Voice over quote: what you need to know

Establishing a fair and coherent voice over quote, an integral part of being a voice actorFrench voice actor

What is well understood can be clearly expressed, so I’ll do my best to shed light on the very complex subject of voice over quotes. The different strategies are:

1/ The first strategy: discount pricing, which means quoting lower than what you expect competitors will charge. Long used by hard-discount retailers, this approach can make sense if the product itself is also low-end. Naturally, voice actors using this approach keep their rates under wraps - for obvious reasons.

Naturally, voice actors using this approach keep their rates under wraps - for obvious reasons.

2/ Client-based pricing: a logical approach that works well for small and medium businesses. Is the client local or regional? B2B or B2C? Niche market or mass audience?

For TV spots, sponsored web ads, national radio spots, and projects for major brands, everything is budgeted: media buying isn’t based on the client, and the voice over budget is minimal compared to other costs (production, post-production, actors, media buying). So this strategy clearly doesn’t make sense in these cases.

A variation on the last approach: quote as high as you can and hope for the best. Spoiler alert: it almost never works

4/ Following a a rate sheet based on industry-standard pricing. My own voice over rates are based on the UK standards, as the industry is more structured there than in most countries.

Depending on the type of project, quotes can be structured in different ways.

– by the hour (common for TV commercials) + usage rights when relevant

– package (for example, for organic web spots), which covers the session plus usage rights. Always make it clear that the rate includes usage rights, and specify the percentage applied.

– By word count; generally used for internal corporate or e-learning projects, with a per-minute variant, averaging 150 words per minute.

BEWARE: charging X for the first minute, then X–N for the second, and X–(N+1) from the third minute onward leads to pricing inconsistencies.

Examples:

– A 1-minute job would total €150 - below professional rates, which screams amateur.

– A 6-minute job (approx. 1,000 words) at €150 for the first minute plus €120 for the following minutes totals €750 for 1,000 words — a rate no client would pay (for an internal project with no usage rights). For reference, typical rates for this type of work are €0.20–€0.30 per word, with a minimum of €200–€300.

Having a minimum fee - the threshold below which you don’t even turn on the studio—is essential.

I 've written an article called Hands Off The Loot about the link between voice over rates and professionalism - I highly recommend giving it a read!

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