Corporate video scripts are a huge part of what I do as a Voiceover Artist. From female hair loss to human rights, council communications to CBD oil, I’ve recorded corporate video scripts from my home studio up in sunny Wigan, for a multitude of sectors. So I get asked this question quite often.
Here’s a typical enquiry…
“Hi Jenny,
I’ve just listened to the showreels on your website and think you’d be great for a corporate video we’re producing for one of our clients. It’s around 3 minutes long. Could you give me your rate please?”
In an ideal world, I’d be able to send a rate back to you immediately, you’re over the moon with it and we skip off happily into the sunset together, to enjoy a long and mutually beneficial working relationship. But I can’t. *Sigh* Why? I have no information on usage. We’ll get to this shortly.
When costing up a corporate video, the starting point is BSF
The BSF or Basic Studio Fee, is the fee to hire my home studio for an hour to record your script. It also covers the myriad of day-to-day costs involved with running a Voiceover business – bills, training, outreach, hardware, software, studio upkeep, marketing, branding, subscriptions…the list goes on.
My BSF is £300, which is pretty standard, but other professional Voiceover’s range from £250 - £500. I use the word ‘professional' here. You can always go on Fiverr for a lower rate and that edgy mobile-phone-in-a-shower-cubicle sound, but that’s another blog for another time.
We need to talk about usage
Stick with me. I understand it can be confusing, but it’s how us Voiceovers make a living. It’s what we’re legally entitled to if the corporate video is for broadcast purposes and in the public domain.
So what exactly is usage? In short, the amount of eyes and ears that can potentially land on the corporate video you commission me for. The more eyes and ears, the higher the usage fee. It may come as a surprise to learn that unless a full buy-out/in perpetuity rate is agreed, even if the end client owns the copyright to the script itself, they don’t actually own the rights to the voice recordings. When you pay a usage fee, you’re buying a licence to USE my voice for your corporate video, across agreed platforms, for an agreed amount of time in an agreed geographical location or locations.
Which brings me to ‘full buy-out in perpetuity!’ *SFX: blood curdling scream*
A full buy-out in perpetuity agreement or a flat fee is like Pepsi approaching Beyonce to use of one of her songs in their Summer advertising campaign and then continuing to use it across any platform, globally, forever. If it’s an all rights in perpetuity agreement, then there’s nothing stopping Pepsi from really going to town and adding some Boyzone backing vocals and a Westlife key change. Got me looking so crazy right now.
However, not all corporate videos are created equal
A full buy-out in perpetuity request on a commercial campaign just isn’t cricket. But going back to our original email enquiry, it usually transpires (after asking a few questions) that the corporate video is in fact an explainer for a small to medium sized company that will sit on the client website and social media channels. A video production company in this case, will sometimes ask for a full buy-out in perpetuity rate.
At the risk of having the Voiceover community at my door with flaming torches and pitch forks, I will sometimes give a full-buy out in perpetuity rate in these circumstances. This is because:
a) It’s non-commercial content, so the eyes and ears on an online explainer video like this are minimal.
b) I record A LOT of corporate explainers for small to medium sized businesses. Setting a timer to check every single corporate explainer that I record, ad infinitum, will make my head fall off.
It’s worth noting however, that a full buy out in perpetuity rate will cost you more because we’re waving the usage rights on our intellectual property. For a video like this, there is a much more mutually beneficial way.
Instead of a flat fee, go for a longer licence
A corporate explainer video like this will no doubt be irrelevant after 12 to 18 months. A 2 - 5 year licence fee should more than cover it and will cost you much less than a full buy-out in perpetuity fee.
So how much does it cost to hire a Voiceover for a 3 min Corporate Video?
Here’s the information I need…
1. Who the client is. If it’s a big brand and it’s top secret, send me an NDA (Non-Disclosure Agreement). At least let me know the sector. The usage fee depends largely on the size of the company. The bigger the company, the more potential for eyes and ears. Likewise, if it’s for a start-up or charity, I can be more flexible.
2. If the video will be used in a paid for commercial campaign. If the campaign has been booked, what are the online impressions? The usage fee for online advertising is calculated at 490,000 impressions to 1 TVR, so we can figure out the rate via usefeetv as we would in a TV campaign. This takes all the guess work away around eyes and ears, as you already have the numbers. However, if you don’t have the impressions ahead of time, I can still provide an estimated cost based on the size of the company.
3. Or if it’s for organic use across the client website and social media channels.
4. Or if it’s for internal use only. For smaller brands/companies, if it’s non-broadcast, you won’t pay a usage fee. However, the definitive rate here, still depends on the number of eyes and ears. If it’s an internal communication to a global company of thousands, the fee will reflect this.
5. How long you would like to licence the project for? 3/6/12 months? 2 – 5 years? Or (gulp!) in perpetuity?
…and I can give you your definitive rate.
Now, as we enjoy this beautiful sunset, take my hand and let’s go make beautiful audio together. I hear Beyonce just won another Grammy…
Jenny Mac Voiceover.
You can find out more about Voiceover licensing and usage fee’s in this handy video by Hugh Edwards from Gravy for the Brain. And it’s only 4 minutes long. Result.