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Beginner Subtitler Requesting Help Understanding Subtitling Rates
Thread poster: Megan Campbell
Megan Campbell
Megan Campbell
United Kingdom
Local time: 12:45
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
 
Joakim Braun
Joakim Braun  Identity Verified
Sweden
Local time: 13:45
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
 
Robert Rutledge
Robert Rutledge  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 07:45
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
 
Megan Campbell
Megan Campbell
United Kingdom
Local time: 12:45
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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Beginner Subtitler Requesting Help Understanding Subtitling Rates







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