Not too long ago, I was watching a movie where I was curious about the voice of the antagonist. I couldn’t do anything about that movie, but it got me thinking. If you’re creating content, how do you get that voice? I’m looking for? One option is AI.
AI voiceover generators can help you create content on a budget, such as social media posts and YouTube videos. It could also be an accessibility solution for people with visual impairments.
Among the long list of AI-powered voiceover generators (Looking you, Speechify, Rebind, Murf AI, ElevenLab, WellSaid), we came across Artlist, a hub of digital assets and tools for creators. The first thing that struck me about the company was its ethical, artist-first approach to content. Artlist’s more than 200 musicians are paid for their work on approximately 2,000 songs a year, along with existing voiceovers across music and video categories. Revenue distribution.
Founded in 2016 by self-taught filmmaker Ira Belsky, the technology company was originally founded with the goal of providing high-quality music at an affordable price. In November 2023, Artlist released a voice-over tool powered by artificial intelligence as a driver. Voiceover tool features include a catalog of different voices and text-to-speech functionality.
The company currently offers four features on its site: music and special effects created by artists, AI narration for video content creators, story footage from filmmakers, and lookup tables (color filters for photos).
I’m not a content creator, but I (apparently) have an opinion on how sound is integrated into the visual form of storytelling. Artlist allowed us to explore the possibilities of different voices and music within our content.
How to generate voiceover using AI
Choose the accent, speed, and emotion for your AI-generated VoiceOver.
Step 1: Go to the Artlist homepage and access the free version of your subscription. This gives you a little taste of all the features in the premium plan ($35/month). This will allow you to create 400 words (about 3 sentences) of narration before upgrading to the Narration Plan ($12 per month) or the Premium plan.
Step 2: Select “Voiceover” from the left side of the screen to open Artlist’s audio catalog. Here you can browse and filter by category and gender. (At the time of publication, only male and female options were available.)
Step 3: Above the catalog, you will see a text box to create your own narration. Enter the text you want to generate audibly. One character equals one credit. If you’re on the Narration or Premium plans, you can enter up to 2,000 characters per generation.
Step 4: Next, find the three drop-down menus below the text box for customization. Choose your country of origin, including your preferred accent, speed of narration, and emotional tone. The most robust selections include emotions such as optimistic, sad, and surprise.
Step 5: Click the (Generate) button in the bottom right corner and wait a few seconds for it to create. The file will appear below the narration generator box and in the (My Voiceovers) tab just below it. Download files, get AI-powered content suggestions, and add them to existing or new artboards, Artlist’s AI-powered asset organization tool.
If you’re having trouble with Artlist’s narration generator, we have helpful resources, including an AI narration guide, tips for generating narration, and various narration blog posts.
Should I use Artlist as my narration generator?
Artlist stands out for its easy to understand learning curve and more seamless integration into media projects. I appreciate its simple interface. It doesn’t take long enough to understand the situation. While competitors such as Murf AI and Celebrities focus on the amount and variety of audio available to users, Artlist focuses on the production quality of its audio assets. (Shouldn’t quality always take precedence over quantity?)
But because Artlist focuses on text-to-speech, its $12 narration plan (billed annually) isn’t as bundled or as powerful as its competitors. Artlist has a huge library of multimedia sounds that can replace sounds in your library. However, while it does have the option to change emotions across the “natural voice” spectrum, it lacks the natural voice or voice cloning features that other tools already have. .
If you’re a content creator looking for royalty-free music and sound effects, Artlist is an option to support your needs, including the option to take advantage of its AI narration capabilities. (Or bundle it into a content creator-focused premium plan, billed $35 per month annually.) But for creatives who fit a broader range of work, Artlist is sophisticated but niche to your needs. It may be too much.
