I'm someone who is considering the possibilities in VO work. What is the pay like from doing the local car lot commercials to the Hollywood previews? Also, as a VO artist, are you expected to write the commercial, the VO, the music track, and engineer it with your own gear? Thanks for the insight.
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What is the fee spectrum like? - from Don La Fontaine to Joe Blow?
- Thread starter synclavier
- Start date
J
jaydavenport
Guest
> I'm someone who is considering the possibilities in VO work.
> What is the pay like from doing the local car lot
> commercials to the Hollywood previews? Also, as a VO artist,
> are you expected to write the commercial, the VO, the music
> track, and engineer it with your own gear? Thanks for the
> insight.
>
generally, the client writes their own copy for the VO, you can offer to do just Dry VO or you can Produce it yourself for an extra fee.
many people do use their own gear.
a good way to get your feet wet is to join up for a community like radiodaddy.com and you can build a small list of clients<P ID="signature">______________
<a target="_blank" href=http://www.jaydavenport.net>Jay Davenport</a>
</P>
> What is the pay like from doing the local car lot
> commercials to the Hollywood previews? Also, as a VO artist,
> are you expected to write the commercial, the VO, the music
> track, and engineer it with your own gear? Thanks for the
> insight.
>
generally, the client writes their own copy for the VO, you can offer to do just Dry VO or you can Produce it yourself for an extra fee.
many people do use their own gear.
a good way to get your feet wet is to join up for a community like radiodaddy.com and you can build a small list of clients<P ID="signature">______________
<a target="_blank" href=http://www.jaydavenport.net>Jay Davenport</a>
</P>
H
Hart
Guest
I've been producing imaging and commercials at radio stations for about 14 years. And I have just started to get serious about some real VO work. The few clients I do have provide their own copy. A couple just want dry reads, and a couple I actually produce everthing. Actually, I have one that provides his own voice guy, I just produce the finished liners for him. My paid work (outside of radio) started several years ago when a client of the station asked me to do his voice message on his work phone. I couldn't believe he paid me 50 bucks to do that.
Jay gave good advice on checking out radiodaddy.com. Sure it's a free service, but I've already gotten two leads for paid work from it...and I've only been on there about a week. Not high dollar stuff, but money is money. Plus it's fun for me and makes good practice.
Rates: That's the million dollar question now isn't it. People like Don LaFontaine, Joe Cipriano, etc. can command very high dollars because of the demand for their voice. I've seen listings on Voice123 and Interactive Voices where companys want what seem to be incredibly low rates. And it upsets me a bit when VO talent actually audition for the part, but that's another discussion. Heck, there's one site I know of out there that will put you in a "bargain bin" and you get paid 10 bucks to read a 30 second piece.
So the spectrum is very wide.
I'm new at this, so I try to keep my rates very competitive but still get enough to make it worth my while. That's a very personal thing and one you'll have to establish for yourself.
And it varies depending on the project. Is it a commercial for one radio station in a small market? Or is it to run on 13 stations in large markets? Big difference in value there. Then there's TV, Cable, IVR, corporate and instructional videos, flash projects for the web, video games, imaging...and on and on and on. Lots of opportunities.
Yes, I have my own gear. I know of people that rent studio time, but that can add up in a hurry. <P ID="edit"><FONT class="small">Edited by Hart on 01/17/06 02:56 PM.</FONT></P>
Jay gave good advice on checking out radiodaddy.com. Sure it's a free service, but I've already gotten two leads for paid work from it...and I've only been on there about a week. Not high dollar stuff, but money is money. Plus it's fun for me and makes good practice.
Rates: That's the million dollar question now isn't it. People like Don LaFontaine, Joe Cipriano, etc. can command very high dollars because of the demand for their voice. I've seen listings on Voice123 and Interactive Voices where companys want what seem to be incredibly low rates. And it upsets me a bit when VO talent actually audition for the part, but that's another discussion. Heck, there's one site I know of out there that will put you in a "bargain bin" and you get paid 10 bucks to read a 30 second piece.
So the spectrum is very wide.
I'm new at this, so I try to keep my rates very competitive but still get enough to make it worth my while. That's a very personal thing and one you'll have to establish for yourself.
