Transcription: what to know

What the job involves, what changes the price, and what to ask a pro.

What transcription is

A transcriber converts audio or video recordings of interviews, meetings or lectures into written text. Speaker labels and timestamps are added as you request, so the document is easy to search and quote from.

Signs you need it

  • You have hours of interview recordings and need text to pull quotes and find moments.
  • Meeting minutes are needed, but no one can take notes and still take part in the meeting.
  • You have lecture or training audio you want to turn into study or reference material.
  • Your research team needs a written record of focus groups or oral history sessions.
  • A podcast or video needs a transcript for accessibility or for a written version of the content.
  • You want a searchable record of a long call or a recorded session.

What the pro does

  • Checks the audio quality, the number of speakers and any names or terms that will come up.
  • Types the recording word for word, with a marker for each section that is unclear.
  • Adds speaker labels and timestamps at the intervals you asked for.
  • Checks names, places and technical terms against a list you supply.
  • Returns the transcript in the format you need, such as a document, a text file or a spreadsheet of timestamped lines.

What changes the price

Every job is different, so we do not publish prices. These are the things that move the quote up or down.

  • Length of the recording and the total hours of audio.
  • Audio quality, since background noise, crosstalk and poor microphones take longer.
  • Number of speakers, and whether speaker labels are included.
  • How often timestamps are needed.
  • Technical terms, accents or names that need checking.
  • Turnaround time, including same-day or rush delivery.

What a written quote should spell out

  • The total length of audio to be transcribed.
  • Whether speaker labels and timestamps are included, and how often timestamps appear.
  • The file format of the transcript.
  • How unclear sections are marked.
  • The turnaround date, and whether a check against the audio is included.

Questions to ask before you hire

  • How do you handle crosstalk and background noise?
  • Will you add speaker labels and timestamps, and how often?
  • How do you check the names and technical terms I give you?
  • Will you mark unclear sections, or guess at them?
  • Can you return the transcript in my file format?
  • How do you keep recordings secure while you work on them?

Red flags

  • Returns a transcript with no marking for unclear parts, presented as complete.
  • Changes the speakers' words to make them sound better, rather than typing what was said.
  • Does not ask about names or terms before starting.
  • Cannot say how recordings are stored or deleted after delivery.
  • Promises perfect accuracy for poor-quality audio.

What you can do yourself

You can run a short recording through a free or built-in automatic transcription tool for a rough first draft, then listen back to correct it yourself. Hire a transcriber when the recording is long, when accuracy matters for a record or publication, or when the audio is hard to hear and the automatic version is full of errors.

Licenses and permits

Transcription is not commonly licensed, so a license is usually not required for this work. Check with your state or local licensing agency about business rules that apply to you, and ask the transcriber for a sample transcript from audio like yours as proof of skill.

Transcription questions

How accurate is a transcript?

Accuracy depends on the audio. Clear recordings with one speaker at a time are much easier than noisy ones with overlapping voices. Ask the transcriber how they mark sections they could not hear clearly.

Do I need timestamps?

Only if you will search by time or cite the recording by time. Ask for them at the interval you need, since frequent timestamps add to the work.

Who keeps the audio after the transcript is delivered?

Ask the transcriber to state their storage and deletion practice in writing. If the recording is private, confirm the deletion date before you send it.

Pro reviewers

Pros who offer transcription remotely can improve this guide, like Wikipedia. We check every edit before it goes live. Every approved edit is credited in the edit history and on the pro's profile.

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How it works

  1. 1. Describe the job

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  2. 2. Pick the pros you want

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  3. 3. They reach out

    They contact you the way you chose: phone, email or in-app messages.

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