Although the media landscape is constantly evolving, some things remain unchanged. People consume content in various ways from multiple sources and in diverse forms. However, they all still rely on one fundamental element to attract and engage their audience: text. You need a solid media transcription services partner to convert video and audio sources to text accurately and on time.
At Preferred Transcriptions, our success is based on our ability to change. Yesterday, we assisted clients in creating accurate transcripts for TV shows, movies, and radio broadcasts. Today, those formats are joined by TikTok videos, Instagram Reels, podcasts, YouTube channels, and more. And tomorrow? Preferred Transcriptions will be here to provide media transcription services for those new formats as well.
Contact Preferred Transcriptions for the fast, accurate media transcription that media professionals have relied upon for years.
Table of Contents
- How Do I Send My Audio or Video for Fast Media Transcription?
- What is Media Transcription?
- Benefits of Media Transcription
- Explosion of Media Companies and Solo Content Creators
- Why Preferred Transcriptions?
- Types of Media Transcription
- Podcasts
- Top Reasons to Outsource Podcast Transcription
- FAQs
- Client Success Stories
- Testimonials
- Contact Preferred Transcriptions
How Do I Send My Audio or Video for Fast Media Transcription?
At Preferred Transcriptions, we pride ourselves on fast turnaround times for media transcription. We make the submission process fast and easy, too! Simply:
- Set up your account with Preferred by calling us at 888-779-5888 – it takes minutes to set you up.
- Use the link we send you to upload your source audio and video.
- Download your completed audio transcription, video transcription, podcast transcription, or other media transcription within 24-48 hours.
After a quick review by you or your team, your transcription is ready!
Personalized Service to Meet Your Unique Needs
Our clients are as varied and as individual as you are. That’s why we personalize our services to meet your needs. You’ll work with the same transcription team every time so that they get to know your personal preferences. Preferred Transcriptions’ expert media transcriptionists consistently deliver high-quality results to media professionals.
What is Media Transcription?
Media transcription (sometimes referred to as audio transcription and video transcription) converts audio and video sources into text. That text can then be used in various ways to enhance how your listeners and viewers consume your content. This could include subtitles on a Facebook video, a full transcript for people who are hard of hearing, or episode summaries for SEO purposes and to give your listeners and viewers a taste of your content.
Many types of media professionals use media transcription every day, including:
- TikTok, Facebook, and Instagram content creators
- YouTubers
- Video producers and filmmakers
- Podcasters
- TV producers
- Radio producers
- Movie directors and producers
- Documentary filmmakers
- News agencies
- Citizen journalists
- Event managers for video or audio recordings of keynote speeches, conventions, etc.
- Webinar producers
- Academic lecturers
Benefits & Uses of Media Transcription Services
There are many benefits to media transcription. The text generated from your audio and video sources can then be used in a wide variety of ways, including:
- Full episode transcripts
- Closed captioning, including for social media
- Episode excerpts
- Search engine optimization (SEO) to attract more visitors to your website
- Episode summaries
- Research (internal and external)
- Archiving (adding transcripts to the AV sources allows future employees to track down content faster)
- Subtitles for accented speakers
- Translations of your media into other languages
- Improved accessibility for those hard of hearing, as defined under the Americans with Disabilities Act
The media landscape is changing, but accessibility and clarity will always be top priorities. You never know who receives your messages or how your content is consumed, so media companies must cover all the bases. Whether it’s a film, advertisement, or podcast, audio transcription for media offers multiple benefits. A good audio transcription enables businesses to achieve accessibility and inclusivity, enhance the searchability of their content, and attract key clients and customers. A transcript for media lets you double the bang for your buck when integrated with a complete content marketing strategy.
Increase Audience Understanding Through Subtitles
Millions of people around the world have access to the Internet and are part of your potential audience. Any online content or platform aims to help grow its viewer base. Offering multiple forms of media for your video content makes it easier for more people to access it, regardless of their wireless capabilities or connectivity.
