Instead of being pronounced with an enthusiastic oomph, the word ‘transcription’ is more-often-than-not sighed in newsrooms and media companies across the land. In a very diverse and rewarding industry, transcription can be a bit of a bore.
Most journalists, editors and producers who dread the play, pause, repeat of transcription will pass on their recordings to junior staff or their office interns. Others, however, will bite the bullet and do it themselves (which is a nightmarish prospect for those who hate the sound and hesitations of their own voice).
But if you’ve got nobody in the office left to lean on, who will you call on to get started on that blasted transcription?
Hiring somebody else to transform recordings into readable, quotable text can save creative companies and professionals a lot of time and effort. That’s precisely why professional multimedia companies offer their services to freelancers, production companies and individual businesses alike.
Creative professionals do what they do because it’s varied and exciting. Ultimately, theirs is a world where no two days are the same – and in this world of seemingly unlimited opportunity, the burden of transcription can really weigh them down.
Taxing, tedious, time-consuming transcription
In our day-to-day lives, we tend to prioritise the little things which make us happy over the chores which leave us blue. Through outsourcing the tasks they haven’t got much time for, creatives can dedicate themselves to what they do best.
In our eyes, strong and uncanny parallels exist between the laborious task of transcription and certain defensive responsibilities on the football pitch.
Take the 2018 World Cup, for example. When future historians look back at France’s victorious campaign, they’ll concentrate on the likely lads of the current les bleus team: Paul Pogba, Antoine Griezmann and Kylian Mbappé. But these superstars wouldn’t have been given the freedom to mesmerise us with their particular brand of champagne football were it not for one masterful-but-modest midfielder.
Despite being only 5ft6, N’Golo Kante played a giant’s role in France’s World Cup success. As the sole midfield anchor, he singlehandedly safeguarded that back four – giving his more attack-minded teammates the freedom to express themselves.
The French manager, Didier Deschamps, played a very similar role in the team which last won the World Cup for France back in 1998. Anointed ‘the water-carrier’ (a name given to players who are hard-working and competent without being stars) by his former international teammate Eric Cantona, Deschamps performed all the unglamorous tasks on the pitch so the likes of Zinedine Zidane, Youri Djorkaeff and Stéphane Guivarc’h didn’t have to.
In many ways, transcribers are the ‘water-carriers’ of creative industry. Similar to what Deschamps did for Zidane in the late nineties, and what Kante did for Griezmann and Mbappé this summer, multimedia companies offer a simple and effective service which gives creative people the space they need to do what they do best.
At VoiceBox we’re experts in transcribing your audio. Just get in touch to find out how we can help.
Article written by Jonathan Harries, VoiceBox contributor