And it varies depending on the project. Is it a commercial for one radio station in a small market? Or is it to run on 13 stations in large markets? Big difference in value there. Then there's TV, Cable, IVR, corporate and instructional videos, flash projects for the web, video games, imaging...and on and on and on. Lots of opportunities.
Yes, I have my own gear. I know of people that rent studio time, but that can add up in a hurry. <P ID="edit"><FONT class="small">Edited by Hart on 01/17/06 02:56 PM.</FONT></P>
J
jfishback
Guest
> I'm someone who is considering the possibilities in VO work.
> What is the pay like from doing the local car lot
> commercials to the Hollywood previews? Also, as a VO artist,
> are you expected to write the commercial, the VO, the music
> track, and engineer it with your own gear? Thanks for the
> insight.
>
Really varies like everyone says. Obviously you can't command high dollars untill you are well known. I do some produced and some dry. For a local only dry spot I may get 50, for a produced local 60 about 125, but I did a trailer for Showtime and got 2000 bucks for a 20 second dry read! (beacuase it went on other channels as well as Showtime) Not kidding, big break (got lucky). It turned into a gig doing all the Masters Of Horror trailers for the season. They usually pay 250 for a dry under 30 second read if it is on Showtime only, takes about 15 minutes. I have seen some guys charge around 250-300 for a local fully produced spot for clubs and car dealers. good thing about those is they update a few times each month and it can become consistant work, I just charge the 125 so they will stick with me.
Good luck!
btw got the Showtime gig from voice123.com. Free to put a demo up, but you will get lost in the over 300 demos. Pay 200 and you can answer leads and do auditions. Last year I got the Showtime gig (about 7000) and about 2000 in various smaller gigs, so even if I did not get lucky and get the Showtime gig, it was till worth it.
> What is the pay like from doing the local car lot
> commercials to the Hollywood previews? Also, as a VO artist,
> are you expected to write the commercial, the VO, the music
> track, and engineer it with your own gear? Thanks for the
> insight.
>
Really varies like everyone says. Obviously you can't command high dollars untill you are well known. I do some produced and some dry. For a local only dry spot I may get 50, for a produced local 60 about 125, but I did a trailer for Showtime and got 2000 bucks for a 20 second dry read! (beacuase it went on other channels as well as Showtime) Not kidding, big break (got lucky). It turned into a gig doing all the Masters Of Horror trailers for the season. They usually pay 250 for a dry under 30 second read if it is on Showtime only, takes about 15 minutes. I have seen some guys charge around 250-300 for a local fully produced spot for clubs and car dealers. good thing about those is they update a few times each month and it can become consistant work, I just charge the 125 so they will stick with me.
Good luck!
btw got the Showtime gig from voice123.com. Free to put a demo up, but you will get lost in the over 300 demos. Pay 200 and you can answer leads and do auditions. Last year I got the Showtime gig (about 7000) and about 2000 in various smaller gigs, so even if I did not get lucky and get the Showtime gig, it was till worth it.
> I've seen listings on Voice123 and Interactive Voices where
> companys want what seem to be incredibly low rates. And it
> upsets me a bit when VO talent actually audition for the
> part, but that's another discussion. Heck, there's one site
> I know of out there that will put you in a "bargain bin" and
> you get paid 10 bucks to read a 30 second piece.
I don't think it's so bad that there's a 'bargain bin' for voice-overs. After all, you have your farm teams and you have the big leagues. You don't always start at the top. Considering that many websites require a steep annual fee to send the worthwhile information about VO work, one might want to build a cache of cash from the ten-dollar jobs in order to pay for, for example, Voice123.com's premium membership.
Sure, "ten dollars a holler" might have an overall depressive effect on the VO market. But, simple math says that if it takes 10 minutes to do a :30 spot (read-through, take one, take two, editing, secondary read with different inflection, save MP3, e-mail), I'll gladly do that for an hour to make 60 bucks. What radio station pays that rate? My lunch break would suddenly be a whole lot more lucrative!
> companys want what seem to be incredibly low rates. And it
> upsets me a bit when VO talent actually audition for the
> part, but that's another discussion. Heck, there's one site
> I know of out there that will put you in a "bargain bin" and
> you get paid 10 bucks to read a 30 second piece.