It all comes down to getting your message across. Without clarity, your mission to communicate to your audience is hopeless. Subtitles and closed captioning are your key to delivering your message reliably to your current and potential customers.
Subtitles ensure clarity, inclusivity, and accessibility. They enable people with disabilities, such as those with hearing loss, to understand the content without relying solely on text descriptions provided within video files.
Some individuals prefer multiple forms of media for learning and retaining information. This way, if they miss something, they can easily refer back to it in written form. It means not a second of your work is being overlooked, and you can ensure the messages you wish to send are being heard. A video transcript also enables viewers, commenters, fans, and bloggers to quote or share your work with others, thereby expanding your audience.
When transcribing your videos, you enable blind, deaf, and hard-of-hearing populations to access your work. WHO reports that 466 million people worldwide experience disabling hearing loss or complete deafness. This is a considerable audience that can’t access and share your work. Transcribing your videos expands your content beyond the bounds of technological limitations, making it more accessible to users with screen readers, descriptive audio, and other assistive technologies, and increasing its visibility and popularity.
Compliance with Media Accessibility Laws
Millions of people worldwide experience some form of hearing impairment, and many forms of media must comply with anti-discrimination accessibility laws to ensure that people who are hard of hearing have equal access to these resources. Suppose you distribute video content online in the U.S. In that case, you may be subject to the Twenty-First Century Communications and Accessibility Act.
Translate Media Audio to Other Languages
Technology has connected the world in ways we never imagined, allowing businesses to reach wider audiences. Audio transcription for media makes it easy to translate your media content to reach countries around the globe. For example, suppose you have important prospective stakeholders in other countries. In that case, transcription of your media can help you close deals essential for your business’s growth.
Audio transcription for media is not just for your marketing content, either. Any audio or audiovisual content you have, such as meetings, presentations, and webinars, can be transcribed and translated for international meetings.
Improve Searchability and SEO
Audio transcription helps improve search engine optimization (SEO) by ensuring that all relevant keywords appear in top positions for search engines like Google. How? Search engines can’t watch videos, so they rely on text to “crawl” the content and offer relevant search results for users. Including transcripts or closed captioning in your media makes it easier for search engines to index keywords and information, which can improve search engine ranking.
Explosion of Media Companies and Solo Content Creators
The media businesses and content creators’ jobs have dramatically increased in the 21st century. YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook are just a few social media channels that have emerged in the last 20 years. Traditional media, including movies, documentaries, and television, still require the same closed captioning and subtitles they have always had.
In short, the explosion of new media channels, including streaming services like Netflix and social media, gives us access to more audiovisual content than ever. All content can benefit from transcription for closed captioning, subtitles, episode summaries, and more.
At Preferred Transcriptions, you will work with a knowledgeable, efficient, and highly experienced transcriptionist team. Many of our team members have been with us for over a decade, and all are based in the United States. Our video and audio transcription services for the media industry help you streamline your production process and remove some of the workload, whether your media project is large or small. Our media transcriptionists provide fast, reliable, and accurate transcription services for all your project needs.
Why Preferred Transcriptions?
It’s cliché but true: time is money. Production studios, media companies, and content creators cannot afford to spend hours transcribing media content themselves. This is where media transcription services can help.
Preferred Transcriptions’ expert media transcriptionists can save you many hours typing it yourself. Not only are our professional transcriptionists likely faster, but we also have special tools to make listening and typing easier. That means we can provide high-quality media transcription in a fraction of the time it would take you or your team.
With Preferred, you get:
- Fast turnaround of all media transcription
- Highest standards of accuracy, quality, and speed
- Best-in-class customer service
- 100% U.S.-based transcriptionists
- Secure servers
Types of Media Transcription
There are many types of media transcription and uses. Here’s an overview of a few of the more popular ones:
Full Episode Transcripts
This is the most apparent type of media transcription. Essentially, this is a complete transcript of your video or audio production. Usually, this type of transcription is non-verbatim transcription, which means it’s “cleaned up” without all the “ahs” and “ums’ and so on that are a part of everyday conversation. These transcripts can make your content more accessible to people who are hard of hearing, make it easier to find specific passages in the audio/video, and for archiving.
