Terms and Conditions

RECORDING HOURS: I can record earlier or later in the day depending on your time zone but my general studio hours are 8 – 6pm UK time.

RECORDING TIME – All sessions are booked by the hour. I can do two hours in a row however feel it’s always best to have a 30-1 hour break and then do another two hours for energy, focus and vocal health. I can give you an idea of how long your job will take when you show me the script as it depends on its density, complexity and if I’m editing it or a separate studio is doing the final edit.

DIAL IN – For short/ medium scripts the client and production company is welcome on the phone during the session to make sure you’re all happy with the tone, pace, timing, script when you hear me read it and pronunciations. What I’m aiming for is that we all leave the session happy that the work is how we want it to be, mission is complete.
However I can also produce a sample and then record on my own.
For longer scripts like audiobooks and some narration let’s work out how you would like to check in and check you’re happy with the tone, pace, feel before I set off. We can then work out how it’s best for you to check the final work.

RECORDING – I usually like to record a sentence or two for levels and then do one read the whole way through for commercials and short corporate work. We can then all get a sense of what we’re working with and the timings. If it’s a shorter piece 100- 200 words I might just record the whole thing and pick up lines as needed. For longer corporate, explainer, documentary work it’s sometimes helpful to do it by sections so we know we have work recorded and approved as we go.

DIRECTING – Once I have a good idea of what you like, it’s great to have the freedom to play and try a few things that might come to mind. I may go off piste or you may find a version you hadn’t thought of. It also sometimes allows the read to be more fluid even if it’s still playing in your ballpark of references.

Draft licence agreement for broadcast work

You can download this here. Ideally I would like this signed before the job is recorded. If for some reason the audio doesn’t get used, these things happen, then it’s just the session fee that will be due and not the usage and the licence will be null and void.
If you do use the audio we will agree how long this is used for, where and on what platform and then I shall contact you or you can contact me when that time has expired if you or your client would like to renew the licence then I hope we can come to an agreement we’re both happy with then.

Typical rates

Every job for each client is different and I understand when budgets are specific. I aim, however, to keep Equity industry standard rates so they remain constant for all working voice actors by using industry tools online to calculate my quote.
As a guide, my Basic Studio Fee (BSF) is £250 / $US 300 an hour plus any usage which depends on: where it’s going, for how long, in which markets etc.

Policy for changes

I usually include a couple of pick-up lines free of charge if it’s not approved in a live session and after that it’s a reduced basic studio fee of £125 an hour to update a project vocally and the edit.

A note about “Online.”

Online has become the new broadcast territory. So it’s really helpful to know where exactly the voiceover is going online – if it’s being promoted and for how long. Online is being considered to have the same, if not more impact than traditional, scheduled TV and Radio media these days – as there are more eyeballs online.

If a voiceover is going somewhere static and sitting on a client’s website or a social media channel in an archived post – that’s organic and has no usage. I would also consider use of a corporate or medical narration (that’s now online in a virtual conference due to Covid-19) static.
However, a video in the commercial break of that conference will be part of an advertising campaign by a brand or a sponsor and therefore would be in a paid for placement and then incur usage.

In essence, if the client is paying to put the work in front of people, the voiceover is categorised as web broadcast which has paid for web usage. Paid advertising can be via pre roll, boosted posts, streaming or promoted social for example, B2B paid marketing for explainer videos on LinkedIn.

The reason our voiceover rate has usage attached is because our voice contribution is thought to (and hopefully does!) have a direct impact and influence on a product selling and drives revenue. We therefore licence our voice to you accordingly.

Payment

Your prompt payment of my invoice means a lot to me. I do have a 30 day payment window from the date of invoice. If you’re able to pay quickly I’d be very grateful.

Feedback

As Hannah Gadsby said in her incredible show NANETTE:
“After a show is my favourite time for feedback. Yes please. That’s when my skin is at its thickest.”
If you see me after a one woman show and I’ve just walked off stage – I agree that is not the time I’m going to enjoy constructive feedback! However I feel differently about voiceover work, I like immediate feedback so I’m sure you’re happy with our work.
I’d also love a couple of lines that I could use as a testimonial when you have a moment as it really helps other clients feel confident in their choice to hire me and makes me feel happy that I’ve executed what I intended!

Audio

I always really like to receive the audio and video of our work so I can showcase it on my website, social media and my voice reels – obviously once the work has been released.

Finally

If I’ve left anything out please do contact me to discuss!

Thank you and I look forward to working with you soon