Oscars Need VO, Audible Stops Daily Digests, Bono Cringes at Voice

Introduction

Hi there and welcome to Vox Talk, your weekly review from the world of voice over. I’m your host, Stephanie Ciccarelli from Voices. In today’s show, you’ll hear an argument for why the Oscars should include a voice over performance category, that Audible is hitting the pause button permanently on its daily digests for some big name news outlets, earplugs for surfer’s designed by an audio engineer, Bono doesn’t like the sound of his own voice and an invitation for you to join me in the Community Spotlight.
News 1: Should There be a Voice Over Performance Category at the Oscars?

Do you think there should be a voice acting category at the Oscars?

This question comes up again and again. This year, the question has been raised by Collider in their recent article, “Why the Academy Awards Should Introduce a Best Voice-Over Performance Category.”

While everyone in voice over needs no convincing, for those who do, Collider presents the following points for consideration:

Voice over is an art (and is not easy, as some would have you believe)
Voice actors in both animated and live action films should qualify
Veteran voice actors should be recognized for their work

What do you think? Should there be a category for voice over performances at the Oscars? Have your say! Take part in the poll Voices is running on social media.

News 2: Audible Discontinues daily audio digests of NYT, WSJ and Washington Post stories

According to GeekWire, Audible, the audiobook service owned by Amazon, has discontinued its daily audio digests of stories from The New York Times, Wall Street Journal and Washington Post.

The audio programs, which were available as a perk for Audible members, had been around for more than two decades in some cases. The decision to discontinue the digests reflects the growing number of daily news podcasts, and the rise of other services offering human-narrated audio of newspaper and magazine stories.

Responding to GeekWire’s inquiry about the move, an Audible spokesperson provided copies of emails alerting listeners to the change. The messages directed listeners to the lineup of podcasts on Audible, and specifically recommended NPR’s Up First as “another way to get your news fix.”

Audible and Amazon Music added podcasts in 2020. The New York Times is testing a new audio product of its own. The Times acquired Audm, which offers human-narrated stories from a variety of publications, in 2020.

Audible’s newspaper audio digests featured human narrators reading a selection of stories from each newspaper. Audible’s New York Times Audio Digest launched in February 1999, almost a year before Amazon made its first strategic investment in Audible. Amazon acquired Audible in 2008.

The Times digests ended on December 31st, the Journal on November 30th, and the Post on November 13th, 2021.

News 3: Wavy Ocean Ear Plugs

Audio experts are in demand! While that may sound obvious, perhaps you’ve not heard about how audio experts have been making waves in other industries. And in some cases, quite literally!

In a review on Surfer Today, Wavy Ocean was featured as one of the latest additions to the long list of earplugs for surfers.

If you’re a surfer, you’re likely aware of surfer’s ear, scientifically known as exostosis, one of the most common conditions affecting those who spend hundreds of hours per year in the ocean, especially in cool and cold air and those water temperatures. Really cold.

Now, Surfer Today explains that Surfer’s Ear is the result of repeated exposure to cold wind and water and causes bony growth to develop within the ear. Eventually, you may have more bone in your ear than the actual canal. There is only one way to prevent a very unpleasant surgery to remove bony growths - earplugs.

When left untreated, surfer's ear can cause severe problems from muffled hearing through to total deafness.

Of course, this is where Wavy Ocean earplugs comes in.

The Wavy Ocean earplugs were designed by someone who's got a very particular background experience.

Loïc Boisnard, the founder of Wavy Ocean, is an audio engineer from Amsterdam, Netherlands. He’s also a competitive water skier, so he knows the playing field from a multidimensional perspective.

Boisnard shares, "The reason I was triggered to start a company in the hearing market is that in my audio/music career and free-time activities, including water sports, I have seen a lot of people damage their hearing while doing what they love the most, for example, surfing, kiteboarding, bodyboarding and engaging with other watersports."

"When people are protecting their hearing with traditional universal earplugs, they always must compromise sound, communication, and all-day comfort."

Well you can see why he was so interested in creating this product.

And that's why Wavy is a Dutch audiology company specialized in developing high-quality earplugs that protect ears against infections caused by water and wind while keeping surrounding audio and communication top notch.

During the product and business development phase, Loïc Boisnard attended a startup accelerator program by Danish high-end consumer electronics company Bang & Olufsen.

The entrepreneur's ultimate goal was to create a product for ocean enthusiasts that safely protected what you love without any compromise.

To read the full review of this amazing product, be sure to visit SurferToday.com via the link in our show notes.

News 4: Bono Turns off the Radio When U2 Plays

Do you like the sound of your own voice? While people outside of the voice business find it difficult listening to themselves on a voicemail, you may be surprised to hear that one of the world’s best known singers says his voice makes him cringe.

ET Canada reports that, Bono, lead singer of U2, admitted that he can’t stand the sound of his own singing voice. What’s more, he turns the radio off when U2’s music hits the airwaves and his eardrums. While he loves the sound of the band in general, he can’t stand the sound of his own voice. Bono and the Edge did an interview on The Hollywood Reporter’s “Awards Chatter” podcast. Oddly, he also doesn’t like the band’s name and many of their songs.

Many artists have at times struggled to embrace their own art. Whether you can’t be in the same room as your voice playing over loud speakers or you switch off the TV or radio to avoid your instrument, many actors are shy or embarrassed to hear (or see!) their own performances, some purposefully avoiding watching their own work.

Have you had similar experiences? How do you feel about hearing your own voice? Let me know! I’d love to run a feature sharing your thoughts in an upcoming Vox Talk Community Spotlight.

Wrap Up

And that’s the way we saw the world through the lens of voice over this week. Thank you for listening and for supporting the show! I’m looking for great stories to host in our Community Spotlight, so if you have something to share, let me know! You can reach me at stephanie at voices.com to share your ideas. Thank you again for being part of our community! I’m your host, Stephanie Ciccarelli. We’ll see you next week.