Clarifications on the new rates (especially the minimum charge)!

There's been some confusion about the new rates that we want to clear up, so here are a few of the common questions that we've been receiving and the answers, according to the guild EXCO.

How much do I charge for just one 15s commercial recording?

According to the new rates, the new minimum duration is 20s (used to be 15s). This means that a 15s commercial counts the same as a 20s commercial, which means

20 x RM15 = RM300

How much do I charge for subsequent characters in the same job?

This rule has not changed. The current rule is that each subsequent character in the job carries a 50% surcharge above the normal rate. So, in the case of doing 3 characters (if you're that versatile!) for a 15 second ad, the charge would be as follows:-

(20 x RM15) + 50%(20 x RM15) + 50% (20xRM15)

= RM300 + RM150 + RM150 = RM600.

What if it's a re-recording?

Essentially, for commercial recordings, the rule of thumb is that as soon as you show up for a recording, the minimum fee is RM300. So, if you're asked to re-record the same ad, the price is still RM300.

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Hope that clears things up for you guys. If you have any other questions that you would like the committee to answer, do drop me a mail at chakster@gmail.com. In the meantime, HAPPY CNY to all our members and clients!

The Old Website's back up!

Hey guys,

Sorry for the inconvenience. In case you didn't know, The Voice guild website talent list has been down since Christmas, and we're truly sorry for that. However, the good news is that it's back up now, to temporarily tide us over until the new site comes up in the next two weeks or so.

That's actually a lie since the new site is already up. if you're curious to what it looks like, click here. Please don't add any info to it yet as we're currently in the process of migrating the data over from the old site.

However, if you have any feedback about the site whatsoever, do comment on this post, or email me at chakster@gmail.com.

Once again, we're very sorry for the delay and inconvenience, but hopefully once the new site is up, you'll forgive us.

New Voice Guild Rates have taken effect!

Hey guys, Just to officially remind you guys that the new rates are effective January 1st, which means that, yes, we finally have new rates after 19 years!

Here's the new rate card shown below.

A) Commercials – 1 to 20 secs - RM300 (Flat rate)

B) 20 secs and above – RM15.00 per second

C) Additional roles – 50% of the specified duration (for each additional role)

D) Recycled commercials:

· Below 12 months – 50% surcharge

· After 12 months 100% surcharge

· Buy out – suggested charge of 10 times the duration

E) Voice prompts – RM300 for 1^st page, RM150 for subsequent pages (Font size: 12, Type: Times New Roman, max 40 lines)

F) Research, demos, stealomatics – RM300 (Flat rate)

· Re-recording – RM300 (flat rate)

G) Versions

· A commercial produced for domestic use as well as to be aired in foreign countries – full payment per version per country.

· A generic commercial duplicated on different versions for the same product – full payment for the generic version, and full payment for every subsequent version produced based on the specified duration of the commercial.

· Cut-downs of a generic commercial – full payment according to the specified duration of the “cut-down” commercial.

H) Re-recording – 50% of the payment according to the specified duration of the original commercial, but should not fall below minimum flat rate of RM300.

I) Corporate/Launch/Marketing Videos/Documentaries

· 1^st – 5^th minute – RM500

· 6^th – 30^th minute – RM50 per subsequent minute

· 31^st – 60^th minute – RM30 per subsequent minute

· Above 60^th minute – RM20 per subsequent minute

  J) Infomercial – 1^st to 3^rd minute - RM500 (Flat rate)

K) New media recording – RM300 (minimum charge)       (Website/Internet)

L) Animation/Dubbing – RM500 per episode (minimum charge depending on the character played)

M) Inserts (Corporate/Launch/Marketing Videos / Documentaries) – RM150 (maximum of 6 lines)

N) Options or Variations – no charge for the first option, thereafter RM100 per subsequent option or variation.

O) Potential talent fees - 50% of payment in all the categories listed.

* Should assignments cover a large number of recordings or run into a long term basis then a special package fee can be considered.

Just an additional note. We've been receiving reports that some clients have been asking for special deals based on the old rates. Please refrain from using the old rates as a point of reference. While large package deals are still perfectly acceptable, start with the new rates as a base and discount your charges based on that.

