You might not recognise the name Peter Dickson, but you would definitely recognise his voice. With more than 8,000 shows to his credit, Dickson has been the leading UK voice actor for years. His recognisable deep tones have been heard on X Factor, Britain's Got Talent, and even coverage of the 2012 Olympics.
Ulsterman Dickson, among the highest-earning voiceover artists, told The Times that his voice acting has paid for eight properties, so there’s definitely money in the game. If you’re thinking of getting into voice acting and are wondering about your earning potential, know that it depends on what kind of work you do, who you do it for, and your reputation within the industry.
There are many different types of work available, but most are freelance. In addition to the more obvious roles, such as acting in radio dramas or voicing TV commercials, voice actors in the UK find paid gigs voicing video game characters, reading audiobooks, recording audio guides for museums and libraries, dubbing foreign language films, and narrating presentations for e-learning. Voice actor pay rates are different in all these specialties.
JUMP TO
An agent can help you find work, and agents may have access to exclusive roles because of their contacts in the industry. An agent can also help with legal and financial matters, especially when it comes to the maze of broadcast rights and usage fees.
Many voice actors, however, work without representation, especially early in their careers. Typically, they search for roles advertised on casting notices and dedicated job boards.
Negotiable rates
Some voice acting jobs have set fees, but others might require that you negotiate a rate. In general, your voice actor salary should grow in tandem with your experience, skill level, and credits.
Hourly rate vs. regular work
You also have to consider whether the job has a one-off fee or an hourly rate. Long hours spent earning a one-off fee might be better spent on work with a good hourly rate. Voicing audiobooks, for example, can command fees of £1,600 per project, but that can work out as a low rate per hour when the amount of work is taken into account. Consider how long any work will take before you accept it.
Usage vs. buyout
There are two key elements to any contract for a voice actor, and they impact how much you’ll get paid: usage and buyout.
Usage is a payment you receive when a company employs you and uses your work for a set period of time. After this period ends, the company does not have the automatic right to continue using the audio; they must negotiate a new usage fee if they wish to extend their use.
A buyout, on the other hand, is a one-time fee that grants the company permanent rights to the recording. With a buyout, you will not receive any additional pay for the use of your performance. However, the scope of a buyout can be limited to a specific medium (such as radio or TV) or a specific region (like the UK only). If the recording is used in a different medium or outside the specified region, you’re entitled to additional payment.
Buyouts are increasingly used in the industry because they offer simplicity and clarity. But be aware that, unlike a usage payment, a buyout means you won’t be entitled to any royalties (fees paid to a voice actor each time the audio of their voice is used). For example, if an animation is rereleased or your voice is used in other video games for the company, you will not be paid.
Milton Braganza/Shutterstock
Making a living from acting can be tough. Many actors are turning to voice acting as a way to enhance their profiles, level up their skills, and supplement their income, all within the realm of performance. Whether you're considering a combination of onscreen and voice acting or planning to focus exclusively on voice acting, it’s crucial to understand your potential earnings.
Average earnings for voice actors
Let’s take a look at what the average UK voice actor earns. Small freelance gigs can pay as little as £20 for a simple 200-word voiceover. While these gigs are modestly paid, they allow you to accumulate clips for your audio showreel and boost your confidence. However, to make a sustainable living, you’ll likely need to expand into other areas of performance.
Commercials
In line with Equity’s agreement with the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising, artists who lend their voices to commercials earn a minimum £200-per-hour session fee, though you could potentially get more. Transport, food, and accommodations are covered separately; you could also get a usage fee or buyout, as detailed above.
Gaming
UK game studios pay an average of £250 for video game dialogue. That fee covers the entire script rather than an hourly rate. Pay also depends on studio size, which platforms – Xbox, Playstation, or PC, for example – the game will be released on, and the number of countries in which the game will be available. It also depends on your experience and credits. Equity, the actors’ union, has an agreement with the industry which sets the following amounts:
- £300 per hour for voicing a “standard” game (budget of over £5m)
- £200 per hour for an “indie” game (£0.5m to £5m)
- £175 per hour for a “micro” game (under £0.5m)
Radio
The BBC spends nearly £300 million per year on radio production and offers ample opportunities for voice actors. Voice performances for the BBC are also covered by an agreement with Equity that sets a minimum engagement fee of £211 if your work will be broadcast once and £309 if it will be broadcast twice. For this amount, the production is entitled to ask you for seven hours of work over a nine-hour period, including one break of not less than an hour. Bear in mind that this fee is a minimum. You might earn more depending on where your work is broadcast, how often it’s broadcast, and the other aforementioned factors that impact your fee. Additional days for the BBC are paid at £117 per day.
Local radio typically pays much less than the BBC – some pay less than £20 for readings of short scripts. Again, such jobs tend to depend on script length, complexity, your experience, and the policies of the local station.
Audiobooks
If you want to add narrating audiobooks to your paying gigs, consider registering as a narrator with Amazon’s audiobook creation service, acx.com. How much you’ll earn will be down to negotiations between you and the author of the book you’ll be narrating. You’ll likely earn an average of £8 to £80 per hour as a beginner, which typically amounts to between £1,600 and £4,000 per project.
It's expected these days that voice actors will be able to record material themselves using their own equipment in a home studio. The fee for audiobooks is usually for finished, polished audio, quoted as PFH (price per finished hour), so you are expected to edit out any pops, clicks, or mouth noises as well as any mistakes. It’s important to factor in editing time when considering how many hours a project will take.
Animation
If you manage to land a starring voice role in an animated feature film, you can expect to be paid five figures, but bear in mind this is the peak of the industry and unlikely to happen early in your career. You’re more likely to get an episode rate on an animated series first, with an average rate of £450 per episode. Remember to ask about usage or buyout fees on top of your recording fee.
Individual jobs pay varying amounts, so it can be hard to establish what an average UK voice actor’s salary is per year. Based on its 2024 survey of 677 salaries, Glassdoor has the average pinned at £19k to £34k, while Talent.com puts it at just over £29k. In all likelihood, you’ll need to combine various types of freelance work throughout the year to reach these numbers.