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Can AI narrate a book? And should it?
Dan Jones spent 22 years at Hachette UK, seven of them as Head of Audio Services, and is now Senior Manager at Glassboxx. In this episode he takes us inside audiobook production at scale: how budgets are set, how narrators are cast across different tiers, and how authors sign off on the voice of their book.
Melissa and Dan also listen to an AI-replica narration of The Odyssey. Dan calls it a “rendering”: the sound design hides some of the flaws, but it lacks the dynamic range, intonation and emotional connection a human narrator brings.
Dan explains that trade publishers are largely not using AI narration, and that most of the uptake is in self-publishing and tech-led ecosystems. AI is already improving production behind the scenes, though, in editing, proofing and audio repair. They also talk about the training, stamina and preparation long-form narration demands, and why human performance still delivers something AI can’t: connection and lived experience.
What we cover
Explore the companion notes here...
Chapters
00:00 Season Four Kickoff
01:22 Meet Dan Jones
02:23 Casting and Budgets
04:53 AI Odyssey Review
07:26 Which Books Need Humans
09:24 Where AI Is Used
12:33 BRAVA Sponsor Break
13:41 AI Tools in Production
16:00 Why Humans Still Win
18:04 Directing Authors and Celebs
20:23 Narrator Stamina and Craft
24:29 Connection and Lived Experience
27:04 Industry Outlook and Future
29:03 Wrap Up and Next Episode
Links & Resources
Dan Jones
The Odyssey
Where AI narration is being used
AI tools in production
The audiobook market
Previous episode
BRAVA
This is Season 4 of HIGH NOTES. Where every conversation is a performance.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
AI isn’t hitting every corner of the voice industry in the same way, or at the same speed.
David Menkin is a London-based actor and voiceover artist whose credits include Lego Star Wars, Final Fantasy XVI and Pragmata. In this episode he takes us sector by sector through commercials, dubbing and localisation, animation and games, and explains where synthetic voices are already replacing human performers and why.
David shares his view on how corporate and medical voiceover have been hit hardest, on how short-form ads are the easiest to replace with synthetic speech, and how dubbing is under pressure from the sheer volume of content being produced. He also looks at how Italy has used contracts and transparency measures to limit AI training.
David considers the real harm caused when voices are gathered and cloned without permission, and talks us through his advocacy for UK protections that go beyond the 1988 copyright law, including a “transformative right” over your voice and likeness. He discusses the red flags he spotted in an AI games casting call and shares what he’s learned about due diligence, agents and contract negotiation. He closes with his three Cs: consent, control and compensation.
What we cover
Chapters
00:00 Season Four Kickoff
01:21 Meet David Menkin
01:43 From Stage to VO
02:54 Pragmata and Activism
04:00 Which Sectors Got Hit
06:24 Dubbing and Localisation
08:20 Commercials Under Pressure
10:58 Why He Became an Advocate
14:25 BRAVA Sponsor Break
15:26 AI Casting Call Red Flags
19:00 Due Diligence and Agents
21:56 Contract Negotiation Lessons
24:59 Beyond Performers to Everyone
30:59 Hope and the Three Cs
35:41 Wrap Up and Next Episode
Explore the companion notes here...
Links & Resources
David Menkin
Unions, associations and campaigns
Previous episode
BRAVA
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This is Season 4 of HIGH NOTES. Where every conversation is a performance.
**This episode is for general information and isn’t legal advice. For your own situation, speak to a lawyer, your agent or your union.**
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
In this episode Melissa talks to Dr Mathilde Pavis, an expert in intellectual property law, ethics and new technologies, who helped build Equity’s AI toolkit and has worked directly with AI platforms including ElevenLabs. Melissa asks her why the UK currently has no personality right for voice, how that compares to other countries, and whether the law is catching up in time. The real value here is practical: exactly what to check, ask and do to protect your own voice, as things stand today. The landscape is changing fast, so staying informed matters more than ever.