Please feel free to ask me questions about the rates in the comments section, and I'll try to reply as best I can :)

In the meantime, Happy New Year everyone!

It's been AGES!

Sorry for the lack of updates guys!

We just had another meeting of the Exco recently, and there have been a few interesting developments.

First off, the website. Unfortunately, we begin with apologies because our developer (and member of the guild), Tiki, has been hospitalised for the past two weeks. As such, we won't be able to meet the promised deadline of 1st January 2009.

However, before he was admitted, the update was that things are going swimmingly well. The server's been migrated, DNS references changed, and most of the interface has already been designed.After Tiki gets back on his feet, we should be looking at a quick 2 weeks before the final draft is out, a brief bug-testing stage, and an end-jan launch.

Secondly, the date is drawing near for the new rates! Yay! Don't forget that any jobs taken on 1st January 2009 should be done with reference to the new rates (which are RM15 a second for commercials).

We've been hearing on the grapevine that many of you have already had offers of job batches for the old rates (i.e. "We promise you 18 jobs next year if you stick to the old rates"). While the guild does encourage its members to offer packages when appropriate, we believe that these packages should be negotiated based on the NEW RATES, not the old ones. i.e. instead of giving them the old rate, simply discount off the new-rate.

Thirdly, updates on errant studios... Incognito is now officially on COD. This means that you should insist on immediate payment for any jobs, REGARDLESS OF WHETHER IT'S PAYMENT FROM THE CLIENT, OR STUDIO. Same arrangement with Nada. Please take note. Also, as requested, please send in all your statements from Incognito so we can tally the amount outstanding to the guild.

Also, we are speaking to a few other studios, including FlyFM, StellarSound and AMP about backdated payments, and will inform you in the coming months how this will pan out.

In times of uncertainty like this, there's only one thing we can say for sure.

It's going to be an interesting year for the Guild.

The 8th Annual Voice Guild AGM and the website revamp!

This year, the buzz about new rates for Voice Overs really brought the members in to the nice venue at the WIM building in TTDI. All in all, we had 46 attendees, which is something of a record for us. I guess people really wanted a say as to how they wanted to charge as an industry.

Discussions were unexpectedly animated, and as a result, we received some amazing feedback to our originally proposed rates, which we'll be posting up once I get the full confirmed list.

We also received a list of studios that talents should watch out for, listed below. This list is basically comprised of studios that have been known to treat talents oddly, or delay payments excessively. Once again, I will publish this list once it's up and confirmed at our next Exco meeting.

On top of this, we also discussed the current state of our website. Needless to say, we would like to revamp it and bring it into the 21st century. Here are some of the key features that we're thinking of bringing into the new site.

• Control - Instead of us uploading your samples to your accounts and changing your details, we allow you to upload your own samples, change your own details and even upload a nice (non-IC) picture of yourself to let the world know a little bit more about you
• Convenience - Both for us and for you. For you, having complete control of your account, and functions to easily message the Exco, or other members. We also plan to have watchdog lists for errant studios as well as a section that highlights Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) from members and the public. On our side, we plan to link the news section to our blog, meaning that it will be easier, and more convenient for us to update news, as well as send messages to all members if necessary.
• Discoverability - We plan to fully revamp the search engine, allowing you to search for talents in a more intuitive manner. We also plan to include tags that you can attribute to yourself, e.g. British, Manglish, young, old, teenager, surfer - things like that to help agents, creatives and sound people to find exactly what they're looking for.

This is basically just a taster of the new features we're planning for the site. We would love your feedback as to what other features you would like to see on the site before we start work in proper! Send all suggestions to chakster@gmail.com and I'll be sure to answer them as soon as I can.

Welcome to the Official Voice Guild Blog!

This blog was created to keep members and other interested parties updated about the latest news and happenings from The Voice Guild Malaysia.

For those of you not in the know, The Voice Guild is a non-profit organisation in Malaysia that looks after the interests of voice talents. You can check out more about us at www.thevoiceguild.org.

What are voice talents? We are basically the voices that wake you up in the morning, irritate you in afternoon traffic, and tell you about the latest promotions around town when you're watching TV at night. We lend our voices to everything from radio commercials to documentaries.

Thanks for dropping by :)