Closed Captioning
We are all familiar with closed captioning. However, it has taken on new meaning in the social media age. For example, about 85% of Facebook videos are watched on mute, which means closed captioning is the only way people know what’s being said in the video. Additionally, adding closed captioning to Facebook videos increases the length of time people will view your video by 12%.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Did you know that search engines like Google cannot fully understand what your video or audio show is about? Google does not “listen to” or “watch” your content like humans do. Instead, search engines rely on text to identify the information and how to list it in search results. Search engine optimization, or SEO, gives search engines like Google a better understanding of what’s happening on a web page, giving you a better chance at higher rankings. Audio transcription and video transcription are the first steps.
Episode Excerpts and Summaries
Content creators often write episode summaries and excerpts for listeners and viewers. Media transcription makes generating episode write-ups easier because you have the full text. Episode excerpts and summaries also help with the SEO efforts mentioned above.
Subtitles
Subtitles are similar to closed captioning, except that they are used for people speaking in a different language or with heavy accents. Media transcription can also help translate your movie into other languages through subtitles or dubbing.
Archiving and Research
Above, we discussed how Google cannot listen to or watch your content. It’s also difficult for humans when they want to find specific information, but don’t know where that information is in their video or audio. Media transcription makes it easier to get that information because you can enter a keyword or two and zap right to the passage. This saves minutes and potentially hours skipping through the source material to find the quote or information you’re looking for.
Podcasts
The podcast movement is exploding. New offerings surface constantly, and scores of new listeners search for engaging and valuable content to enjoy. Whether you are new to the podcasting community or a seasoned voice with an established following, it’s time to up your game by providing your listeners with transcripts of every show. Enlisting a podcast transcription service is a savvy way to expand your audience while enjoying a strong return on investment.
The Friends and Family Effect
Podcast transcripts level up user engagement in a variety of ways. For starters, consider how often you listen to a podcast on your commute to work and hear something put just the right way, in words you wish you could email to a friend or tweet out to your social network with a link to the episode, or remember to tell your partner later in the evening. Transcripts make it all the more likely that your podcast’s rich, engaging content will make its way into the world, whether by word of mouth or via social media. The simple commitment to providing transcripts enables your listeners to become brand ambassadors, expanding your audience quickly and effectively.
Better Search Results
Investing in a podcast transcription service will also expand your audience in more technical ways. When you transcribe an episode, the content becomes searchable, making it much easier for users to perform a quick Internet search and find not only what they were looking for–text from your podcast–but a treasure trove of content on your website. More users plus more visits to your website equals stronger SEO with every click.
Providing transcripts also boosts SEO by increasing the likelihood that your podcast will show up in search results for key terms and phrases that relate to your content, drawing new users with no additional effort on your part.
Accessibility
The benefits of podcast transcription don’t end with social media shares and stronger SEO. The most crucial way podcast transcripts expand your audience has more to do with your priorities than your reputation: they make your work more accessible to all people. Transcripts enable individuals who are d/Deaf or hard of hearing and non-native speakers of your language to share in the enjoyment and learning that the podcast medium offers. Including a transcript makes everyone feel more welcome in, your work, meaning your audience will grow in meaningful ways.
Top Reasons to Outsource Podcast Transcription
Podcast consumption remains steady as audio content appeals to everyone, from commuters to gym-goers. However, podcast content is not always consumed through headphones or earbuds. Many podcast creators now offer content in an article or blog to better serve their audience. Text versions of podcasts can also improve your website’s SEO and make your content accessible to those with hearing difficulties. Regardless of audience preference, creating transcriptions for your podcasts is a good practice for any creator who wants to repurpose audio content across various platforms, including social media. This is where some creators may wish to outsource podcast transcription.