What we cover
Chapters
00:00 Welcome and Guest Intro
01:06 Mathilde’s Background
01:53 Why Voice Is Valuable Now
03:40 Workplace Voice Protection
07:00 AI Clauses and Transparency
08:07 Performers and UK Patchwork Rights
11:22 Contracts and Consent Basics
12:48 Pay-to-Play Platform Risks
17:35 Opting Out and Taking Action
19:29 Why UK Law Falls Short
24:21 Digital Replica vs Personality Rights
29:17 UK vs US and EU Protections
31:22 EU Transparency Rules
33:37 Denmark Leads on Likeness
36:14 Contracts Need Safeguards
37:47 Why UK Policy Stalls
40:02 Consent and Data Rights
42:13 Is It Too Late?
43:57 Workplace Voice Precautions
45:08 Performer Contract Basics
47:39 Digital Twin Dealbreakers
53:05 AI Riders and Agents
55:40 Final Takeaways and the Future
Explore the episode companion notes here...
Links & Resources
Dr Mathilde Pavis
Policy
Unions, associations and campaigns
BRAVA
Sign up to the BRAVA newsletter
This is Season 4 of HIGH NOTES. Where every conversation is a performance.
**This episode is for general information and isn’t legal advice. For your own situation, speak to a lawyer, your agent or your union.**
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Last week, Mark Graeme (OCX UK) and Mark Eaves (Gravity Road) took us inside the decision brands now face every day: AI voice earns its place for content at scale, while a human voice wins when a brand wants to connect with its audience through trust.
This week, we hear from the other side of that decision: what it’s like to be on the wrong end of AI. Voice actor Faye Dicker discovered her voice had been cloned and sold via a US platform without her consent. It was downloaded more than 900 times before it was taken down. Faye tells us how she found out, what it felt like to hear her voice saying things she never agreed to, and the steps she took to get it removed.
Then we ask what can be done about it. Shannon Sailing, Industrial Official for Audio and Games at Equity, the UK’s trade union for performers, dealt with Faye’s case and is now handling a wave of similar claims. Shannon explains who to contact if it happens to you, what Equity can do, and why the union pushes for the same four things every time: consent, control, compensation and transparency.
Next week, we turn to the law, with intellectual property lawyer Dr Mathilde Pavis on what current UK law says about your voice, and what you can do to protect it today.
Explore the companion notes to this episode here...
Faye Dicker
Faye Dicker Voiceover Artist | Presenter, Host & Public Speaker | Bristol
Equity
Equity – the UK’s trade union for performers
Audio Committee | Equity
Save Our Voices Now
Save Our Voices Now
Sign the petition – UK Parliament
Nicola Coughlan and Matt Lucas among stars backing AI voice cloning campaign – ITV News
Sign up to the BRAVA newsletter
https://www.brava.uk.com/subscribe
00:00 Season Intro and Stakes
01:13 Meet Faye Dicker
01:25 Career Highlights
03:15 Discovering the Clone
04:33 Testing the AI Voice
06:52 First Steps and Evidence
09:43 Equity Support and Aftermath
12:38 Takedown Speed Debate
14:13 BRAVA Sponsor Break
15:12 How Faye Feels Now
16:47 Human Voice and Advocacy
18:02 Meet Shannon from Equity
19:38 Patterns in Voice Theft
21:37 What Equity Can Do
24:18 UK Law Gaps and Fixes
27:24 Defining Success Outcomes
28:59 Advice if It Happens
33:32 Campaigns and Pressure
38:01 Future of Human Voice
40:50 Wrap Up and Next Episode
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
This episode explores when and why a creative studio chooses AI over a human voice, and when it doesn't, from two vantage points in the advertising industry. Mark Graeme is Head of Studio at OCX UK (Omnicom Production, part of Omnicom Group, the world's leading marketing and sales company). Mark and his team produce work for creative agencies such as Adam & Eve/TBWA, AMVBBDO, and McCann, plus work directly with a mix of local and global brands.
