How to join Voice Guild Malaysia (VGM)

So, you want to be a Voice Guild member?

If you are a budding voice talent in Malaysia looking to go pro, or doing it part-time but aiming to charge industry rates, you might be wondering: How do I get there?

Enter Voice Guild Malaysia (VGM).

What is Voice Guild Malaysia?

An association that supports professional voice-over talents in Malaysia by upholding industry standards and ensuring fair payments in the recorded media sector.

Not an agency. Repeat, we are not an agency.

Watch this video before you continue. It visually introduces VGM, covering its history, what it does, the benefits of joining, and some behind-the-scenes moments.

Fun fact: All featured voices are VGM members!

Benefits of joining VGM

In short, VGM helps you:

✅ Gain Visibility -- with local studios, production houses, agencies, and clients (hereon collectively called 'stakeholders'). As a member, you'll have a profile on the VGM website, where the majority of stakeholders browse to look for talents.

✅ Jurisdiction to charge industry rates -- VGM members are vetted to ensure they are able to provide voice-over services professionally, saving you time explaining why you charge these rates. Stakeholders are also already familiar with VGM rates and payment policies.

✅ Bargaining Power -- to chase debts or stop work collectively as a group towards certian stakeholders

✅ Sharing Industry Information -- changes in stakeholders' ability to pay, the use of AI voices, job details, etc

If your goal is to go pro as a Malaysian voice talent, then it is super helpful to be a member.

But... Are you ready for it?

The most important thing to note:

VGM members MUST follow our rate card.

You are free to charge higher, but not lower.

Why?

Because our rates have been carefully refined over the years to reflect the value of our work. We even have a Subcommittee working on this. If members start undercutting, stakeholders will choose the cheaper option, resulting in us losing collective bargaining power, and in time, the industry rates will fall. Joining VGM means practicing a united front.

If you are not ready to charge VGM rates for your projects, you are NOT ready to join VGM. If you are unsure about your skill or experience level and feel paiseh to charge VGM rates, you’re NOT ready to join VGM.

But if you are prepared or willing to try, then read on.

From inside the Committee Circle

VGM is run by a 9-member Committee, including an Executive Committee (Exco) that oversees operations. I served as Secretary for the 2023-2025 term, where I helped shape the improvements to the New Member application process. In my term, we received 44 applications, of which 24 were accepted, resulting in an acceptance rate of 55%.

Previously, applications were open year-round, submitted via email and manually shared with all 9 committee members. Handling submissions on an ad-hoc basis was inefficient, so I proposed a Google Form submission system that streamlined applications, improved transparency, and allowed committee members to review and vote more efficiently. I also suggested that the application webpage remain visible at all times so interested applicants (that's you!) can access the requirements and prepare in advance.

With these changes, VGM now opens applications twice a year, for two weeks in March and September.

Application Process

To apply, visit the Register as a Member page during the application open period and submit the required details for 5 paid jobs you have done. If application is not open yet, I suggest you start preparing the requirements:

Let’s break these down:

Project Name

Typically used on invoices, e.g. ‘Aiken Raya 2025’ or ‘Petronas Internal Training Batch 4.’

Category

Refer to VGM’s rate card to choose the relevant category. This helps you familiarize yourself with how we classify voice work.

Client / Brand Name

Pretty straightforward. If it’s an animation, the client could be WAU Animation, while the brand could be Ejen Ali, either or both are fine.

Link to Final VO Audio

If it’s a long YouTube video, make sure the link has the timestamp where your voice appears. To do so, navigate to the exact second where your voice starts, click on the ‘Share’ button, and tick the box that says ‘Start at…’. This updates the link to start at the right point.

For example, a link like this: https://youtu.be/RL7fYygRM1Y?si=jvdbFY7vPz51xxes&t=25, ends with ‘t=25’, indicating that the video will start playing on the 25th second. If your voice comes in at the 17 minutes and 54 seconds mark, the link would show ‘t=1074’ (there are 1074 seconds in 17 mins 54 secs).

If there are multiple voices in the project, we suggest downloading the video, isolating your voice, and uploading the audio as an mp3 file to Google Drive. Ensure the link is shareable so we can access it.

Studio Recorded

Where did you do the recording? At a studio like 21:05, TWO AM, or your home studio?

References

Who did you work with on this? It can be the person who reached out to you, the audio engineer, the project manager, or a fellow voice talent. Similar to what you'd put on a resume, this acts as a reference. If no one from the committee knows you, a reference allows us to verify your experience.

Reviewing Process

I made it colourful so it feels more fun for us to vote :p

Once applications close, the committee takes 1-2 weeks to review submissions and cast votes. If the decision is clear for all, applicants will receive their results promptly. If votes are split, even if it’s just for one applicant, it is discussed in our next monthly meeting, hence extending response times.

