Transcribe long recordings made in GarageBand export the song, not the project.
To transcribe a long GarageBand recording, export it as an MP3 or AAC file and upload that file here; a 2.5-hour podcast episode comes back as text in about 5 minutes. The first 20 minutes are free, and the $6 pack of 500 minutes holds three episodes of that length with 50 minutes left.
From the timeline to text
A .band project will not upload, but its export goes up in one piece.
Make a file from the project
A GarageBand project holds tracks, regions and settings, which is why it cannot be transcribed directly. On a Mac, Share, then Export Song to Disk, writes one mixed file; choose MP3 or AAC there. Save it somewhere easy to find, such as the desktop, then drop it on this page.
Pick a small format
A 128 kbps MP3 is about 58 MB per hour, so 2.5 hours is roughly 144 MB. A 16-bit, 44.1 kHz WAV of the same episode is about 1.6 GB, since uncompressed stereo runs near 635 MB an hour. Speech transcribes the same from either, so the MP3 is the quicker upload.
Episodes against packs
A 150-minute episode uses 150 of the $6 pack's 500 minutes, so three episodes fit with 50 to spare. A weekly show of that length is 600 minutes a month, which belongs on the $12 pack of 2,000 minutes at $0.36 an audio hour.
Show notes write themselves
You get a brief with the thesis and takeaways, chapters with timestamps for the episode description, and the names, numbers and dates your guests mentioned. Guests are named in the summary, key quotes and chapters, and upload page is where you start.
Long GarageBand episodes elsewhere
Hobby tools run out long before a two-hour conversation does.
✗ What slows a long episode down
File limits, time limits and a project file nothing reads.
- Trying to upload the .band project
- The OpenAI Whisper API stopping at 25 MB
- Free tiers that end after half an hour
- Cutting the episode into separate parts
- Chapter times worked out by ear
- Show notes typed from scratch
✓ With the exported song
One mixed file in, the full episode out.
- MP3 or AAC straight from Share
- Text about 5 minutes after upload
- Every episode under 10 hours in one file
- Chapter times for the episode page
- Guests named in the summary
- Three episodes on the $6 pack
Sample
A long podcast episode made in GarageBand.
An illustrative sample invented for this page; no real show or guest is quoted. Timestamps show a 2.5-hour episode.
Export
One transcript. Five clean formats.
Every pack exports all five — no format is held back for a higher tier.
Plain text
De-ummed paragraphs. Ready to paste.
SRT captions
Timed to the speech. Every video editor reads this.
WebVTT
HTML5 player + YouTube uploads.
Show notes
Formatted with chapters and pull-quotes.
Machine-readable
Timestamped text for your own tools.
Pricing
Honest pricing, no surprises.
A pack from $6 (500 minutes) opens the full transcript. After that, no subscription and no auto-renew — every tier is a one-time minute pack, and credits never expire. Buy once, use the minutes whenever you need them.
Casual pack
$6/500 min
8 hours of audio — $0.72 an hour. One-time — credits never expire.
- 500 minutes of audio
- All export formats
- Unlimited AI chat per transcript
- Executive summary & key quote
Best value
$12/2,000 min
33 hours of audio — $0.36 an hour. Credits never expire.
- 2,000 minutes of audio
- Priority queue
- All export formats
- Unlimited AI chat per transcript
Bulk pack
$24/5,000 min
83 hours of audio — $0.29 an hour. Credits never expire.
- 5,000 minutes of audio
- Priority queue
- API access for batch pipelines
- All export formats
FAQ
GarageBand recordings, the common questions.
How long does a 2.5-hour GarageBand episode take?
About 5 minutes, since processing runs near 2 minutes per hour of audio. The proof page shows a 4.94-hour file finished in 372 seconds.
What will the episode cost?
New visitors get the first 20 minutes of an episode free. A 150-minute episode is covered by the $6 pack of 500 minutes, which holds three of them. A month of weekly episodes fits the $12 pack, and credits never expire.
Why will my GarageBand project not upload?
The project is a package of tracks and settings, not audio. Export it with Share, then Export Song to Disk, and upload the MP3, AAC or WAV that comes out.
Should I split a very long recording?
Only when it passes 10 hours or 5 GB. A long episode or lecture under that goes up whole and keeps one set of timestamps. On iPhone or iPad, check the share options for an audio export.
What languages does it hear?
99 languages, picked up automatically, so a guest who answers in their first language is transcribed in it. An interview in Tagalog, Korean or Swedish needs no setting.
Which exports do I get, and is my episode private?
Each episode exports as TXT, DOCX, SRT, VTT and JSON, so the SRT can go to your video version on the same day. Your audio is transcribed on our own servers and never used for training, and you can delete it with its text at any time.
Related
Other recording software and long files
Export the episode, drop it here. Its first 20 minutes cost you nothing.
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