Note that dubbing may occur at many places in the post-production process.
Foreign-language films and videos are often dubbed into the local language of their target markets to increase their popularity with the local audience by making it more accessible. Because of the many differences between various languages, especially those which come from different language families, dubbing can often result in the actors' mouths being out of sync with the voice that has been dubbed over it.
Subtitles may be used instead. Different countries have different traditions regarding the choice between dubbing and subtitling. Also people have individual preferences. For small markets (small language area or films for a select audience) subtitling is more suitable because it is cheaper. For films for small children, who can not yet read, or not yet very fast, dubbing is necessary.
On special occasions such as film festivals, a third possibility may be applied: live translation.
In music recording, dubbing is where one recording is recorded over, so that the new recording replaces the old entirely.