We also leave comments to explain why we choose ‘No’ or ‘Unsure.’

Why do we reject applications

(and what you can learn from it)

When reviewing applications, we are assessing whether you are ready to be a part of VGM and represent the guild as a professional voice talent. That means you should already have a solid foundation in voice-over work, be used to dealing with clients, and be able to deliver quality audio at industry standards.

VGM isn’t where you start your journey — it’s the next step.

Here are the main reasons we reject applications:

All your jobs are internal / for the same company

If all your work is for the company you are employed by, it means you have not been exposed to different clients or projects. We want to see that you’ve handled a variety of briefs and client expectations.

They are not paid jobs

Fan projects, TikTok skits, influencer marketing, or self-produced reels don’t count as professional, paid VO work. We look for real-world experience with actual clients and deliverables.

We can't tell if your projects are real, paid jobs

If you submit audition clips or demos without context, we can’t verify them. To avoid this, provide links to content published on the client’s / brand’s official platforms.

Your submissions are jingles, emcee work, or interviews

We focus on voice-overs — not singing, hosting, or podcast-style speaking. These don’t allow us to assess your VO skills like tone control, clarity, or ability to portray characters.

Your projects are too old

Older works (we've received submissions dated 8 years ago) give us no indication of your current level. While we’ve relaxed the “all projects within 1 year” rule, we still recommend not submitting anything older than 3 years. It should reflect your recent activity in the field.

Multiple voices with no clue which is you

If your audio sample has two or more voices and doesn’t make it obvious who you are, how would we know? We don’t always know your gender from your name, and even if we did, two same-gendered voices in one clip still make it impossible to tell which is yours.

Don’t make us guess.

Weak mic technique

Frequent plosives or inconsistent levels suggest you need more time to master mic handling.

Wrong Pronunciation or Weak Enunciation

Being a voice-over talent means voicing words clearly and accurately. If your articulation is off, it becomes difficult for clients to use your work.

Secondary factors that hurt your application

These aren’t dealbreakers individually, but a few of them together might tip your application into the “No” pile:

Inaccessible Google Drive links

While some of the more patient committee members might reach out to request access, I won’t 🙊 It’s your responsibility to double-check that your links are accessible. If I can’t access it, I’ll mark you as ‘No’ and move on.

To check, copy the link, open an incognito window, and paste it there. If the page loads with your sample, you're good to go.

Lack of variety in your reads

If all your samples sound the same in tone and energy, it’s hard for us to assess your range. Show us vocal flexibility — in style, pacing, and emotion.

It also helps to show variety across categories. Since most voice-over jobs in Malaysia are commercial-based, submitting only character voices makes it harder for us to determine your readiness. In such cases, we often end up discussing your samples more closely or reaching out to references. Including at least one or two commercial samples will significantly strengthen your submission.

Poor audio quality

Especially for home studio recording, we expect to hear good audio quality.

You are not based in Malaysia

As the name suggests, Voice Guild Malaysia is focused on the Malaysian market. We work with local studios, production houses, agencies, and clients who follow Malaysian voice-over rates. If you are based outside the country — in regions with significantly different rate expectations (e.g. the U.S. or China) — you’ll likely struggle with rate alignment.

Side note: Singapore is usually okay, and we encourage a 1-to-1 conversion (i.e. RM700 = SGD700).

You submitted super-long videos or a folder containing multiple super-short audio samples

We have received links to videos of 25-minute long. One was even 90 minutes long. Realistically, nobody is going to sit through it all just to figure out where you come in.

The same goes for folders full of 3-second audio snippets. If you upload 30 one-liners in a row, we’re not going to listen to them like a Spotify playlist.

No reference given

Sometimes the audio quality or performance is borderline. A reference — someone we can ask, “Hey, have you worked with this person before?” — can tip things in your favour. We have had cases where the submitted audio wasn't great, but a committee member vouched for the applicant and turned a ‘No’ into a ‘Yes’. Without a reference, that extra layer of assurance is missing.

✅ TL;DR: What We're Looking For

😊 Voice-over focused samples

😊 Recent paid work with reputable clients/brands

😊 Diverse Voice Samples

😊 Professional-sounding audio with good mic technique 

😊 Accurate pronunciation and clear enunciation

😊 References we can contact to vouch for you

Let’s say you’re awesome, and after a month of waiting, you receive that sweet congratulatory email welcoming you to Voice Guild Malaysia.

Now what?

Part 2: What to Expect After Acceptance (coming soon)

(wow, suddenly it sounds like a religious post 🙏)