The Association of Independents in Radio (AIR) is proud to introduce the 2025 Rate Guide, a long-awaited essential resource designed to empower independent audio professionals with the latest, data-driven insights into fair pay. This comprehensive guide responds to a dramatically transformed media landscape, offering freelancers the tools to advocate for their worth, negotiate confidently, and build sustainable careers.

“Independent audio professionals have navigated rate negotiations with little transparency for years. This guide is more than a reference, it’s a tool for empowerment,” said Keisha Salmon, Executive Director of AIR. “Freelancers are the backbone of the audio industry, and they deserve clear, data-backed benchmarks to help them secure air pay and sustainable careers.”

The 2025 Rate Guide provides updated benchmarks for producers, sound designers, story editors, fact-checkers, and researchers in the audio industry. It also includes a newly expanded role and responsibilities reference tool, helping freelancers and hiring organizations better define experience levels and roles. The guide is based on a comprehensive research process conducted throughout 2024, including an industry-wide survey and in-depth interviews with freelancers and employers.

Why This Guide Matters Now More Than Ever

Since the last Rate Guide in 2021, the audio industry has undergone rapid shifts, including the explosion of podcasting, new funding models, and increasing demand for high-quality production. Yet, freelancers, the backbone of the industry, have often been left without clear standards for fair compensation. The 2025 Rate Guide fills this gap by providing:

Fresh data on industry pay featuring the latest freelance rates for producers, show runners, sound designers, fact-checkers, and researchers.

A reimagined reference tool for roles helping freelancers and hiring organizations align on experience levels and roles.

A reality check on rates based on survey data and interviews with freelancers and industry employers reveals what professionals are paid.

“The Rate Guide is a vital resource for freelancers trying to establish their rate and for organizations creating budgets. It is also AIR’s most visited resource,” said Erin McGregor, Program Manager at AIR, who leads the rate guide research. “The Rate Guide is intended to help freelancers understand how to think about and understand their rates.”

Breaking Down the Research

The 2025 Rate Guide was developed by AIR’s Rate Guide Committee, led by McGregor and AIR Board members Mia Lobel, Will Coley, and Rob Byers. The guide categorizes freelance rates into four key areas:

Producer Rates

Story Editing & Research Rates

Fact-Checking & Research Rates

Mixing, Engineering, Sound Design & Music Composition Rates.

The research behind the 2025 Rate Guide was extensive. In 2024, AIR conducted a two-phase process:

An industry-wide survey collecting direct rate data from freelancers across roles.

Deep-dive interview speaking with over 50 freelancers and hiring organizations to understand rate-setting practices and pay expectations.

More Than A Guide: A Movement For Fair Pay

 AIR is reinforcing the release of the 2025 Rate Guide with a series of hands-on-events, equipping freelancers with the tools they need to advocate for better pay:

Panel: Guide to Fair Pay In Audio: What Freelancers Need to Know (March 6th)

Panel: Setting Project-Based Rates (March 27th)

Workshop: How to Track Your Rates (April 17th)