Rates for translating Japanese audio
Thread poster: Via Rachma
Via Rachma
Via Rachma
Indonesia
Local time: 09:07
English to Indonesian
+ ...
May 9, 2020

Hello. First time posting here so I hope I'm doing this right. Also, please pardon the amount of otaku terminology in this post.

I'm taking translation commissions as a side job. Offers that come to me mostly are to translate doujinshi (self-published works in the form of manga, novel, or even song) or works which aren't popular enough outside Japan that they have no hope to get translated to English.

This time around a client, who used to commissioned me once before, o
... See more
Hello. First time posting here so I hope I'm doing this right. Also, please pardon the amount of otaku terminology in this post.

I'm taking translation commissions as a side job. Offers that come to me mostly are to translate doujinshi (self-published works in the form of manga, novel, or even song) or works which aren't popular enough outside Japan that they have no hope to get translated to English.

This time around a client, who used to commissioned me once before, offered me to translate an about 1-hour long audio drama. While I do have experiences in translating audio dramas, they were for fun purpose and I had never tried to put a price on them. So I browsed online to get references and found some posts from this forum.

Based on what I read, I decided to offer my client a rate of 1 USD per minute which means 60 USD for the whole audio but my client said that it's too expensive and asked to lower the price. So how much do you think I should lower it?
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Mario Cerutti
Mario Cerutti  Identity Verified
Japan
Local time: 11:07
Italian to Japanese
+ ...
Your client must be kidding. May 9, 2020

user_2939782 wrote:
Based on what I read, I decided to offer my client a rate of 1 USD per minute which means 60 USD for the whole audio but my client said that it's too expensive and asked to lower the price.

Even if the Japanese transcription is not required first, that is the client is happy with the written translation only (but I presume you would be required to provide time stamps too), and not knowing in which country he is located and what type of drama you are talking about, I would say that you should charge at least five times more, or even more.[/quote]

So how much do you think I should lower it?

Correct question: "How much do you think I should increase it?"

I don't know Indonesian, but from experience I know that translating Japanese dramas into Italian (my native language) is a tricky job and requires more time than translating from, say, English, for all the reasons you already know. Certainly you can charge even less than 1 USD per video minute if you like, but that doesn't mean that your client's rate expectations are reasonable and in line with the market.

[Edited at 2020-05-10 08:43 GMT]


Dan Lucas
James Hodges
 
James Hodges
James Hodges  Identity Verified
Japan
Local time: 11:07
Japanese to English
Transcriber Here May 10, 2020

I am somebody who does a lot of Japanese-to-English direct transcription. I reckon that at $1 per minute, you are doing yourself a great disservice. I say that because even with specialised software, with a content rich source audio, you would be lucky to get 7 minutes finished in an hour. What is more, after the audio is completed, you will still need to edit the text for consistency. To put it simply, $1 per minute is the equivalent of slave labour. You should not value yourself so cheaply. ... See more
I am somebody who does a lot of Japanese-to-English direct transcription. I reckon that at $1 per minute, you are doing yourself a great disservice. I say that because even with specialised software, with a content rich source audio, you would be lucky to get 7 minutes finished in an hour. What is more, after the audio is completed, you will still need to edit the text for consistency. To put it simply, $1 per minute is the equivalent of slave labour. You should not value yourself so cheaply.


[Edited at 2020-05-10 08:48 GMT]
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Via Rachma
Via Rachma
Indonesia
Local time: 09:07
English to Indonesian
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Thank you for the responses. May 10, 2020

Aliseo Japan wrote:
Certainly you can charge even less than 1 USD per video minute if you like, but that doesn't mean that your client's rate expectations are reasonable and in line with the market.


James Hodges wrote:
To put it simply, $1 per minute is the equivalent of slave labour. You should not value yourself so cheaply.


Yes, I do think the rate is pretty cheap already but maybe it's because we're comparing it with market price for legal works. I tried looking up rate lists for this kind of commission and found someone offering 6 USD per 15-minutes long drama track (so 0.4 USD per minute).

So, it's either I insist on the 1 USD per minute price, lower the price, or turn down the offer. But honestly with the current situation as it is, I would rather not turn down the offer...


 


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Rates for translating Japanese audio







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