Mark Eaves is Founder of Gravity Road, part of The Brand Tech Group, working across brands including Unilever, Booking.com and TikTok. He led Gravity Road's build of 'Ode,' an AI poetry companion made in partnership with Microsoft AI and Poetry Pharmacy founder William Sieghart. 'Ode' is trained on Sieghart's own voice to listen and prescribe a poem. Every poem is read aloud by a real actor - Stephen Fry, Harriet Walter, Dominic West and Indira Varma among them - rather than a synthetic voice.
Between them, we get the industry-wide picture and one deeply considered case study, both circling the same question creative directors are still grappling with: AI or human voice?
Explore the conversation further in our companion article >
OCX UK (Omnicom Production)
Capability-production - Omnicom
Rennie Wind Relief Campaign
Rennie Wind Relief Calls Time on Britain’s Oldest Fart Cover-up | LBBOnline
Rennie Baxters Story Advert
TV ad: Rennie: Baxter's Story
Forrester’s 2026 Technology & Security Predictions
Forrester’s 2026 Technology & Security Predictions: As AI’s Hype Fades, Enterprises Will Defer 25% Of Planned AI Spend To 2027
MIT: The Gene Divide: State of AI in Business 2025
https://mlq.ai/media/quarterly_decks/v0.1_State_of_AI_in_Business_2025_Report.pdf
Adobe Express: Voices of AI: Music, Speech, and the new marketing soundscape
Voices of AI: Music, speech, and the new marketing soundscape | Adobe
Gravity Road
Gravity Road
Reuters Pure News from the Source Brand Campaign
https://www.reuters.com/media-center/reuters-expands-pure-news-straight-source-brand-campaign-with-two-new-video-2026-09-16/
Ode
Ode - Find the poem that finds you - odepoetry.ai
Bringing Ode Poetry to life with MAI’s audio models
Bringing Ode Poetry to life with MAI’s audio models | Microsoft AI
The Poetry Pharmacy Forever William Sieghart
Books – The Poetry Pharmacy Live
Sign up to the BRAVA newsletter: https://www.brava.uk.com/subscribe
00:00 Season Intro and Guests
01:58 Mark Graeme Background
02:54 Studio AI Tools
04:54 Voiceover Planning Process
06:36 Campaign Voice Wins
08:54 When AI Is a Mistake
10:19 Hype Versus ROI
12:46 Trust Gap Explained
15:30 BRAVA Sponsor Break
16:31 Consent and Corporate Use
18:31 Future of Human Voice
20:31 Mark Eaves and Gravity Road
23:07 Audio Culture Resurgence
27:13 Choosing AI Versus Human Voice
28:31 Reuters Authenticity Case
31:09 Ode Poetry Companion
36:11 Why Human Poem Readings
37:47 Wrap Up and Next Episode
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
High Notes returns for its fourth season with The AI Voice: a series about what happens to the human voice as AI gets good enough to replicate it.
It's a conversation that reaches further than most people think. It affects not just performers, but anyone who's ever recorded a voice note, sat on a Zoom call, or had their voice used by the business they work for. BRAVA founder, Melissa Thom, talks to leading figures on both sides of the AI debate: Mark Graeme, Mark Eaves, Faye Dicker, Shannon Sailing, Dr Mathilde Pavis, David Menkin, Dan Jones, Cissy Jones, and Bonnie Nordling.
Together, they explore when brands choose AI over a human voice, what happens when your voice is cloned without consent, how UK law is (and isn't) keeping up, and how performers can negotiate, license and protect their voices.
New episodes every Thursday from 8th October. Subscribe on your preferred podcast platform, or visit brava.uk.com/podcast for more.
Season 4 Guests
High Notes - where every conversation is a performance.
Subscribe now so you never miss an episode.
