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Beginner Subtitler Requesting Help Understanding Subtitling Rates
Thread poster: Megan Campbell
Megan Campbell United Kingdom Local time: 11:43 Japanese to English
Mar 30
Hello,
I am a beginner freelance Japanese to English subtitler based in the UK.
I have decided my rate based on the amount I want to earn in a year and the number of hours I want to work.
I was happy with my rate until I found out it is way below the UK average minimum (£6-£13 per minute).
I was hoping someone could help me understand why the minimum starts from around £6.
£6 per minute seems expensive to me. I am sure... See more
Hello,
I am a beginner freelance Japanese to English subtitler based in the UK.
I have decided my rate based on the amount I want to earn in a year and the number of hours I want to work.
I was happy with my rate until I found out it is way below the UK average minimum (£6-£13 per minute).
I was hoping someone could help me understand why the minimum starts from around £6.
£6 per minute seems expensive to me. I am sure there is something I am not taking into account. ▲ Collapse
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Joakim Braun Sweden Local time: 12:43 German to Swedish + ...
Perspective
Apr 1
25 years ago I did subtitling of 20-minute sitcoms for around $80 each (about 200 subtitles per episode, no spotting). Inflation-adjusted, that would be something like $144 today, or $7 per minute. The work took 3-5 hours and the pay felt like a living wage then, but no more than that.
[Bearbeitet am 2024-04-01 18:58 GMT]
Dalia Nour
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Robert Rutledge United States Local time: 06:43 Member (2021) Spanish to English + ...
Things to consider
Apr 1
As someone active in the subtitling field, there are a lot of things to consider. In my language combination, Spanish-to-English, the äverage minimum rate you have posted, £6-£13 per minute, does seem quite high. I am used to working for substantially less than that.
However, there are other factors to consider. Does your client provide you with a source language template? Will you be responsible for timing?
Take into consideration these other factors. The rate you h... See more
As someone active in the subtitling field, there are a lot of things to consider. In my language combination, Spanish-to-English, the äverage minimum rate you have posted, £6-£13 per minute, does seem quite high. I am used to working for substantially less than that.
However, there are other factors to consider. Does your client provide you with a source language template? Will you be responsible for timing?
Take into consideration these other factors. The rate you have posted would perhaps be a suitable rate for a client who is expecting you to provide subtitles from scratch. But if they provide you with a template and the subtitles have already been timed, I'd say you could make a decent income with roughly half that rate if you incorporate post-editing of machine translation into your workflow to speed things up. ▲ Collapse
Dalia Nour
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Megan Campbell United Kingdom Local time: 11:43 Japanese to English
TOPIC STARTER
Thank you
Apr 3
@JoakimBraun: Thanks for your insight! That makes a lot of sense.
@RobertRutledge: That’s interesting. I hadn’t considered that before. Thanks for your insight!
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