Typing out every word of a podcast episode is not attractive for many podcasters who may be otherwise preoccupied with creating additional content, running a business, or working at their day job. If a podcaster outsources a podcast transcription, they gain many benefits of an accurate text format while alleviating the burden of this time-consuming task.
Let’s explore some of the specific benefits of outsourcing podcast transcription.
Meeting Deadlines for Publishing Podcasts
When you commit resources to producing a podcast, you will not just record one or two episodes. Podcast episodes must be regularly and consistently published to gain traction with audiences. Podcast transcriptions have become more accessible as technology has progressed. Yet, at the same time, high-quality podcast production isn’t necessarily simple, from editing clips to fine-tuning audio quality. Adding podcast transcription to the list of production tasks will only slow down the process even more.
To meet your podcast publishing deadlines without sacrificing production quality, consider outsourcing your podcast transcription needs. Reliable transcription services like Preferred Transcriptions offer a turnaround time of 24 hours for most projects, helping to ensure that you’ll never miss a publishing deadline.
Ensuring Accuracy in Podcast Transcriptions
Timeliness and accuracy go hand-in-hand when developing a podcast transcription that can be repurposed. If you rush to finish a podcast transcription in time for your deadline, you are more likely to get distracted by other tasks and make mistakes. This can be costly when accurately conveying important information, including interviewee and company names, in your transcript.
When you outsource podcast transcription services, you gain access to a team of professionals dedicated to accurately and efficiently handling the transcription. At Preferred Transcriptions, we work with you to understand your goals and take time to learn your business, voice, vocal habits, and any key terminology that may appear in your transcriptions. Unlike an artificial intelligence transcription tool, our U.S.-based transcriptionists will take time to organize and format your podcast transcription according to your needs. A more personalized experience for content creation helps ensure that podcast transcriptions are completed with the highest level of accuracy.
Save Money with Podcast Transcription Services
Suppose you operate a business with employees or subcontractors and are trying to find a solution for creating podcast transcriptions. In that case, consider hiring a dedicated employee to handle the administrative work. Hiring in-house, however, can be a significant financial burden for your operation and carries a certain level of risk if you are new to the podcasting platform. At the same time, you may not have room for more responsibilities and may be unable to send more work to current employees or subcontractors.
You can outsource the podcast transcription workload to avoid increased overhead costs and paying another salary. Remember that you can always revisit hiring a dedicated podcast team if your audience grows and the return on investment is worth it.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the turnaround time for media transcription services?
Preferred Transcriptions delivers fast turnaround times for transcriptions, usually 24-48 hours, depending on factors such as the number of audio/video files you upload at one time. However, rush transcription jobs are rarely a problem for media transcription. Just let us know (888-779-5888), and we’ll get it back to you as soon as possible!
Are there any specific formatting requirements for media transcriptions?
Our professional transcriptionists at Preferred Transcriptions can return your transcripts in any necessary format. We can also provide specialized formatting, including time stamping and verbatim transcription.
Do you usually assign a project manager we can contact for questions or problems?
We pride ourselves on providing outstanding customer service! Feel free to contact us anytime at 888-779-5888 or info@preferredtranscriptions.com, and one of our client service managers will get back to you ASAP. There are no automated phone services or “customer service representatives”—unless we’re on the line with another client, we will answer your call. (Try calling us right now to see for yourself!)
How do you ensure that our media files, including audio, video, and transcripts, will be kept confidential?
Preferred Transcriptions follows the same HIPAA-compliant policies for managing your sensitive data as with all our medical transcription clients. That means:
- We use secure servers to upload audio files and transfer transcripts.
- All transcriptionists use locked computers.
- Once the completed job is uploaded to the server, data, including audio files and transcripts, is immediately deleted from computers.
- U.S.-based transcriptionists complete all transcription work. We do not send your confidential data overseas, where our laws do not apply.
- Most of our professional transcriptionists have been with us for years, and new transcriptionists are closely vetted.
How accurate is your media transcription service?
