Do you remember the first time you drove a car? Were you nervous? Were your parents nervous for you? Did you have an accident the first time out of the garage?
Hopefully you got better with each trip around the block. As your experience increased, so did your confidence. When it comes to drivers, there’s a difference between beginners, intermediate, and seasoned professionals. Most likely, you’re not a professional driver, but you’re confident enough behind the wheel and not a nervous wreck (get it? “wreck” – see what I did there?)
The same is true in the voice-over business. Some are beginners, some are seasoned professionals, and many are somewhere in-between.
You wouldn’t expect a new voice talent – a beginner – to command the same prices as someone with years of experience.
Like many things in life, you usually get what you pay for when hiring a voiceover artist.
When considering budgets, I generally recommend clients look at the Global Voice Acting Academy Rate Guide. But there’s another VO rate guide that lists pricing guidelines based on a voice actor’s experience (it’s the only one I’m aware of like this).
Like most voice actors, my own (non-union) fees vary due to several factors:
- How long is the recording (either in time or words)?
- What’s the intended usage (YouTube, internal corporate training, local radio ad, national TV ad, a telephone on-hold message, etc.)?
- How long will the recording be in use (1-time usage, 3-month ad campaign, full buy-out, etc.)? [What’s a “full buy-out?”]
- Is the recording part of a series? If so, how many parts are there?
- Is this project for a non-profit organization?
- What’s your deadline?
If you’re considering hiring a voice actor, be sure to ask about experience. How many years of experience do they have? How much training have they had? How recently? Do they have testimonials or referrals from previous clients? Find out as much as you can because …
experience matters.