Video Usage: Usage refers to how and where the voice-over will be used and for how long. A video for public broadcast (i.e., a television commercial) will always cost more than an internal company video because the audience is much larger.
Corporate Videos: Corporate videos can range from explainer videos to product demonstrations to employee training videos. They can also be either internal or external.
Internal Corporate Videos: Videos intended only for the eyes of a limited number of employees. Because of this, they tend to be the cheapest form of usage. Not only because the audience is limited, but also because the lifespan of the video is typically pretty short-lived, especially if it’s for a live event or time-sensitive announcement.
External Corporate Videos: Videos that are posted publicly on the web. Product demonstrations, go-to-market campaigns, and explainer videos are popular forms of external corporate videos. Since these kinds of videos have a wider, public audience, they will cost a bit more.
Social Media Videos: This probably isn’t a surprise, but people spend a lot of time on social media. A 2018 survey found digital consumers spend an average of 2 hours and 22 minutes per day on social networks and messaging. More companies are now turning to paid social media campaigns to promote their business. Since social media videos have the potential to reach a wider audience or even go viral, the rates reflect that reach. The two main price factors for social media videos include the market size (local, regional, national) and how long the video will be promoted.
TV Broadcast: As you might imagine, videos for broadcast are typically the most expensive. For Super Bowl LIII, CBS (the host network) charged a record $5.25 million for a 30-second spot. Therefore, you can expect the cost of a voice-over to increase. ]The pricing for a voice-over for TV broadcast is similar to social media - it’s determined by the market size and duration.
Radio Broadcast: We can’t forget about the original broadcast medium: radio. A voice-over is essential in radio spots. And once again, the pricing depends on market size and duration.
Pickups: When negotiating price, a certain number of pickups are typically included. Pickups are any number of additional recordings the talent needs to perform after the original read is recorded and delivered. Performance, inflection, or script changes can all be reasons for pickups.
Typically, misreads or performance issues are included as part of the talent’s responsibility (as many pickups it takes to get it right), but things like script changes or other unexpected asks either need to be negotiated in the original price or added on as an additional cost.
Tags: Tags, or different versions of the ending of the narration, can be added on if need be. These come in handy for different usage types: maybe you want one tag for TV broadcast and a different one for social media.
Bundling: When it comes to bundling scripts, they typically need to be recorded at the same time to maximize your saving.