What Are the Typical Rates for Content Narration or Voiceover Services?

My voiceover rate is $0.40 per word for the first 500 words and $0.25 per word after that, with a $75 minimum, and audiobook narration is $500 per finished hour. Voiceover scripts up to 1,500 words are delivered within 48 hours, with 24-hour rush available. Across the industry, one finished hour of audiobook narration starts around $250 and rises with the narrator, an hour of eLearning narration can run $1,000 to $3,000 or more, and advertising rates climb with the size of the audience and the length of exclusivity.

With the availability of inexpensive microphones and recording gear, almost anyone can record a voice over at home these days. But, that doesn't mean resulting voiceover content in this scenario is high quality. In fact, it's likely to be anything but. While many of us have experience speaking in our day to day lives, that doesn't make us voice actors in and of itself. That's like saying you're qualified to drive an F1 car because you take your Honda Civic to work every day on your commute. These skills are not even in the same ballpark in terms of level of difficulty, precision, and expertise required.

So, when learning about the typical voiceover rates, it's important to consider the level of experience and audio quality you're after for your production. You could probably hire someone to record your radio ad for twenty dollars on a freelance marketplace, but they won't (in most cases) be a true professional or a master of their craft. Instead, hiring someone who knows what they're doing is likely to cost hundreds (or thousands) depending on some important factors.

Here are the key pieces of information your chosen voice over talent will need to give you an accurate voice over rate quote:

How the Voiceover Will Be Used

The type of project matters, because voiceover rates vary widely depending on the context. Regional/National commercials, eLearning content, audiobooks, etc. all have different price points because of the context. For example, one hour of finished audiobook content will cost anywhere from $250+ depending on the narrator you've chosen. That same narrator, if voicing an eLearning course module or training video series, might charge $1000-3000+ for an hour of content.

The cost difference for various projects is largely attributed to this usage. It has to do with the size of the "market" or audience for the content being narrated. In short: the larger the audience, the higher the cost. Audiobooks will have a smaller audience than a nationally televised commercial. Using the voice over online versus television and radio also affects quotes, depending on where exactly the voice over narration will appear on the web.

Furthermore, usage can sometimes mean exclusivity for a period of time, which further inflates costs for voiceover services. I'll give you another example: let's say a voice actor records an advertisement for Aflac and it's nationally televised for 13 weeks. During that time, they probably won't be able to voice an advertisement for a competing company. Essentially, they are locked out of a certain market for a period of time, and so they need to be compensated accordingly.

The Word Count of Your Script, and/or the Intended Length of Your Project

The word count of a script is very important information. It helps voice actors determine the scope of work for a given project. Typically, if a voice actor is speaking at a normal conversational pace, they would speak at 150 words per minute. So, if someone brings me a script that is 600 words, I already know the content is likely to be around 4 minutes long when we're done. Knowing this, I can better understand how long the recording and editing process will take and charge accordingly.

There are resources that can help you determine the word count of a script, such as www.wordcounter.net. By copying and pasting your script into the box on the site, it will tell you how many words are contained in the script. This is a good tool to use when writing ad copy, so you can ensure you're not cramming too many words into the script.

How Long the Voiceover Content Will Be Used

Getting back to our example of national ad campaigns and exclusivity: the longer the campaign is, the higher the price will be for the voiceover services. Sometimes companies will secure the rights for one year, and then purchase additional usage time if the campaign is successful and they want to reuse the voiceover content. This is common in the advertising world.

If Any Additional Services Are Needed, Such as Editing, Mastering, Etc.

By default, voiceover services typically come with only basic edits. By this I mean removing mouth clicks, pops, background noise (if any exists... it depends on the voice actor's recording space). If you need additional editing work for your production, such as timed audio sync or mastering, the voice actor will likely charge more. It all depends on the production and what's needed.

It helps if the client can accurately describe all of the required services for the job. Some additional services are more time consuming than others. For example, lip sync work is notoriously difficult and time consuming, so voiceover talent may be inclined to up their prices considerably for the effort... or pass on the job entirely. Depends on the talent.

Conclusion

By knowing a few key pieces of information about your production, and your voiceover needs, you can speed up the quoting process and get the voiceover content you need. For more information on industry-standard rates and charges, I encourage you to visit the various rate guides that exist for our industry:

• Gravy for the Brain Rate Guide
• GVAA Rate Guide

If you'd like to get a quote from me for voiceover services, have the information above handy and send me a message. I'd love to help you with your next project.