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Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
In this episode, Melissa sits down with professor, writer, and deep thinker, Dr. Margaret Heffernan, to explore creativity, uncertainty, and the power of authentic voice.
Together, they talk about how artists and leaders can not only survive but thrive in unpredictable times, the importance of cultivating a personal style, and the art of communicating with clarity and impact.
Margaret reflects on lessons from her childhood and career, shares insights from her latest book Embracing Uncertainty, and offers thoughtful guidance on building meaningful, creative lives.
Tune in for inspiration and practical wisdom on navigating change, fostering creativity, and finding your voice at work and beyond.
Links:
https://www.mheffernan.com/
https://www.goodreads.com/author/list/99633.Margaret_Heffernan
https://www.ted.com/speakers/margaret_heffernan
Ready to elevate your voice, confidence, and communication at work?
Contact us at BRAVA Business and start making every conversation count:
brava.uk.com/business
Stay connected with BRAVA
Subscribe to our newsletter for the latest news, training opportunities and insights connecting business, acting, and voice:
brava.uk.com/subscribe
00:00 Introduction to High Notes Podcast
01:19 Meet Margaret Heffernan: Early Life and Influences
05:54 Embracing Uncertainty: Insights from Margaret's Latest Book
09:28 The Importance of Creativity and Adaptability
16:49 The Power of Voice in Leadership
21:19 Effective Communication: Avoiding Jargon and Clichés
29:00 The Power of Storytelling in Business
30:23 The Craft of Effective Communication
35:32 Overcoming Imposter Syndrome
37:11 The Importance of Curiosity and Noticing
45:52 Creativity in Science and Engineering
46:38 The Value of Arts in Education
51:17 Building a Meaningful Creative Career
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
In this episode of High Notes, we sit down with trailblazer Lynne Franks, a visionary in PR, fashion, and women’s empowerment. From shaping modern communications to founding movements that uplift and connect women, Lynne’s story is one of courage, creativity, and community.
Together, we explore her remarkable journey, from her early career breakthroughs to her transformative work with initiatives like the SEED community and the What Women Want campaign. Lynne opens up about the lessons learned along the way, the power of intergenerational wisdom, and why creating safe spaces for women’s stories is key to meaningful leadership.
Join us for a conversation on resilience, visibility, and purpose and discover how using your voice can spark real, lasting change.
Links:
https://lynnefranks.com/
TED Talk - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8Mi1YtGHwc
https://seednetwork.com/
https://www.whatwomenwantnow.co.uk/
Ready to elevate your voice, confidence, and communication at work?
Contact us at BRAVA Business and start making every conversation count:
brava.uk.com/business
Stay connected with BRAVA
Subscribe to our newsletter for the latest news, training opportunities and insights connecting business, acting, and voice:
brava.uk.com/subscribe
00:00 Introduction to High Notes Podcast
00:33 Meet Lynn Franks: A Journey of Resilience and Leadership
01:20 Early Influences and Career Beginnings
02:49 Pioneering in PR and Fashion
05:17 Empowering Women's Voices
07:18 Creating Safe Spaces for Women
11:30 The Seed Handbook and Sustainable Business
15:17 Wise Leadership and Community Change
23:27 What Women Want Campaign
31:45 Final Thoughts and Words of Wisdom
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
In this episode of High Notes, we sit down with legendary broadcaster, author, and coach Janey Lee Grace. From her days on BBC Radio 2 with Steve Wright to her work as a coach in heart-centred communication, Janey shares the pivotal moments that shaped her journey.
She opens up about her memoir From Wham to Woo, her path to sobriety, and the transformative power of living, and communicating, with authenticity.
Together, we explore the art of meaningful connection: how preparation, presence, and joy can elevate your message and your work. Janey also reflects on the life-changing decision to quit alcohol, and how helping others discover their true voice has become her greatest passion.
Tune in for a conversation full of warmth, wisdom, and inspiration.
