editor

3Play Media

How much you make and how often you work is up to you, so it comes down to what kind of person you are. It's a great side gig for a partnered person in need of part-time income to supplement the breadwinner's, or a single person, if it's cheap for you to live. There is no phone contact whatsoever, even after a considerable period of being a contractor. It's great if you have a life outside of work, need flexibility, and don't need to work full time. If you are hoping to become a part of an inclusive work-type culture where you will find personal fulfillment or a community to engage with, forget it.

It's nothing personal, I'm sure, so don't take it that way. The work can be really interesting, and it feels great to include the long-marginalized community that benefit from captions. It's rewarding and you feel like you are contributing to society. Some days you make great money an hour, you get a good file, a movie or a funny show, the work is easy and you roll out $200 in no time. Some of their employees will be friendly on the message board, but most of them don't (I'm guessing) have any time to talk. Sometimes if you exceed their algorithm for length of time worked on a file they will bump up your rate without your asking, and usually you get paid well. 

Sweet. 

Other (though more rare) days the software is inaccurate, the sound quality is bad, you may struggle for a long time on one short low-paying file, have poor sound quality or no slides, you get an audit that you don't agree with but have no one to speak to about it in a conversational tone, so it can seem a bit mechanical and cold. And although most days they are more than fair about it, you might even be turned down for a rate increase if their algorithm that they tell you is "too complicated to explain" decides your work didn't add up to "worth the increase" in their arbitrary equation, or if you start asking for a lot of rate increases because of software inconsistencies. On a bad rare occasion you might have made $4.50 for a half hour. I mean, that is, except for the 30 second breaks you took here or there, which are unpaid. 

It's a dog-eat-dog world out there, you got to hustle to get by, and I've heard of worse ones than 3Play offers. I would say they're probably good people and for the most part I love being a freelance unattached contractor. But point blank, it is 100% up to you to work on your own schedule to meet their deadlines. They don't want to know you. They don't try to chat or get friendly and really, they can't because you are a contractor to them only, one of hundreds whom they will never meet. Captions are not going to make you rich, it's a part-time side gig type of situation. Great if you don't want a boss breathing down your neck, but they are legally allowed to be watching you work in their proprietary software from their observation software and not tell you. So if that makes you uncomfortable, that's a thing. And it's 1099 so either you're that type of person or not.

They won't message you before they cut the amount of work you can take if you had an off week and struggled to get things in on time. Bad for me because I'm an abused woman with no support system trying to get out, and now I have no co-worker to try to room with to change my life, and they just suddenly, with no notice, because I've been struggling to meet deadlines bc of my situation, cut the amount of work I can take to sustain myself. Which is not their fault, per se, at all, given that I did struggle and didn't reach out to them, it's just to give you a point of view of potential struggles if that's your situation. They like to know ahead of time if you're going to be late on something or they will cut your stuff. But if you're a gig worker you already know how it is. You only get paid the minutes you are typing nonstop, every tiny break you take is unpaid. So if you're really driven and you don't have carpal tunnel, you're gonna be ballin but...

If you need a full-time job, health insurance, benefits, maternity leave, a social life through your workplace, a culture to call your own, are the type to work better on someone else's clock than your own or think you can do this with your kids in the house, this one is not for you. The work can be quite sedentary and demanding physically due to eye strain and wrist muscle use repetition. Phone calls may not be returned if you leave a message in their Boston office, that's how little they want to talk to you, which is not really meant as a criticism, just an insight. 

Overall, I love 3Play. I recommend them to a lot of people. I agree with their mission statement and am grateful for such an easy way to support myself. You can make a lot of money if you get fast at using their software, although I wish I felt more like a person to them than a number in an automated system. Anymore though, it's enough just to have a job and I am grateful to them for that. 

I'll put it this way. I like it enough to say good things about them and stay on freelance, even though I know enough about the gig and company to complain and leave if I chose to. 

I don't know what it's like to work in their office but it seems nice.

Extremely flexible work, great for supplementing income for another job, or if more standard means of employment don't fit into your life currently (caretaking for a relative, frequently relocating, etc).

Fully remote position -- the only contact I ever had with the people over my head was when I asked them questions, or when the review team graded occasionally graded my transcripts. They provide no equipment, but all you need is a computer, a stable internet connection for streaming, and a pair of headphones (even earbuds will work in a pinch). This was great for me, because I prefer to work alone, but it did sometimes cause difficulties--for example, the team that answers questions may not be able to get back to you before your file is due, so sometimes you have to wing it and hope for the best. 

This may have changed in the time since I worked there, but there was no "interview," per se--I just applied online on their website by filling in some basic resume questions and then I completed a short test transcription for them to review. Heads up: if you find the test file difficult, this is not the job for you. You need a strong mastery of English (or Spanish), and not just in spelling and grammar; the better your vocabulary, and the greater your familiarity with different accents, the easier time you'll have with puzzling out what someone might be saying. Any specialization you might have in a particular field could potentially be a bonus in this regard, too. Are you a sports fan? This may not be true any longer, but when I was working, sports-related files were the last to be picked up, every single time.

