Hi there,
This week, a freelance audio producer on why she’s never going back to the office.
I loved this contributor’s honesty. For those of us who’ve worked in offices before, we know how political they can be. Having to bite our tongues in meetings, or put up with egregious colleagues or difficult bosses is the price we often pay for the genuine friendships and bonds that are formed at work. For our contributor though, having to sometimes be ‘fake nice’ (and we’ve all been there) was just too high a price to pay. Unlike many others she decided to do something about this, and her reflections about her experiences are refreshing to hear.
It’s also amazing to see how much her salary changed over the years and no doubt will give hope to people in the junior stages of their career. The distinction between radio and podcast production wages/fees/salaries is also interesting and worth noting – I’ll be curious to see if the gap between the two tariffs continues to widen or if it eventually closes.
If you want to get better acquainted with this newsletter, read the first ever post here.
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How much money do you make on average per annum?
How much I make changes so much every year. My first salary in audio was £20k, but that was several years ago. I then freelanced initially for radio which was about £70 per day which was honestly a pisstake but I made the move to podcasting very quickly (in part because the rates were a lot higher).
My first AP job in podcasting was £130 per day moving onto a producer rate at £200 per day. I then went full-time and earned £31k as a salary but my total income for the last tax year was £38k as I freelanced on top of that.
I'm now freelance full-time and it looks like I'll be increasing my income again but that’s to be expected as my experience has grown and it's incredibly busy for podcast producers right now. I'm making about £4-5k a month at the moment but that won't last (I mean if only) and my day rate is £200-£350 depending on the client/project.
A lot of that is freelancing for indies who have received commissions from big companies but some is also individuals or companies going to me direct.
How do you feel about the money you earn?
I think I earn the amount I should for the work I do now but for the majority of my career, I was getting paid way too little and was expected to put my health at risk overworking and stressing. It's easy to do that when starting as your confidence is lower and you don't necessarily know what a "good" income looks like. I spent a lot of time thinking I earned a lot, finding out I actually was underpaid, asking for more money, then being told no.
What's your experience been like working for production companies? Have there been any that were great / absolutely awful?
It depends on the production company. I think production companies who are transparent about money are the easiest to work for as they're less likely to fuck you over. Sometimes I have meetings with potential clients and I can see their faces drop when I say my rate; it's like a red flag for me.
Some very small production companies are chaotic and try to get lower rates – my heart kind of goes out to them a bit as they're usually really nice people and are genuinely offering all they can, but again, I can't really put a price on mental health. I think things are getting better but if we're talking money let's just say that I definitely have made extra money by getting my union involved.
There have been a lot of bad moments and they stick with you. I once worked on a show where I tried to bring in more diverse guests (it was ALL white) and they spent a lot of time undermining me subtly, so much so that I didn't even notice. After a while, I really made a push to change how things were in the show and a week later the hiring manager got an email asking for me to be taken off the show because they had "concerns" over me getting "upset". I still get stressed about it and at one point thought I wasn't good enough to work in audio. People will try to undermine you in this industry and it's cost me so many tears so I leave at the first sight of it now.
Are you happy being a freelancer or would you prefer a 9 - 5 role?
I don't think I could be an employee again. I don't like all the meetings, being told what projects to work on, having to be fake nice to people in case I get fired, and the looming threat of redundancy. I hated freelancing when I first did it because I wasn't established enough but now I am so I don't see myself ever going back. I know a lot of people who are happy with being employed and love the companies they work for though, I don't think it's a bad thing, it’s just not for me.
What change(s) would you like to see in the audio industry?
Oh wow, so much. We really need to take a good look at ourselves and do a lot better. There should be clearer, more inclusive routes in and more diversity in powerful positions. Production companies should pay more attention to how their staff are treated by talent/clients. Mental health should be a better priority. I'm tired of digital audio workstation based elitism. Accessibility needs to be more of an integral part of productions. I'm sick of seeing privileged people in the industry rolling over for any problematic presenter once the right amount of money is waved in their face. I could complain a lot but I feel the audience of this newsletter knows these things already!
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Thanks very much to my guest for sharing her experiences.