What’s wrong with the word Audition?

While the way we do things is changing, there is no reason that accepted language needs to change, when doing so offers no improvement.

Case in point is the term “custom demo”.  The word is ”audition”.  Is  anyone confused when they hear the word audition?

Then why would anyone want to introduce another term that is more confusing and offers no advantages?

Read on and you’ll see.

The word Demo has a ton of meanings, but the one most commonly accepted with regards to the casting of voice talent is  – a recording designed to show off a performer to a producer. Demos are rehearsed and produced and usually a great deal of work goes into such a product. Demos are often broken down by genre, but not always. This is so that someone looking for a voice talent will be able to hear the actor performing similar work to that which they are looking to employ the actor in. This may be commercial, audio book, educational or narration. It often goes much further to the approach and handling of the actor’s craft. Can I hear their ability to emote? Do they sound like they can act? What kind of range are they exhibiting?

On a more basic note, the demo tells us what the actor sounds like and a bit of their range. Deep bass voice or midrange?  20 something or 50 something? Or can they go “womb to tomb”, meaning, play a very broad age range.

Custom demos have generally meant a specialized demo that might truly drill down to a very specific recording, such as real person, spokesperson or monster voices. It might mean a special demo for the car industry or for retail.

Perhaps some confusion enters into things because the unions, SAG and AFTRA have something called a “demo rate”. This simply means that when someone wants to use what amounts to an audition, for the purposes of panel testing, pitching or use the recording to try and get the work approved for production and or commercial use, there is a minimal payment made to the actor.

Unfortunately, these days, with very high quality recordings coming from bedrooms and closet studios everywhere, not only can and do agencies and producers use auditions for purposes of pitching, without compensating talent, but some unscrupulous individuals may even “lift” auditions and use them without the knowledge of the actor and most definitely without compensating them for all manner of purpose. This can happen in particular when the use of a recording may be short lived and for a limited audience, such as the Peoria Annual Bunion Convention.

Lifting auditions  is often considered a gray area and is probably fodder for another discussion. It was in fact somewhat commonplace during the early days of video game recording, when I attended E3, the industry’s annual big pow wow and heard my own voice coming from 5 or 6 different game booths that were exhibiting “sneak peaks” of some games. Not only was I not compensated for the work, but in many cases, the final recordings (which would be done after E3) weren’t done in the Bay Area and I didn’t even get to be talent on the finished games (for which actors were paid).  I did help to get the game made and/or funded and/or distributed and even had other talent asked to “copy” the original character voice I created, all without compensation.

Some think that as much as 50% of all the work that voice talent is being asked to audition for is for work that doesn’t have final approval and should technically be paying at least a demo rate fee to the talent. Ease of entry works equally for producers, writers and dreamers as it does for wannabe actors, thinking that a $49 USB microphone and $199 investment in an online casting service makes them a voice talent.

So Where the Heck do we get Custom Demo from?

“Custom Demo” is the term many are now using instead of audition. I have no idea why, except that there are online casting sites that have attempted to change the language used in voice over, if for no other reason than to benefit from SEO. If the word “audition” becomes replaced in common vernacular by the words “custom demo”, then it stands to reason that the site with the best saturation of that key phrase would wind up on top.

The problem is that many producers and certainly a large number of newer entrants into the voice game are learning from these online casting sites, and I don’t think the education is often very good. This is not to say that some quality actors can’t be found via such sites, nor does it imply that the work being offered is from “newbies”. It simply shows how a relatively small group of people are changing the system via the power of the internet, and that said change is not only not necessary, but rather confusing.

Of course, with many experienced voice actors now relying heavily on internet marketing, and also wishing to increase their standings in the search engines, we are seeing everyone jumping on board and using numerous word and phrases that all mean essentially the same thing.

Unlike the Eskimos who have 30 or so words for “snow”, to reflect the importance of such an item in their lives and to differentiate the nuances (snow you would build an igloo with versus snow you might cut a hole into to go fishing), it would seem that developing new terms is simply a marketing ploy.

For those of you old enough to remember, Certs used to sell themselves as having a glistening drop of Retsyn. Retsyn, as it turns out was simply a name they created for vegetable oil. Big selling point? Well, the campaign was stellar and most people to this day don’t know that Retsyn is nothing more than vegetable oil.

The word audition also has several different interpretations. Here are 2 of the definitions that seem to most closely be associated with the word audition as one might relate it to an actor.

1. A trial hearing given to a singer, actor, or other performer to test suitability for employment, professional training or competition, etc.

2. A reading or other simplified rendering of a theatrical work, performed before a potential backer, producer, etc.

So an audition vs. a demo would generally mean that an audition is a performance of a specific script, generally performed within set constraints (direction of some type is given, often referring to age and type of read). Or if direction isn’t explicitly given, it can be derived from the way the script is written.

The audition is most often the same or similar copy to the actual job that one is looking to cast a voice talent to perform.  And the word audition has been and continues to be a word that for centuries has been closely aligned with actin and has been generally understood.

The telephone has undergone numerous changes and yet we still use the word that was popularized over 100 years ago to describe it.  And there seems to be little problem with anyone understanding what the term means. If we wish to specify, we may say cell phone or wireless home phone. We could, if necessary distinguish the audition for v.o. talent as simply a voice over or v.o. audition. I don’t think anyone would have any difficulty understanding the terminology, even if they aren’t part of an industry that utilizes actors or voice talent.

Custom demo simply doesn’t serve anyone and doesn’t belong in our vocabulary.  Use the word audition and there will be less doubt as to whether you can walk the walk or talk the talk.

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