The hardest part of the job isn't even transcribing hard files. It's figuring out how hard is TOO hard, and more importantly, figuring that out with enough time to give the job back up to the market so that someone else can finish it. On the other hand, the easiest part is when you're able to snag files that interest you and cater to your skillset, so you can finish them faster and get more money. Also, when you're able to pick up movies or TV show installments, getting to watch the entire film or episode while you're transcribing it is a fun perk.

I would have continued working for 3Play Media longer, but when I was with them they were my only source of income, and a period of time came where the files on the market dried right up for long enough that I had to seek additional employment. By the time I was settled into my new job enough that I would have been interested in continuing my transcription work with them, I had unfortunately been terminated due to inactivity. I don't know if that disqualifies me temporarily or permanently from working with them again in the future.

Overall, not a job for everyone, but a great job for the people it suits. You get out what you put into it.

3Play Media is the type of job where you get out exactly what you put in. The position I'm currently in, that of transcript editor, involves taking contracts from a marketplace available to all editors, allowing you to choose not only the time spent doing transcripts, but very often also the types of transcripts that you might prefer as well.

3Play's market usually has plenty of work available for its contractors, with a slow period in the later part of the year. Since the position is fully remote, you will not have any in-person interactions with management or your fellow transcript editors, Quality Assurance agents, and Auditors, but the company is very responsive to all online communications in my own experience. They do not provide equipment to work remotely, but the technical requirements are not at all unreasonable; you will easily be able to do remote work for 3Play with a stable internet connection (important!) and PC/laptop/etc that can connect to the internet and stream video and audio.

If there's a downside, it might be that the determination for the rate that one gets paid to edit a transcript can be hit or miss sometimes. I've worked on some files that probably should have been rated higher, but this is rare. 

In truth, the pay is the biggest limiting factor of this job, as to reach the maximum earning potential that this job offers, you must both learn how to most efficiently use the editing software provided by 3Play Media and also take the most challenging files, which will lead to frustration for newer editors. There are, of course, easier files, but they are also less lucrative, obviously. 

Correctly transcribing a file requires continuous attention, an eye for detail, and an excellent command of the English language, so it's definitely not a job that allows you to check out mentally in any way, even if you find the subject matter dry or even incomprehensible (as can happen in highly technical files or files with lots and lots of boring information included).

Finally, as I mentioned earlier, 3Play Media has their transcript editors on a contract basis, so there's no benefits or anything like you'd get with wage employment, but if you want to truly set your own schedule and be able to work from home from almost anywhere in the USA, I think it's a good opportunity, and has certainly helped me in a time when I needed just such a thing in the wake of losing my original employment due to COVID shutdowns. I would describe my overall experience as positive and recommend them as an employer for someone able to set and keep their own deadlines and who also wants the flexibility and freedom of a truly remote work position.



This is my current and only employer right now as I struggle to find a full-time job, preferably with health insurance, in my new home town.

I have been with 3Play just under a year, although I took 3 months off to move. My job is: Listen to audio (and in some cases view a video); update computer-generated text file to exactly match audio using correct grammar and spelling. This is mostly done from my home (not Cambridge MA) at my discretion with all human contact in writing.

The initial "audition" is meant to weed out anyone whose editing, grammar, punctuation and spelling skills are anything less than exceptional. I didn't hear anything for several months after first applying on their web site.

Once I got in the door, I have found them to be fantastic people to work for. They truly care about each and every employee, despite the fact that we are scattered all over the country and have never met the staff face-to-face in most cases.

The initial and subsequent phone conversations with management were friendly and helpful. The training online is excellent, and the coaching tips and audits provide lots of great feedback and suggestions on an ongoing basis as things change.

Pay is by the job so it varies a lot depending on your skill and speed at a particular type of file. It also varies depending on the availability of work on their online "Market" at any given time.

Working from home requires a great deal of discipline in personal time management. I select my own jobs to work from the Market, but each has a pre-set deadline, and I work very hard to meet each deadline. The good news is that the staff is very flexible on extensions, especially after you prove your skill to them.

I have been working for 3Play for the past 6 or so years. I have seen it develop from barely having jobs to choose from to always having plenty to choose from and keep busy with. 3Play also used to offer very good compensation for their audio and video files, but it seems as of this past year or so that has declined and the compensation often is not even worth the time required to complete the jobs.

Communication with the company is sporadic and unreliable. For example, they will advertise training for new opportunities, such as saying it will start in April, and then nothing will happen in April with no further response from the company regarding the training. If you inquire about it, most of the time you will not even receive a response. 

Certain metrics are unclear or non-existant. For standard transcription, you occasionally get audited to ensure quality. and the guidelines are clear as to what you are graded on and the numbers you're trying to achieve. However, for video description, there is no auditing system and it can be determined at random that you have your access to those types of jobs revoked without notice (though policy states you should be given a warning and several weeks to improve). 

There is a lot of flexibility in types of transcription when jobs are on the market. You can choose from a variety of topics to include college lectures, TV shows, sports, and many others. You also have the flexibility to choose which jobs you want to work on and can preview the files beforehand to determine if it's one you'd like to claim. They also stagger the workload so that no matter what time zone you are in or what time of day you work, there will be jobs available for you. 