I don't think it's so bad that there's a 'bargain bin' for voice-overs. After all, you have your farm teams and you have the big leagues. You don't always start at the top. Considering that many websites require a steep annual fee to send the worthwhile information about VO work, one might want to build a cache of cash from the ten-dollar jobs in order to pay for, for example, Voice123.com's premium membership.
Sure, "ten dollars a holler" might have an overall depressive effect on the VO market. But, simple math says that if it takes 10 minutes to do a :30 spot (read-through, take one, take two, editing, secondary read with different inflection, save MP3, e-mail), I'll gladly do that for an hour to make 60 bucks. What radio station pays that rate? My lunch break would suddenly be a whole lot more lucrative!
H
Hart
Guest
> > I've seen listings on Voice123 and Interactive Voices
> where
> > companys want what seem to be incredibly low rates. And
> it
> > upsets me a bit when VO talent actually audition for the
> > part, but that's another discussion. Heck, there's one
> site
> > I know of out there that will put you in a "bargain bin"
> and
> > you get paid 10 bucks to read a 30 second piece.
>
> I don't think it's so bad that there's a 'bargain bin' for
> voice-overs. After all, you have your farm teams and you
> have the big leagues. You don't always start at the top.
> Considering that many websites require a steep annual fee to
> send the worthwhile information about VO work, one might
> want to build a cache of cash from the ten-dollar jobs in
> order to pay for, for example, Voice123.com's premium
> membership.
>
> Sure, "ten dollars a holler" might have an overall
> depressive effect on the VO market. But, simple math says
> that if it takes 10 minutes to do a :30 spot (read-through,
> take one, take two, editing, secondary read with different
> inflection, save MP3, e-mail), I'll gladly do that for an
> hour to make 60 bucks. What radio station pays that rate? My
> lunch break would suddenly be a whole lot more lucrative!
>
I suppose, but I wouldn't do it. Maybe it's just because I'm spoiled and used to getting paid 50 to send a dub over to another station.
> where
> > companys want what seem to be incredibly low rates. And
> it
> > upsets me a bit when VO talent actually audition for the
> > part, but that's another discussion. Heck, there's one
> site
> > I know of out there that will put you in a "bargain bin"
> and
> > you get paid 10 bucks to read a 30 second piece.
>
> I don't think it's so bad that there's a 'bargain bin' for
> voice-overs. After all, you have your farm teams and you
> have the big leagues. You don't always start at the top.
> Considering that many websites require a steep annual fee to
> send the worthwhile information about VO work, one might
> want to build a cache of cash from the ten-dollar jobs in
> order to pay for, for example, Voice123.com's premium
> membership.
>
> Sure, "ten dollars a holler" might have an overall
> depressive effect on the VO market. But, simple math says
> that if it takes 10 minutes to do a :30 spot (read-through,
> take one, take two, editing, secondary read with different
> inflection, save MP3, e-mail), I'll gladly do that for an
> hour to make 60 bucks. What radio station pays that rate? My
> lunch break would suddenly be a whole lot more lucrative!
>
I suppose, but I wouldn't do it. Maybe it's just because I'm spoiled and used to getting paid 50 to send a dub over to another station.
0
0224065
Guest
Other stations-dub fees?
> I suppose, but I wouldn't do it. Maybe it's just because
> I'm spoiled and used to getting paid 50 to send a dub over
> to another station.
******************************************************
On the subject mentioned above... I've worked in markets where you would get paid for sending a dub across the street. The one Im in now, doesnt charge. (Im in a medium market) Its just one of those things thats "always been that way" since I got here. I know if I took the chance and started doing it on our end....agencies, clients, other stations would probably get ticked, and it might cost us some buys. (I believe another prod dir. attempted this a few years ago and failed.)
Just curious.........What are the standards in your market? Have you been in that situation before?
Thanks
BW
> I suppose, but I wouldn't do it. Maybe it's just because
> I'm spoiled and used to getting paid 50 to send a dub over
> to another station.
******************************************************
On the subject mentioned above... I've worked in markets where you would get paid for sending a dub across the street. The one Im in now, doesnt charge. (Im in a medium market) Its just one of those things thats "always been that way" since I got here. I know if I took the chance and started doing it on our end....agencies, clients, other stations would probably get ticked, and it might cost us some buys. (I believe another prod dir. attempted this a few years ago and failed.)
Just curious.........What are the standards in your market? Have you been in that situation before?
Thanks
BW
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