Links mentioned in the show:
https://janeyleegrace.com/
Janey’s books - https://www.goodreads.com/author/list/432760.Janey_Lee_Grace
The Sober Club Podcast - https://www.thesoberclub.com/podcast/
The Sober Diaries book by Clare Pooley https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36301974-the-sober-diaries
What Women Want - https://www.whatwomenwantnow.co.uk/ Find out more about this campaign in the next episode!
Ready to elevate your voice, confidence, and communication at work?
Contact us at BRAVA Business and start making every conversation count:
brava.uk.com/business
Stay connected with BRAVA
Subscribe to our newsletter for the latest news, training opportunities and insights connecting business, acting, and voice:
brava.uk.com/subscribe
00:00 Introduction to High Notes Podcast
00:33 Meet Janie Lee Grace: Broadcaster, Author, and Coach
01:38 Janie's Early Years and Path to Radio
03:10 Lessons from BBC Radio with Steve Wright
05:29 The Art of Connection and Presence
06:53 Navigating Challenges and Finding Resilience
11:28 Writing a Memoir: From Wham to Woo
16:07 Empowering Others to Find Their Voice
19:58 Heart-Centred Communication in Business
23:23 The Power of Nonverbal Cues
24:15 Balancing Acting in Corporate Settings
24:42 Finding Your Authentic Business Voice
27:57 The Journey to Sobriety
36:09 Advice for Aspiring Public Speakers
38:50 Emerging Voices in Broadcasting and Coaching
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
In this episode of High Notes, Melissa chats with Dr Rockford “Rocky” Sansom, a renowned voice coach and author, about the power and presence of the human voice. Together, they unpack how to manage nerves, why simplicity can transform communication, and how to make your voice truly resonate.
Rocky shares practical, down-to-earth strategies for building vocal confidence, connecting with your audience, and thriving in high-pressure situations. The conversation also touches on being authentically yourself, understanding what matters to your listeners, and using effective vocal tools to enhance impact.
They round out the discussion exploring cultural differences in communication, the evolution of voice science, and how emotion shapes the way we sound and connect.
Links:
https://www.rockfordsansom.com/
https://www.brava.uk.com/post/internationally-acclaimed-voice-coach-dr-rockford-sansom-joins-brava
Why Should Anyone Be Led by You?: What It Takes To Be An Authentic Leader - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Why-Should-Anyone-Led-You/dp/1578519713
https://historyofenglishpodcast.com/
Ready to elevate your voice, confidence, and communication at work?
Contact us at BRAVA Business and start making every conversation count:
brava.uk.com/business
Stay connected with BRAVA
Subscribe to our newsletter for the latest news, training opportunities and insights connecting business, acting, and voice:
brava.uk.com/subscribe
00:00 Introduction to High Notes Podcast
00:33 Meet Dr Rockford Sansom: Voice Coach Extraordinaire
01:29 The Essence of Presence and Overcoming Nerves
03:29 Finding Your True Voice
06:48 Impact and Influence in Business Communication
07:12 The Power of Breath and Storytelling
09:59 Comfort in Being Seen: Lessons from Leaders
14:52 Voice Actors in Professional Settings
17:10 Dispelling Myths About Public Speaking
23:55 Voice Pedagogy: Teaching and Techniques
27:27 The Wine Cork Technique
28:39 Voice Science in Coaching
31:06 Voice Analysis and Training
34:24 Changing Voices and Science
37:36 Voice in the Boardroom
43:02 Cultural Differences in Voice
46:55 Joining BRAVA as a Master Coach
48:25 Improving Vocal Presence
50:16 A Transformative Coaching Story
53:36 The Dynamic Nature of Voice Work
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
From the publisher's feed
High Notes is a podcast featuring conversations on the art and business of voice, hosted by voice actor and BRAVA CEO, Melissa Thom. From Mongolian throat singing to vocal health, accents, gaming,…
Brought to you by https://www.brava.uk.com/
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.