When you know you’re creating content that’s hotter than a bored housewife using the ‘milfmom’ hashtag on Instagram, you’ll want to make sure it reaches as wide as possible an audience. And one of the best ways to do that is by learning how to get a podcast on Spotify.
Look, regardless of your political view of the platform, it’s still one of the top podcast directories with over 250 million listeners across more than 75 countries worldwide.
In this step-by-step guide, I’m gonna walk you through the steps for how to get a podcast on Spotify, and also ensure it gets discovered by new listeners and future fans.
Hold your horses, Sebastian. Before you can submit your podcast to Spotify, you need to make sure it meets their requirements. Here’s a checklist to ensure your podcast is ready for submission:
- MP3 format, with your audio quality not sounding like it’s been recorded in a tin can (96 to 320 kbps, mate).
- Cover art that’s not a blurry mess. Sharp, square (1:1), and in PNG, JPEG, or TIFF. Add nice design elements like stroke and contrast. Make it pop!
- An RSS feed that has at least your trailer in it.
- Don’t go uploading your entire life’s story in one go – keep episodes under 200MB.
Step 2: Create a Spotify Account
Don’t have a Spotify account?
Mate, seriously! WTF?
Where have you been living for the past decade?
Hop onto the Spotify for Podcasters site and get yourself sorted.
Step 3: Agree to the dull AF terms and conditions
Logged in? Awesome. Now there’s a bunch of boring legals for you to wade through. But like everyone else, you’ll just scroll, click, and then keep your fingers crossed you haven’t agreed your rights away. You have. You always will. That’s platform use for you.
Step 4: Enter Your RSS Feed Link
Now it’s time to provide Spotify with the RSS feed link for your podcast.
Your RSS feed is like the news ticker of your podcast, containing all the necessary information telling the platforms what’s inside of it, for distribution.
With any luck you’re using a decent hosting service which tells you quite clearly and easily where you can find your RSS feed link in your dashboard. Copy that link and paste it into the designated field on the Spotify for Podcasters website.
Step 5: Verify That You Own the Podcast
Spotify’s now going to want to ensure that you’re the owner of the podcast content you’re submitting. To do this, Spotify will send an eight-digit code to the email address associated with your RSS feed. Check your inbox for the verification email and enter the code on the Spotify for Podcasters website within an hour. Do not dilly-dally, Sally.
This step helps protect your podcast’s ownership and prevents unauthorised submissions.
Back when Spotify for Podcasters was Anchor, a lot of bootlegging was going on. People would literally steal feeds from other places and add them to Anchor to try and cash in on some of that juicy ad revenue from popular shows.
Step 6: Enter Details About Your Podcast
Now it’s time to provide some additional details about your podcast. You’ll need to specify the country where your podcast’s made, its primary language, and your podcast hosting provider’s name.
You’ll also need to select the primary category and up to three sub-categories that best represent your podcast’s content.
Consider this super carefully, because it could make or break your podcast’s chances of being found more easily.
Step 7: Review and Submit Your Podcast
Before submitting your podcast to Spotify, take a moment to review all the information you’ve provided. Seriously, don’t treat this like the application form for that job you never wanted when you were a teenager.
Make sure everything is accurate and complete. Once you’re satisfied, click the “Submit” button. Spotify will now review your podcast and, if everything checks out, your show will be live on the platform within a few hours.
They should pop your podcast’s Spotify link up on the screen. Make a note of this. Perhaps add it to a living document like a spreadsheet so you can post if in your marketing guff.
And now…. Congratulations!
You’ve successfully added your podcast to Spotify and created the opportunity to expand your community on the platform.
You’ve also created a crap tonne of extra work for yourself, sadly. Here’s why.
In 2023, Spotify introduced a bunch of new ‘interaction’ features.
These include posting engaging questions on your episode’s landing page, and Q&A polls.
It’s well worth filling these in when you can, because it could lead to increased exposure and visibility on the platform.
You’ll also be wanting to keep an eye on your in platform analytics.
These are more detailed than your hosting company’s stats and will provide more insight into your show’s progress on the platform. Want to know the average age and gender of your listeners? You’ll find that info in here.
Additional Tips for Success On Spotify
- Promote your podcast on social media and other channels to drive more listeners to your Spotify listing.
- Encourage your listeners to follow, rate, and review your podcast on Spotify to increase its social proof and credibility.
- Think carefully about your episode titles. Don’t pop guest names in the title unless your guest is absolutely massive. And I’m talking Prince William level of massive. People don’t usually search for the CEO of Dulux’s name when looking for podcasts.
- Engage with your audience by responding to comments and messages on Spotify and other platforms.
- Keep creating high-quality content and consistently release new episodes to keep your audience engaged and coming back for more. Ideally, at least weekly.
Now that you know how to get your podcast on Spotify, go ahead and make sure you’ve added yours.
Why not share your podcast’s Spotify link in the comments so I can check it over for you and perhaps suggest any improvements you can make.
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