The Proper Rates for a Voice Over Job

One of the main key questions voice talents ask these days is how much should be charged for their VO services.

Well, there is no quick answer, not even for the hectic producer who is rushing to record the voice over of his production.

So let me consider first that voice-over talents are usually hired for many media-related reasons. It could be a TV advertisement, a corporate presentation, a GPS navigation program or a smartphone app.   Because of the broadness of this skill’s use, voice over jobs could be divided into many different categories so it’s only natural that pricing takes into account that qualitative spectrum. On the other hand, the market of voice overs is undertaking a quantitative expansion as well thanks to the new media. For instance an Internet presentation from a small company could mean hiring many voice talents if the YouTube presentation is recorded in multiple languages.

So we are seeing both a quality and a quantity growth in the demand of professional voice overs. That’s good news. And when there is demand, supply follows. As a matter of fact the number of voice artists is growing too, probably at the same pace as demand. Just go to Twitter and search #voiceover you would be surprised. So the bottom line is that despite a market expansion in the VO market there is an increased competition, therefore rates are still under pressure. In fact talents have many hurdles before they land a job. For example, beyond the full time job of being more and more visible on the Internet, a voice talent still undergoes a series of auditions and preliminary tests before getting hired.

In the end, somehow, somewhere, voice seekers and voice talents meet on the market ( e-market) and when they discuss about a project pricing is certainly one of the things that come their minds. Needless to say that the supplier, the voice, should be informed about the local or national rates per minute of text, per number of words or per hour of presence in the studio. Then the talent should bear in mind factors like transportation or taxes. If the talent has his own home studio, he should include the cost of that in the rate. Many ignore this factor. One thing is certain, the voice artist who wants to earn a living with voice recordings needs to have is a list of rates that cover all kind of scripts, situations social and tax charges.

But there no fixed rules when it comes to freelancing. Some declare their voice over job rates, some don’t. Companies looking for these VO jobs may also have their own pricing and conditions. Depending on who calls the shots, both parties should be aware of the standard rates. If the talent is unionized, that’s a different cake, but it is also a more closed, restrictive and for a happy few a very lucrative market.

Mark Scott is a professional voice over talent that can be considered as a mainstay in the industry. He has been a voice actor and a DJ since 1995 and has been hired by numerous clients depending on their voice over preferences. His line of expertise includes radio, television and cartoons. Along with the years of experience, Mark Scott was able to create a system of how his rates go and how he negotiates with his clients.

According to Mark Scott’s blog, there is no “one size fits all” price package. Be open for negotiations and always know how much you’re willing to pay or be paid for your service. One thing that’s sure is that a voice over job can rely on these rate factors:

• The field of the project. Is it for a voicemail? Commercial? Narrative?
• How long the script is.
• Its purpose. Should it be broadcast or is it for personal use?
• Its market size.
• It production value
• If there is a well-known brand involved

Some voice seekers use voice over it for their websites others for TV and radio. Small projects with smaller audience usually are the ones that cost the least, having an estimate of between 50 to 100 USD per 30 seconds.

But then you escalate. Let’s say you know a small restaurant that needs a little help with a promotional campaign for the local market, which is about 2500 people. A reasonable rate for a standard promo would be paid at around $250. But if you’re an established hotel chain with an audience share of 250000, they might be able to pay about $2500. This is why corporations that reach millions spend millions for their campaigns as well. But we are assuming that the voice seeker, the company that is hiring, has a direct contact with the voice. Well that’s extremely rare. They rely on agencies or studios, so they get their commission because the might record the audio, will be involved in providing a casting, directing the voice, processing the audio (editing, post-prod video etc) and so on. All these interventions mean less money for the voice. So in that particular case of the hotel chain, the talent would get around 700 $ for the ad.

The same thing goes with the other voice over job categories that don’t really involve a commercial value. If you’re a company with a website that gains traffic of thousands of unique visitors, then you might have to pay a bigger price compared to the small businesses. On the other hand,  talents like people are all different, some are more popular than others, therefore they will cost more or less. You have voice actors who play the volume card: a lower fee in exchange of volume, so many small recordings, paid at low rates. Other play the prestige card, because they know their voice has gained fame and reputation, therefore the demand is higher so it’s natural the price is higher too.

Talents who have already made a name for the industry are in very high demand and are difficult to book unless they get paid at high rates. But thanks to the Internet, there is room for everybody as long as the talent is really experienced, reliable and reactive (the home studio is a must nowadays). From the voice seeker point of view it becomes more and more obvious that it is now easier to find people who are willing and are qualified to do voice over acting tasks for a lower price.

If you are an established and experienced voice talent, it’s understandable that you are concerned about this “low cost” trend that goes through the market, but neither you nor me can stop it. I think there is a big bang going on in the voice over market and you will be able find your place in this expanding galaxy, provided you look beyond your traditional hunting area, be it your local, regional or national market. Look beyond your national borders and you would be surprised to see so many opportunities for your language beyond your country.

We know the reputation of the Dutch as good merchants, so it’s not a surprise that Dutchman Paul Strikwerda, a well-known Dutch-English voice talent, has written some interesting and no-nonsense insights to the controversial issue of voice over prices.  In his blog  he advices talent to do their homework before attempting to provide a price for a voice over project. Paul’s attitude is realistic: voice talents move on a weak ground. It’s often an individual facing powerful groups like corporations or agencies, so they are can be be ripped off if they are not knowledgeable.

Like Mark Scotts, Paul Strikwerda focuses on a number of variables in VO price-fixing like:

• DURATION of the project in minutes, number of words or A4 pages
• KIND of project: TV, radio, advertisement, corporate presentation, medical, pharma or industrial video, e-learning, IVR phone prompts, audio guides, audio books, movie, trailer, documentary, website tutorial, video game, cartoon, podcast
• MARKET: local, regional, national, global
• OTHER SERVICES: post-production (editing, synch with video, encoding), proof-reading, translating
• ROYALTIES  if the audio is broadcast on radio & TV, if it is on the Internet but involves a brand name, country promotion, etc

All these factors represent a cost, therefore they should be contemplated in the final price. Most customers ignore all those items, simply because they don’t know, not because they want to take advantage. However as a voice talent you can’t ignore them. It doesn’t mean that you have to overprice yourself and put you out of the market with so many variables, but you should make your customer aware that the service he is hiring is not just “a person with a nice voice who reads out loud”.

If the VO market is a jungle where the strongest impose their prices, it’s true that those who are available, visible and adaptable can also claim a piece of the territory.  So there are no permanent rules, but there is one exception… low paying voice seekers are the ones who require more time and maintenance, while high paying employers are more concerned about the final result than about the price.

What do you think about pricing for VO work? I’m sure you have some interesting ideas about how voice talents should get paid. Please share them below.