And why the cheapest voiceover isn't always the cheapest option
If you're making a video for your business, creating an advert, producing a training film or adding narration to an animation, at some point you'll probably ask the question:
"How much does a voiceover cost?"
The frustrating answer is:
It depends.
A voiceover can cost £50.
It can cost £150.
It can cost £500.
It can cost considerably more.
So what's the difference?
And, more importantly, what are you actually paying for?
Let's start with the £50 voiceover
You can find very cheap voiceovers online.
There are marketplaces where you can upload a script, choose a voice and have someone record it for relatively little money.
And sometimes that's absolutely fine.
If you have a 30-second internal video that only 20 people are going to watch, you may not need to spend hundreds of pounds on it.
But before you compare two voiceovers purely on price, you need to ask a few questions.
Is the price for recording only?
Is editing included?
How many revisions are included?
Can you direct the session?
What happens if you change the script?
Where will the recording be used?
And perhaps the most important question:
Does the person actually know how to deliver your script?
Because reading words into a microphone isn't necessarily voiceover.
Then there's the £500 voice
At the other end of the scale, you might be quoted several hundred pounds for a voiceover.
That can initially seem expensive.
After all, how long does it take?
Perhaps ten minutes to record.
Maybe twenty.
So why isn't it £20?
Because you're not really buying 20 minutes in front of a microphone.
You're buying the experience that makes those 20 minutes work.
You're paying for someone who understands pace, emphasis, tone, pronunciation, breathing, phrasing and, crucially, how not to sound as though they're reading.
You're also paying for a professional recording environment, proper equipment, editing and the ability to deliver a finished audio file that you can actually use.
And depending on the project, you may also be paying for usage.
Usage can make a big difference
This is something that catches people out.
A voiceover for an internal training video isn't necessarily the same proposition as a voiceover for a national television advert.
Why?
Because the voice is being used differently.
If you're making a video that sits quietly on your website, that's one thing.
If you're putting the same voice on a paid advertising campaign that's going to be seen by millions of people, that's another.
The more valuable and extensive the usage, the more important it becomes to discuss licensing or usage fees.
So when someone gives you a voiceover price, don't just ask:
"How much per word?"
Ask:
"What does that price include?"
And then there's the person behind the microphone
This is where my own slightly unusual career comes in.
I've been behind microphones for more than 40 years.
I started at BBC Television Centre when I was 11 and went on to work in broadcasting and voiceover, including being named BBC Radio Presenter of the Year twice.
I've voiced commercials, corporate films, documentaries, training material, heritage projects, animations and characters.
And then there's Brian from Melton.
Brian was a character I created – an irritable Suffolk bloke with strong opinions, a mother called Doris and very little patience.
He became a viral hit.
Millions of plays later, I've rather reluctantly accepted that people remember Brian.
And that's actually an important lesson about voiceover.
A voice isn't just a sound
You can have two people reading exactly the same words.
One can sound like they're reading a script.
The other can make you believe they are talking directly to you.
That's the difference.
A good voiceover isn't necessarily the person with the deepest voice, the most impressive microphone or the biggest voiceover demo.
It's the person who understands what the words are supposed to make the listener feel.
Sometimes that's authority.
Sometimes it's warmth.
Sometimes it's excitement.
Sometimes it's reassurance.
Sometimes it's a little bit of Brian from Melton.
Although perhaps not for your annual financial report.
So what should you actually expect to pay?
There isn't one universal UK voiceover price because every project is different.
But as a very broad guide, a simple short voiceover for a small business might start around the £100 mark, while more involved projects can move into the £150–£400+ range, depending on length, complexity, recording requirements, revisions and usage.
Commercial advertising and larger campaigns can be considerably more.
The important thing is to get a quote based on your actual project, rather than choosing somebody because they advertise the lowest price per word.
What you're really buying
When you hire a professional voiceover artist, you're buying several things at once:
The performance
Knowing how to interpret the script rather than simply reading it.
The recording
A professional microphone, acoustic environment and clean recording.
The editing
Removing unwanted noises, mistakes and unnecessary pauses and delivering a polished file.
The experience
Knowing when to slow down.
Knowing when to lift the energy.
Knowing when a sentence needs to breathe.
Knowing when not to put emphasis on the word the client has highlighted in bold.
The reliability
You need somebody who turns up, records it properly and delivers when they said they would.
And sometimes, the ability to take direction
For some projects, you don't just want someone to send you an MP3.
You want to be able to say:
"Can we make that a little warmer?"
Or:
"Can you give me a bit more energy in that section?"
Or:
"That needs to sound less like a corporate video and more like a human being."
That's where having a professional voiceover artist becomes particularly useful.
What about AI?
Of course, there's now another option.
AI voiceover.
And I'm not going to pretend it doesn't have its uses.
AI can be remarkably good.
It's quick.
It's inexpensive.
And for some applications, it may be perfectly adequate.
But there's still a difference between saying the words and performing the words.
A human voice can make a judgement about the script.
It can respond to direction.
It can understand humour.
It can deliberately leave a tiny pause before the important word.
It can sound reassuring without sounding artificially reassuring.
And sometimes that tiny difference is precisely what makes somebody keep watching.
So should you spend £50 or £500?
Here's my honest answer.
Don't automatically spend £500.
And don't automatically spend £50 either.
Think about what the voice is doing for your project.
If it's an internal video that will be watched by a handful of employees, the cheaper option might make perfect sense.
If it's the voice representing your business to thousands of potential customers, I'd think rather differently.
Because your voiceover isn't just background audio.
It's part of your brand.
And if you're spending thousands of pounds filming and editing a beautiful promotional film, saving £100 on the voiceover may be a false economy.
The best voiceover isn't the most expensive one
It's the one that's right for the job.
It should sound right.
It should be recorded properly.
It should be delivered reliably.
And it should make your audience listen.
That's what you're paying for.
Not just somebody reading your words.
Somebody making your words work.
Need a voiceover?
I'm Nic Pandolfi, a professional voiceover artist based on the Suffolk coast.
I record from my own broadcast-quality studio and work with businesses, organisations and agencies across Suffolk and the UK.
From corporate films and promotional videos to advertising, training, narration and animation, I can provide everything from a straightforward voice recording to a fully edited, finished audio file.
And yes, I can still do Brian from Melton.
Although Doris has apparently asked for a pay rise.
If you've got a script, send it over and I'll give you a straightforward quote.