Officially, we maintain an industry-standard accuracy rate of 98% for all transcription, which is typically higher in practice. We employ only native-English-speaking, U.S.-based human transcriptionists (no AI), which reduces errors related to language, accents, culture, and understanding of American references, as well as other mistakes that offshore transcription services, AI, or automated transcription systems regularly make. For our clients, this means less time reviewing and correcting transcriptions and more time focusing on the work they were trained to do.
What types of media recordings can you transcribe?
Preferred Transcriptions can transcribe any audio or video recording, including:
- YouTube videos
- Podcasts
- TV shows
- Radio shows
- Newscasts
- Movies and shorts
- Documentary films
Our professional media transcriptionists can transcribe any recorded event.
Can you transcribe media recordings with multiple speakers?
Yes, multiple speakers are not a problem for us to transcribe in audio or video recordings. Our transcriptionists are trained in various speaker tracking techniques to ensure accurate transcripts.
What type of digital files can you transcribe for audio file transcription and video transcription?
Preferred Transcriptions can transcribe most types of digital files (audio and video), including:
- MOV
- MP3
- MP4
- MPEG
- MPEG-4 Audio
- WAV
- WMA
- WMV
If you have any questions about your file format, contact us at info@preferredtranscriptions.com or 888-779-5888.
Client Success Stories
Preferred Transcriptions has helped many clients through extraordinary situations. Here are a couple of success stories that will give you an idea of how we go the extra mile to help our media clients.
Schedule Bump Means Scramble for Closed Captioning
In the fast-paced, ever-moving world of media, anything can happen. One of our media transcription clients comes to us regularly to close caption a TV show. The production schedule is fairly regular, and we can turn around the transcription well ahead of schedule.
Of course, things change quickly in the industry. One day, he called us frantically. The schedule had changed, and an episode that was supposed to air later was airing tomorrow. Would we be able to accommodate the rush job?
The answer, of course, was yes. We paused the episode we were working on and shifted to this new one, ensuring the closed captioning was sent to him in plenty of time. He was overjoyed that we could get it done quickly, so the schedule wasn’t disrupted.
Podcaster Expected Confidentiality for Sensitive Material – and We Gave It to Him
Another of our clients was a podcaster. However, he wasn’t your average podcaster. He drew a huge audience, not to mention high-profile guests. Fast turnaround was the norm for him, as he wanted to get his podcast episodes live soon after taping.
The other main reason he came to Preferred Transcriptions was that he knew he could trust us. At issue was the fact that we needed to produce the transcripts before the episode aired. Any leaks about who the guests were or what they were talking about would be detrimental to the podcaster’s show. Confidentiality was crucial, and we never let him down.
That podcaster was a great client but sadly has left us… because he went on a position at a national news show. It’s surprising how many success stories there are like that among our clients!
Testimonials
If you ask our clients, “What’s the best media transcription company?” They would say, “Preferred Transcriptions.” Here are some kind words from our clients across all industries. But why not contact us and find out firsthand? We’ll show you how we can streamline your media transcription.
“Our company uses Preferred Transcriptions daily. They have accommodated all of our needs. I receive all of my reports in a 24-hour timeframe. They also type dictated reports and I receive them the same day which is an asset. I would highly recommend this company to anyone.”
— MRI Facility, Philadelphia, PA
“We are consistently pleased with the quality and timeliness of our transcribed reports. Preferred Transcriptions is extremely flexible to meet our individual and changing needs and their customer satisfaction is fantastic. Their services are highly recommended.”
— HIMS Director
“If I ever need anything stat, within hours it’s there. All the people there are a pleasure to interact with. I receive everything within 24-48 hours after it has been dictated….”
— Cardiology Group, Philadelphia, PA
“Our surgical center has been very pleased with Preferred Transcriptions personnel and services. … The personnel are extremely accommodating, friendly and courteous. I highly recommend this company.
— Surgery Center, Lancaster County
Contact Preferred Transcriptions
Contact Preferred Transcriptions to ask a question or set up an account. We can usually get started on your media transcription project the same day.