diff --git a/transcribe.py b/transcribe.py
index 748a80c..622feb3 100644
--- a/transcribe.py
+++ b/transcribe.py
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ from user.models import User
 
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
+TARGET_LENGTH = getattr(settings, 'TRANSCRIBE_TARGET_LENGTH', 200)
 
 def prepare_annotations(result, join_sentences=False):
     if join_sentences:
@@ -37,7 +38,7 @@ def prepare_annotations(result, join_sentences=False):
     return annotations
 
 
-def prepare_joint_annotations(result, target_length=200):
+def prepare_joint_annotations(result, target_length=TARGET_LENGTH):
     abbrevs = ["Mr.", "Mrs.", "Dr."]
     ignore = []
     phrase_sounds = []