Wondering how to start a podcast on Spotify? Well, you have landed on the right page. Here we are to give you a deep insight on how to start a podcast on Spotify, why should an artist choose Spotify to start their podcast, how you can reach great audiences through Spotify, how to monetize a podcast on Spotify, how to find, delete, post, listen, subscribe, download, report or promote a podcast on Spotify and much more.
So, let us begin with the basic understanding of how to start a podcast on Spotify. The basic process to start a podcast on Spotify involves three simple steps. They are:
- Sign up on the Spotify for podcasters account
- Submit your RSS feed to the service
- Wait for approval
Once your podcast is approved by Spotify, it is available for the audiences to enjoy and stream. To help you understand better, let us understand all that you need to do to submit a podcast on Spotify.
Give your career as an Artist a True Kickstart by Uploading a Podcast on Spotify.
With the large user interface, Spotify has become a hub for artists to kickstart their careers by reaching millions of people in one go. Not only does the platform provide a fair opportunity for artists and their podcasts to grow, but also it has become a favourite destination for podcast viewers and music lovers. So, if you are an aspiring artist willing to reach millions of people, set yourself up for success by submitting your podcast on one of the most influential podcast streaming platforms, Spotify. To help you navigate your way towards reaching your destination of success, here we bring you a step by step guide on how to get started.
How to Submit a Podcast on Spotify?
Like other podcast directories, Spotify follows a similar process to submit a podcast. Here we bring a step by step guide on how to submit a podcast on Spotify.
- Verify that your podcast meets Spotify’s requirements: The first and foremost thing that needs to be done when you decide to start a podcast on Spotify is to make sure that your podcast meets Spotify’s requirements i.e, the maximum requisite episode length to upload a podcast on Spotify is 200MB. 200MB will be around 83 minutes at 320 kbps and 200 minutes at 128 kbps. Other requirements that you need to qualify include MP3 audio with pirates between 96 to 320 kbps. The cover must be a square ratio in TIFF, JPEG or PNG format in the highest resolution possible.
- Begin with creating an account on Spotify for Podcasters: Once you are ready with your podcast and have made sure that your podcast meets Spotify’s requirements, it is time to create an account on Spotify for podcasters. If you already have one, you may log in using the credentials.
- Get started by agreeing to Spotify’s terms and conditions: Once you have successfully created your account on Spotify for podcasters, it will direct you to a page with the tab ‘Get Started’. As you click on the tab to get started, you will be asked to agree to Spotify’s terms and conditions.
- Enter your RSS feed link: The next step to submit a podcast on Spotify is to enter the RSS feed link of your podcast. To find more about the RSS feed link, read below.
- Verify that you own the content that you’re submitting: For the purpose of verification, Spotify will send an eight-digit code to the email address associated with the RSS feed link of your podcast.
- Additional details: Once you get done with the email address verification, you will need to furnish a few more details about your podcast. The details include the country in which your podcast was recorded, the primary language of your podcast, your podcast hosting provider’s name and the primary as well as three subcategories that your podcast belongs to.
- Review and Submit: The final step is reviewing all the information that you have added, ensuring all of it is correct and finally hitting the submit button. After you submit the podcast, Spotify has officially received your podcast, and their team will review the information furnished by you. Once it gets approval, your podcast will show up on the platform.
What is the Podcast RSS Feed Link on Spotify?
The Podcast RSS feed link on Spotify is a URL that podcast streaming platforms and websites use to disseminate frequently updated information. Using the podcast RSS feed link, the podcast directories display newly added information to the feed without manually updating each platform every time you create and add a new episode to the podcast.
To use and enable the RSS feed link to function correctly, you will be required to fill in precise details regarding the title, description, language, category, artwork and explicit rating. Each platform updates itself using the RSS feed link whenever you create and add a new episode to your podcast.
How to Monetise Podcasts on Spotify?
Spotify introduced a subscription feature to enable users to monetise their podcasts as recently as April 2021. As of now, the feature is available only to select authors in the United States but is soon to spread to other parts of the world. To monetize exclusive content, authors will need to post their podcasts on Anchor, a subsidiary of Spotify, after the authorisation by the platform. Once they upload their episode, users will need to check the option ‘only for subscribers’. The authors can also decide whether they want to monetize all their content by making it exclusive for subscribers or offer a part of their content for free. Podcasters can choose to price between pre-defined amounts of $2.99, $4.99, and $7.99.
How to Block a Podcast on Spotify?
