Caroline Turner Cole explores the subject of buy-outs and usage fees for voice-over work.
As the video marketing industry continues to explode across the internet, many terms are used interchangeably (or incorrectly).
It can be hard to wade through the endless technical jargon that producers, clients, and even fellow voice actors can throw at you.
Don’t worry, we’ll go over it all briefly to help you feel better prepared and more confident around buy-outs and usage fees.
Basic Session Fees
A Basic Session Fee (BSF or Scale) compensates artists for the time they spend creating the product.
For example, attending a recording studio for 2 hours is a 2-hour session fee.
The session fee varies per artist based on their experience, ability and availability. Session fees can range a lot, from $50 to $500 per hour of the artists’ time.
Usage fees
Usage fees are often referred to as licensing fees or a buy-out fee and are often wrapped up as a package price, which includes session fees and usage fees combined.
Within usage fees, there are many different layers, which would be impossible to entirely go into here (or probably ever) as it can vary so drastically from project to project.
The basic principle is that usage fees increase when the number of people who hear the voice-over or see the video also increases.
Bigger audiences = higher fees
If you’re using the voice-over internally within your company as a training video, or for non-profit educational purposes, for instance – the usage fees will be negligible.
You don’t usually need to purchase any additional rights for this type of usage.
Suppose the final product will be displayed publicly somewhere – yes, the internet counts as public space – or used for a promotional purpose of any kind. In that case, you’ll need to make sure you’ve purchased commercial rights from the voice over artist or agency.
If the voice over is for a promotion or advertisement (a Facebook or Instagram promo, national TV commercial etc) you’ll need to purchase broadcast rights.
Again, rates vary significantly but remember – the bigger the audience, the more considerable the fees.
Buy-Outs vs Residuals
If you purchase the commercial or broadcast rights for a project with a voice-over artist, you will also agree on HOW LONG the usage rights last.
Anywhere from 12 weeks to 1-2 years is typical.
For example, if a customer purchases the broadcast rights to use a voice over in a local TV commercial and agrees that the spot won’t run for longer than six months. But, after six months, they realise the ad is doing well, and it’s helping them find lots of new business…
They’ll need to make sure the contract they’ve created with the voice-over artist has a renewal option or clause, allowing them to renew the rights to rerun the spot – these are Residual fees paid to the artist or agent.
So, they go back to the voice talent or agent and say, “Hey, we loved that ad and want to keep it running we’d like to buy another six months” and boom, it’s agreed.
Extending the run of an advert is very quick with some forethought about renewal options. A buy-out is the most extreme option of this, allowing full use of the audio in perpetuity, forever.
This sounds like it would be the most straightforward option for the customer (and in fairness, who wants to go back to the agent or voice-over artist every six months?) and yet…
Voice talent may not be able to relinquish their rights
At Voquent, we’ve seen an increasing request for voice-over rates to include a full buy-out or ‘usage in perpetuity’ agreement. It’s understandable.
Customers may view it as the most straightforward option available to them because they are afraid of being prevented from using the material in the future.
Still, when a performer is asked to agree to a lower than average fee and give away their rights in perpetuity, many argue this is simple exploitation – an attack on a talent’s rights.
However, we all have to move with the times.
Video content increasingly dominates, and many videos are created with a low budget. So, hiring an experienced voice over artist can look disproportionately expensive compared to the rest of the video production budget.
Yet, a high-quality voice over can significantly increase the quality and success of the project. The investment is worth it to maximise audience engagement alone.
More content is produced now than ever before, with amateur voices clamouring for jobs using cheaper and more accessible recording equipment.
All of this contributes to a disproportionately high volume of aspiring and less experienced talent prepared to work for lower rates. This has meant a trending decline in pay, offset somewhat by an increase in more voice-over jobs.
Ask yourself: Do you need a buy-out anyway?
Of course, there are projects where it makes perfect sense to include a buy-out in the rate:
There is limited visibility – if the content is for a small YouTube channel, or is never set to be boosted/promoted, it may only gain a few thousand views.
Where the usage is difficult to predict – for example museum exhibitions, public announcements, or other recordings used in the public domain.
Where the voice-over is part of the product – for example, toys, electronics, video games or animations.
However, remember all content has a limited lifespan – people get bored of seeing and hearing the same things becoming apathetic to any advert if they see it enough.
So please consider seeking a buy-out instead. Negotiate a usage fee based on the actual duration of the campaign and the size of the audience. It’s not only cheaper to purchase, but it’s also fairer to everyone involved.
Conclusion
Remember: the bigger the audience, the higher the fees.
Sometimes creative teams don’t know the usage – we understand that.
They may still have to build turnkey quotes for their clients, including a voice-over budget without all the information.
Any reputable company will understand your needs and get the necessary information because every other vendor is in the same boat.
This way, the clients get the best talent at a great price, the audience loves the production, and everyone’s a winner!
Voice-Over Rates
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