Market is often very slow. Company has selfishly overhired and continues to do so, making it difficult for everyone to claim jobs. So you waste a lot of time just refreshing the screen trying to find work. When market is busy, it is usually due to sports files.

Don't believe the $30/hour hype. They keep cutting rates. Difficult files that used to pay well are frequently paid at low rates now, which means your hourly rate drops significantly, often right around minimum wage. Higher pay is usually reserved for files due immediately or those with impossible audio and/or accents.

Difficult files are often underpriced, but requests for "adjustments" after the fact are tiny and not worth the hassle, and they are often rejected anyway. So too bad for you, since you've already done the work. =>Why not price them properly to begin with?<= Funny how you will rarely ever find an easy, overpriced file.

No benefits. Only their local staff gets the great pay, benefits, and perks. Lowly independent contractors are treated like second-class citizens, yet they are the ones who keep their business going.

Taxes are much higher as an independent contractor.

In a nutshell: They used to stand out as a company that paid well, but no more. Now they're just as bad as the rest. Don't rely on this as your sole full-time income unless you have a lot of savings to count on because you will be setting yourself up for a lot of stress and financial worry. It will be equal to any other minimum wage job, only you'll do it from home, it won't be consistent, and you will have no benefits or chance for advancement.

I have been working at 3Play for a number of years. At first, it was a great place to work. There was work available, except for slow times during the holidays. But these were expected, so we could plan for them. Pay was good, overall, and management was also more communicative.

Over the years, things have changed progressively - and not in a good way. They slashed the rates, some of which are unfair for the amount of work required. They often deny paybumps that you have to beg for after you complete all the work, which means that you have done extra work for free. Weeks go by where it's nearly impossible to claim jobs because they've overhired contractors, and everyone is competing for the small number of jobs available. 

Often, you spend more time trying to claim jobs rather than actually working and earning money. And management doesn't communicate with us to let us know what's happening. It's extremely frustrating and, in my opinion, disrespectful, as we should be informed of why things are so bad, and whether it's expected to improve. 

I believe management treats their independent contractors poorly but their local employees very well. They are the ones who get paid great salaries, receive all kinds of benefits and perks, and we get nothing but low pay and lack of communication for keeping their business going. After they acquired Captionmax in 2/2022, they acted like so many great things were coming. But it was just the opposite, and they don't even address the topic. How convenient. They need a complete management overhaul.


3Play appears to be a great place to work - flexible work-from-home schedule, weekly paychecks, minimal day-to-day communication, the ability to transcribe some of your favorite content - until they start to gaslight you. Over the past six months, pay rates for transcript files have nosedived. And this is after they've landed a contract with one of the highest grossing companies in the nation. Yet the prices still continue to fall, with no signs of slowing down. 

What's worse is they manipulate you to no end, whether it's a bait-and-switch pay leverage option, strategic availability of files, an ever-changing pay algorithm that doesn't seem to be based on anything but what the programmer was feeling, continuous radio silence on pay issues, the list goes on. 

They use their prominence as one of the leading transcription companies to toy with you because they can. They already have the clients and a lion's share of the work. You need them; they don't need you.

But if that work is criminally undervalued, it turns in a "every man for himself" Hunger Games of sorts with each contractor pitted against each other in a mad dash to claim whatever they can for the lowest pay rate they can muster to see who can feel the most humiliated, mentally abused, and physically exhausted.

I'm only still here because I boxed myself into a corner and have no relevant experience outside of this line of work. Don't be me. Run for the hills and save your sanity while you still have a chance.

I am grateful for the opportunity to work at 3Play Media.  For me, a stay-at-home mom who had been out of the conventional workforce for 20-plus years, 3Play was the perfect opportunity.  I didn't have anything recent on my resume that I could use to get a decent job, and I needed something that allowed me to earn some income on a flexible schedule, and 3Play was that opportunity.  

A lot of companies look at someone like me and immediately reject me because of my age and gaps on my resume.  Not so at 3Play.  I appreciate that I was hired, not because of my age, ethnicity, gender, etc. I was hired because I have the skills to do the job that they needed.  

In addition, I feel like working at 3Play is a wonderful learning opportunity because many of the videos that I have edited with 3Play have been technology and educational videos.

Last, but not least, after working at 3Play, I got another job as a technical writer, and I know that working at 3Play was an influential factor in my getting that job.  

As it's a remote job, a typical day at work is rather comfortable if you enjoy or prefer working from home. On a good day, there may be several video files available in the web-page's market to transcribe, and I've learned to be quick in adding them to my work queue and get to work on a daily schedule of my own choosing.

The hardest part of the job is either having to transcribe files with unclear audio, or the days where the work market is empty. There are times of the year where there is less work available, which is expected, but can be difficult to get through if it is your main or only source of income.

The most enjoyable aspect of the job, for me, is being able to work while viewing a wide variety of media I might not have seen otherwise. Working in Spanish transcription, I have transcribed anything from telenovelas and soccer highlights, to videos about art exhibits and documentaries.

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