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BY COPPER SUN
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•10 min read•BrassTranscripts Team

Bulk Pricing Update: $6 Entry, No Minimum File Count

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BrassTranscripts bulk transcription now starts at 1 file with no minimum charge. Three new entry tiers (1-5, 6-10, 11-15 files) replace the prior 20-file floor and the $90 minimum charge that came with it. The 50-99, 100-249, and 250+ tier prices are unchanged.

This change went live on April 27, 2026. Every existing bulk customer's dashboard now shows the new 7-tier table, and new accounts inherit it automatically. Past purchases are not retroactively repriced.

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What Changed

BrassTranscripts replaced a 4-tier bulk schedule that effectively required 20 files (any batch under 20 hit a $90 floor) with a 7-tier schedule that scales smoothly from 1 file upward at $6.00/file. Every customer either pays the same as before or pays less — nobody pays more under the new schedule.

Previously, a customer with 9 audio files who tried to use the bulk dashboard was billed for 20 files at the lowest available rate (20 × $4.50 = $90), even though they only had 9 recordings. That made bulk unusable for small batches: 9 single-file uploads at $6.00 each cost $54, while bulk cost $90 for the same 9 files. The new schedule fixes that.

Under the new schedule, 9 files cost 9 × $5.00 = $45 (the 6-10 file tier). That's $9 less than 9 single-file uploads and $45 less than the old bulk minimum. The dashboard, the volume calculator, and every checkout flow have been updated to use the new tiers.

The New 7-Tier Schedule

BrassTranscripts bulk pricing now has 7 volume tiers starting at $6.00/file for 1-5 files and dropping to $3.00/file for batches of 250 files or more. Volume discounts kick in automatically based on batch size — no minimum file count, no flat-fee floor, no negotiation required.

Batch Size Price Per File Sample Total
1–5 files $6.00 / file 5 files = $30.00
6–10 files $5.00 / file 10 files = $50.00
11–15 files $4.75 / file 15 files = $71.25
16–49 files $4.50 / file 20 files = $90.00
50–99 files $4.00 / file 50 files = $200.00
100–249 files $3.50 / file 100 files = $350.00
250+ files $3.00 / file 300 files = $900.00

The 20-file boundary still hits exactly $90, which preserves the anchor for anyone who priced larger batches against the old schedule. From 1 to 19 files, totals scale gradually rather than jumping to a flat fee. From 20 files upward, pricing matches what it always was.

Every batch includes automatic speaker identification at no extra cost, plus silent file detection (recordings with no speech are excluded from billing) and duplicate filename warnings. None of those features changed.

Who Benefits Most From This Change

This change is meaningful for customers with batches of 1-19 files — the range that was previously billed at the $90 minimum. A 9-file batch that used to cost $90 now costs $45, a 50% reduction. Customers with batches of 20 or more files see no change in price.

The customers most affected:

  • Small law firms preparing for a single deposition or hearing with 5-15 recordings — previously had to choose between $90 bulk or 5-15 individual single-file uploads, now save with one consolidated bulk batch
  • Independent journalists and researchers with 6-15 interviews per project — bulk now beats single-file from the 6th file onward
  • Podcast producers transcribing 10-15 episodes from a back catalog at once — eligible for the 11-15 tier discount
  • Solo professionals and consultants with occasional batches under 20 files — no longer locked out of the bulk dashboard's batch upload, duplicate detection, and unified download flow

For larger users — 20+ files per batch — the practical impact is administrative. Pricing is unchanged, but the dashboard now shows seven tiers instead of four, and the calculator reflects the no-minimum reality.

When Bulk Now Beats Single-File Pricing

For files 16-120 minutes long (single-file rate: $6.00), bulk pricing matches single-file at 1-5 files and drops below single-file starting at the 6th file ($5.00/file in the 6-10 tier — a 17% discount per file). For shorter files under 15 minutes (single-file rate: $2.50), single-file remains cheaper at small batch sizes, but bulk catches up as batches grow.

Concrete comparisons for 16-120 minute files:

Batch Size Single-File Total Bulk Total Savings
1 file $6.00 $6.00 $0
5 files $30.00 $30.00 $0
6 files $36.00 $30.00 $6.00
10 files $60.00 $50.00 $10.00
15 files $90.00 $71.25 $18.75
20 files $120.00 $90.00 $30.00
50 files $300.00 $200.00 $100.00
100 files $600.00 $350.00 $250.00

For short files (under 15 minutes, charged at $2.50 each in single-file mode), single-file is still cheaper than bulk at every tier — bulk's $6.00 entry rate is the same as the long-file single-file rate, not the short-file rate. If your batch is dominated by short recordings, single-file uploads are the cheaper path. If your batch mixes short and long files, the bulk vs single-file calculator walks through the math.

