some commercial jobs ask for exclusivity in a region or market. They may be fine with you having a competing ad running in Ohio, but not in California, where they plan to air their ad. It just depends.
Another way of asking for exclusivity is listing “conflicts.” So you may see an audition that lists Fast Casual Food/Quick Service Restaurants as a conflict. This means that in order to audition for this job, you cannot have any other ads running in the Fast Casual Food category.
Commercial jobs that demand exclusivity are often (but not always) union, and often (but not always) higher paying than jobs that do not require exclusivity. Sometimes you will have the opportunity to disclose your conflicts to the advertiser, and they will determine whether or not this is a dealbreaker for them (i.e. if your conflict would be a distraction to their competing campaign).
The dreaded “In Perpetuity” clause
With advertisers very motivated to be the sole licensor of your voice (in their category) for the duration of their media buy, you can see why authorizing perpetual usage of any commercial is a very poor idea on the voice actor’s part. You are not legally able to give exclusivity to a buyer if you already have a competing ad running in perpetuity. That’s a conflict that will never, ever expire. We won’t dive too much into this here, but it’s important to mention.
Choose your conflicts wisely
It’s important to remember that any commercial you have running may be considered a conflict to somebody. Another way of putting that is, if you’re going to work commercials, you’re going to have conflicts. That’s why it becomes more important to think strategically about whether a conflict is worth holding over time.
When I was new, I would authorize five years of paid media on advertisements because I thought, “At least it’s not in perpetuity!”
Now, ten years into this career, there are very few categories in which I would authorize five years’ usage. It would have to be something extremely niche that I don’t see a lot of auditions for, so I could ensure I wasn’t going to box myself out of other work that wanted me exclusively for their brand.
Some sectors that commonly request exclusivity are:
- Automotive
- Pharmaceutical
- Fast Food
- Financial Services (Credit cards, credit unions, banks, etc.)
- Airlines
- Energy/Oil & Gas
- Supermarkets
- Delivery services
- Alcohol
Navigating your “Season of Yes”
In your “Season of Yes”, the goal is to build up credits and client relationships. You’re building your resume and looking to get work samples back that you can use to market yourself. You need that proof of concept to be attractive to bigger clients and agents.
Your focus during this chapter should be to diversify as much as possible. Try your hand at lots of different commercial categories and look for patterns – where are you getting shortlisted and booking the most? These might be categories to consider passing on non-union and low-paying auditions for later on.
In this season, you can prepare by diligently tracking your conflicts, where they are airing, and when they expire. Keeping tabs on this will allow you to quickly know if you are available to audition for an exclusive gig or not when given the opportunity.
Finally, have honest conversations with your reps and coaches. If you’re not seeing union auditions at all, what do you need to adjust in order to gain access to them? If you are getting the auditions, how often are you making it past your agents’ gate to the casting director? Then, coach with the casting directors you commonly audition for. Ask them how often you are making it past their gate to the client.
When to start being selective
The first clue that you’re migrating into your “Season of Selectivity” is that you’ve secured a big ticket agent who is frequently sending you auditions that list conflicts or ask for exclusivity. The second clue is that you’re starting to get callbacks or avail checks as a result of these auditions. And thirdly, if you check in with your agent about the direction of your career, and they ask you to withhold auditioning for non-union jobs in certain categories, that’s a pretty big green flag that you are about to majorly level-up. Consider passing on non-union auditions in the commonly listed categories above (i.e. on pay-to-play sites or from direct rosters), unless they are paying an amount that makes it worth it for you to hold that conflict. It’s up to you (and your reps) to decide what a worthwhile amount is for you, as you weigh the costs and benefits of turning down work to shoot your shot for bigger work.
How it happened for me
In the summer of 2024, my first-call rep gently nudged me to hold off on non-union auditions in a few key categories, because he’s been doing this a long time and he said he recognized the signs of someone who was about to book something huge. I laughed it off at the time. But three months after that conversation, I booked my first huge airline commercial. Three months after THAT, I booked my first huge automotive commercial.
This was my inflection point.
I was REALLY glad that I’d been turning down local competing spots in the meantime so I could be free for the opportunities that awaited me.
Everyone’s journey is different. Every “yes” to one job means “no” to something else. Make your choices wisely, and don’t be afraid to change your strategy as you approach your own inflection point.
P.S. If you haven’t yet taken our introductory voice-over class, where we go over everything one needs to know about getting started in the voice-over industry, sign up here!