As of now, blocking a podcast on Spotify is not possible. However, numerous users have complained about having to see unnecessary podcast recommendations on their home screens taking up valuable space that could have been allotted to relevant music recommendations. Since podcasts are the major source of Spotify’s income since even premium users get to hear advertisements on podcasts, the company is not keen on enabling a blocking feature for podcasts. After receiving multiple complaints on the community space for forcing podcasts into users’ feeds that are not interested in listening to podcasts, Spotify is considering the option of enabling a blocking option for podcasts.
How to Subscribe to a Podcast on Spotify?
Subscribing to a podcast is referred to as ‘following’ a podcast on Spotify. Once you follow a podcast, it is added to your library and you will be notified every time a new episode is posted on the podcast’s channel. To follow a podcast, the first thing that you need to do is search for the podcast in the search bar. You can click on the “show all podcasts” if the podcast you are trying to follow does not appear in the initial search results. Once you reach your desired podcast tap on it to see all episodes and read more about it. Once you enter the channel, you will have an option to ‘follow’ the podcast tapping on which will instantly change the sign to ‘following’ from ‘follow’. Once followed, the podcast gets added to your library making it easy for you to access it.
How to Download a Podcast on Spotify?
Spotify podcasts can be downloaded only by Spotify Premium users only on the android and iOS platforms. Downloaded podcasts remain in the application and can be accessed while being offline. To download a podcast all you need to do is go to your library, to go podcasts and choose the podcast that you want to download an episode from. Once you enter the podcast, scroll down to the episode you want to download and tap on the downward arrow sign. As the podcast starts to download, you’ll be able to see the progress around the arrow sign. The download is complete once the arrow turns green. You can access your downloaded podcasts while being offline by going to your library, then to podcasts and clicking the ‘downloads’ option.
How to Report a Podcast on Spotify?
Spotify, as one of the largest music and podcast streaming platforms, ensures that no infringing, illegal or hateful content is spread through its platform and has a strict policy for the same. To report a podcast on Spotify, you can simply right-click on the podcast title and select report. Any user can report a podcast on Spotify mainly on two grounds, either the content is broken or incorrect or is infringing, illegal or hate content. To protect the interests of both the artists as well as listeners, Spotify promptly investigates and responds to each report on a case to case basis.
How to Promote a Podcast on Spotify?
To effectively promote your podcast on Spotify and increase user engagement, there are a couple of things you need to keep in mind. Firstly, you will need to identify the appropriate category for your podcast. This will help you reach your target audience, people who are interested in listening to your genre of podcasts. Having a strong visual identity can be pretty useful. Your visual identity needs to be both eye-catchy and convey your show’s tone at the same time. You will need to be crisp, precise and creative while writing episode descriptions that are going to appear in your episode’s preview. This is all you have to capture a visitor’s attention, so make it count. Including formatted timestamps to enable users to browse through memorable bits and adding outgoing links to your social media channels can also prove valuable while promoting your podcast on Spotify. Lastly, make sure you keep tracking and analysing your growth in the podcaster’s analytics dashboard so you can monitor your audience’s response to your work and have a realistic idea about your podcast’s performance.
Why Choose Spotify to Stream Your Podcast?
If you are an artist willing to reach great audiences, then broadcasting your podcasts on Spotify is something that you must not miss out on. Spotify is one of the world’s largest music streaming platforms, with over 381 million monthly users. Since 2009, the platform has emerged as one of the most renowned names in the audio streaming as well as podcasting industry.
Music streaming on Spotify is a freemium service for all its users. However, the app also offers a premium service with a paid subscription that allows the users to stream their favourite music with absolutely no disruptions. As a premium member of Spotify, the users get access to commercial-free listening and unlock additional features like offline streaming.
Owing to its vast user interface, Spotify has emerged as the favourite destination for both aspiring artists as well as music lovers.
So, if you are an aspiring artist wondering how to kickstart your career in the music streaming and podcasting industry, Spotify is your stepping stone to a successful career as an artist.
How to Choose a Podcast Hosting Company?
While you choose a podcast hosting company to get your podcast streamed on Spotify and other podcast streaming platforms, it is important to bear in mind that the success of your podcast heavily depends on this decision. So, it is advisable to choose a reliable podcast hosting company that possesses experience as well as the vision to look for the best possibilities and act accordingly. It is significant to make sure that your podcast hosting company understands the idea behind your podcast, your target audience and focuses on giving a fair opportunity to your podcast to grow on the streaming platforms. Retaining 100% rights and royalty on your podcast is always a good idea!