What Did Not Change

BrassTranscripts kept the 50-99, 100-249, and 250+ tier prices exactly as they were — $4.00, $3.50, and $3.00 per file. Speaker identification, silent file detection, duplicate detection, the 99+ language support, and the 250MB / 2-hour-per-file ceilings are all unchanged. The dashboard URL, the email-based access flow, and the LemonSqueezy checkout are unchanged.

What's the same:

  • Per-file specs: 250MB file size limit, 2-hour duration limit, 11 supported audio/video formats (MP3, MP4, M4A, AAC, WAV, FLAC, OGG, Opus, WebM, MPEG, MPGA)
  • Account file limits: 100 files per account by default, increases to 200 after first payment, then +100 per subsequent payment
  • Speaker labels: Every file in every batch ships with automatic speaker identification at no extra cost
  • Silent and failed files: Excluded from billing automatically — you don't pay for recordings with no detectable speech
  • Duplicate detection: Files with identical names get an amber warning before processing starts
  • Concurrent processing: All files in a batch process simultaneously, not sequentially
  • Output format: TXT files with speaker labels (configurable to standard or fully timestamped at project setup)
  • Retention: Transcripts available for download for 10 days after payment

The single-file service ($2.50 for 1-15 minutes, $6.00 for 16-120 minutes) is unchanged. Same uploader, same processing engine, same speaker identification.

Why We Made This Change

We made this change because the 20-file minimum was effectively a barrier to entry that pushed small-batch customers toward 5-15 separate single-file uploads — a worse workflow for them and more transactions to process for us. With no minimum, the bulk dashboard becomes the right tool for any customer with more than one recording, whether they have 3 files or 300.

The 4-tier schedule was inherited from when our bulk service was built for a paralegal with 102 highway construction case recordings. At that scale, the 20-file floor never came up — every real bulk customer had dozens or hundreds of files. As the bulk dashboard became self-service, smaller use cases started showing up: a freelance journalist with 8 interviews from a single trip, a solo lawyer with 12 case recordings, a researcher with 14 focus groups. These customers either signed up for bulk and got billed for files they didn't have, or did 8-14 single-file uploads one at a time.

Neither outcome made sense. The 7-tier schedule covers the entire range from 1 file to 250+ in a single price ladder, with no cliffs and monotone-increasing totals (every additional file adds money to the bill — no scenario where uploading more files costs less). The deepest discounts still go to high-volume customers; the change opens up the lower end without taking anything away from the upper end.

Frequently Asked Questions

What changed about BrassTranscripts bulk pricing?

BrassTranscripts bulk transcription replaced its 4-tier schedule (20-49, 50-99, 100-249, 250+ files) with a 7-tier schedule starting at 1 file. The prior $90 minimum charge for batches under 20 files is gone — every batch is billed per file with automatic volume discounts. The 50-99, 100-249, and 250+ tier prices are unchanged.

Is there a minimum file count for bulk transcription now?

No. Bulk transcription accepts any batch size from 1 file upward with no minimum charge. Pricing scales smoothly from $6.00 per file (1-5 files) down to $3.00 per file (250+ files). The $90 minimum charge that previously applied to batches under 20 files has been eliminated.

When does bulk pricing now beat single-file pricing?

For files 16-120 minutes long, bulk pricing matches single-file pricing at 1-5 files ($6.00 each), then drops below single-file at 6 files ($5.00 each — a 17% discount). For shorter files under 15 minutes (single-file rate $2.50), bulk is more expensive at small batch sizes — single-file remains the better choice for short recordings unless you want a unified dashboard for many files at once.

Do I need to do anything as an existing customer?

No. The new pricing applies automatically to your next checkout. Pricing for any batches you previously paid for is unchanged — past purchases are not retroactively repriced. New tiers are visible on your bulk dashboard and apply to any new uploads.

Can I still negotiate enterprise pricing for very large volumes?

The 250+ tier at $3.00/file is the published rate for high volume. Customers with sustained recurring volume in the thousands of files per month can request a custom rate by contacting support with details about expected monthly volume — custom tiers can be configured per account.

Why was the 20-file minimum removed instead of lowered?

A floor at any number creates a cliff: a 19-file batch and a 20-file batch end up at very different per-file rates. The 7-tier ladder eliminates the cliff entirely by making every additional file move the total in the right direction. Customers shouldn't have to game a threshold to get fair pricing.

If you have a batch of recordings ready to transcribe — whether it's 3 files or 300 — sign up at brasstranscripts.com/bulk/signup and the new tiers apply automatically at checkout. The bulk transcription guide walks through the complete signup-to-download workflow.

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