Transcribe long Internet Archive recordings lectures, radio and oral histories.
A long recording from the Internet Archive transcribes from the MP3 or MP4 you download from the item page, and a 3-hour lecture comes back in about 6 minutes. The first 20 minutes are free, and a collection of 25 interviews at 90 minutes each (2,250 minutes) belongs on the $24 pack of 5,000 minutes.
From the item page to the text
Archived audio is often hours long and has never been written down.
Which file to download
An archive item usually lists several files under its download options, often an MP3 for audio and an MP4 for video. Pick the MP3 when there is one: it is smaller and the speech is the same. When only a large video file is offered, look for an audio file in the same list first, since it uploads much faster. Check the item's licence or rights note before you use the text.
Old recordings, honestly
Tape transfers carry hiss, wow and dropouts, and a radio programme carries music beds. The speech is transcribed; music and sound effects are not. Expect names on poor tapes to need checking against the catalogue entry.
A collection on one pack
Twenty-five oral-history interviews at 90 minutes each are 2,250 minutes. That passes the $12 pack, so the $24 pack of 5,000 minutes fits them with 2,750 minutes left for the next box.
Text a researcher can cite
Every recording returns with chapters and timestamps, the names, places and dates said, and the questions it answers. Quote with a timestamp, search across a collection, and ask the chat where a person or place comes up.
Archive audio elsewhere
Hours of digitised tape sit online with no text beside them.
✗ The usual problem
Listening is the only way in.
- The OpenAI Whisper API accepts no more than 25 MB
- Long items cut into pieces to fit
- Hours of listening to find one name
- Notes with no timestamps to cite
- Interviews nobody has time to index
- Radio programmes known only by title
✓ With a transcript
Every item readable and searchable.
- The MP3 goes up as downloaded
- Roughly 6 minutes per 3-hour item
- 10 hours allowed in one file
- Names and dates pulled out
- Timestamps for every quote
- The opening 20 minutes free
Sample
An archived oral history, as it comes back.
This sample is illustrative, written for this page and not taken from a real archive item. The timestamps follow a 90-minute interview.
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
Internet Archive recordings, the common questions.
How long does a 3-hour recording take to transcribe?
About 6 minutes, at roughly 2 minutes per audio hour. The proof page shows a 9.31-hour file done in 1,033 seconds.
What does a collection cost?
The first 20 minutes are free when you first visit. A single 3-hour lecture uses 180 minutes of the $6 pack of 500. A 2,250-minute oral-history collection belongs on the $24 pack of 5,000.
Can I paste the archive.org link?
Archive item links are not read directly. Download the MP3 or MP4 from the item page and upload it.
How big and how long can one file be?
Up to 5 GB or 10 hours. Until a pack is on the account, uploads stop at 2 GB; bigger files start after one is added. A recording over 10 hours goes in as two files.
The interview is not in English. Does that matter?
No. 99 languages are detected automatically, and a recording that switches language is detected on its main language with the switches handled.
Which formats come back, and is the recording kept?
Exports are TXT, DOCX, SRT, VTT and JSON. Archive recordings you upload are transcribed on our own servers and are never used for training. Only transcribe recordings you have the right to use.
Related
More archive and research recordings
Send the archived recording. Read the first 20 minutes free.
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