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Spotify Podcast microphone third culture africans

How to publish a podcast on Spotify

by Questions@thirdcultureafricans.comJanuary 19, 20214 min read

Spotify is a music streaming giant. The platform has more than doubled its user base since 2017, reaching 144 million premium subscribers in the third quarter of 2020. With platform updates released in 2019, Spotify made a move to appeal to both podcasters and their listeners. And with early numbers indicating that 43% of regular listeners have streamed a podcast on Spotify, it seems that it’s a platform you’ll definitely want to use when launching your show. Our show is on there.

Requirements for publishing your podcast on Spotify

The good news is that publishing a podcast on Spotify isn’t much different from publishing to other podcast directories. As with most platforms, you’ll need to create an account and submit your RSS feed for approval. 

There are a few parameters your podcast will have to meet in order to be accepted by Spotify:

  • Format: MP3 in ISO/IEC 11172-3 MPEG-1 Part3 audio with a bit rate between 96 and 320 kbps
  • File size: Maximum of 200MB
  • RSS feed: Must have a title, cover image and details for at least one episode
  • Titles & descriptions: Should have fewer than 20 characters to avoid truncation, with any special characters coded in HTML
  •  Cover art: Must be square (1:1 ratio) and in PNG, JPEG or TIFF formats at the highest possible resolution

Once you are satisfied that your podcast meets all of these requirements, you can submit it to Spotify.

Step-by-step guide to uploading your podcast to Spotify:

1. Create your Spotify for Podcasters account

Visit the Spotify for Podcasters website and click on ‘Get Started’. If you don’t already have a Spotify account, you’ll need to create one, enter your details and accept the terms and conditions of use. Otherwise you can get started with publishing your podcast.

2. Add your RSS feed link

Next, you’ll want to provide an RSS feed link for your podcast, which you can find on your podcast hosting service. Once you’ve entered the link, click ‘Next’. If you’ve entered the correct information, the title, description, artwork and other details of your podcast should appear on the right hand side of your screen.

3. Verify ownership of the podcast 

After adding your link, Spotify will ask you to confirm that you’re the owner of the podcast you’re submitting by sending an eight-digit verification code to the email address associated with the RSS feed. After confirming that you’re the owner of the content, you’re ready to move on to step 4.

4. Add your podcast details

You will now need to enter various details about your podcast, including where it’s made (country), the primary language used, who your podcast hosting provider is and the primary category the podcast falls into. Once you’ve selected a primary category, you’ll be able to choose three sub-categories to help users discover your podcast more easily.

5. Review and submit

Finally, have one last look over the information you’ve entered before publishing. Make sure that everything is spelled correctly and presented as you would like it. Take special care here, as you can’t edit this information once you’ve submitted it.

Once you’ve clicked ‘Submit’, your podcast will be sent to Spotify’s review team. It usually takes a few hours for them to put your listing live, which is when your podcast will appear on the platform.

Conclusion

With more than 144 million premium users – and growing – it makes sense to publish your podcast on Spotify. Thankfully, submitting to the platform is an easy five-step process. To learn more tips check out our resources here.

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