How do I get my podcast featured by Apple & Spotify?
Welcome to the softer cast, a podcast for small business owners and creatives who want tender podcast advice without any tech bro bullshit. I'm Amelia Freebee, and I'm the founder of Softer Sounds, a feminist podcast studio for women and non binary entrepreneurs. On this show, I answer your questions about podcasting. Things like, should I put my show on YouTube? Can I just record it on Zoom?
Amelia Hruby:How much do editors really cost? And how many downloads should my podcast be getting? Yeah. I'll even answer that question. Every episode of the softer cast is really practical, a little magical, and less than 10 minutes long.
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Amelia Hruby:I'm Amelia Hruby. I am the founder and executive producer at softer sounds podcast studio. And here on this show, I answer your questions about podcasting with my gentle, no nonsense approach. At softer sounds, we bring a tender approach to the technical skills of podcasting, and we are also big fans of DIY promotion, helping you grow your shows on your own without a giant PR marketing or paid ad budget. Why do we do that?
Amelia Hruby:Well, without big marketing bucks from advertisers, sponsors, or VC funding, I found that the best way to grow a show is through word-of-mouth and a bit of your own grit and perseverance in promoting it in some fun ways. So that's what we'll be talking about in today's episode where I'm going to tell you how to get featured by Apple and Spotify. Let's get into it. So first, I wanna be clear that this is an episode about how to be featured in Apple and Spotify's listening apps. And when I say featured, I don't simply mean listed.
Amelia Hruby:I did another episode on how to get your show listed in Apple Spotify, which means how to get it to show up in their libraries at all. And that's a process of submitting your RSS feed to their platforms. It's pretty easy. It doesn't take very much time, but I walk through that in a different episode. So I'll link that in the show notes if your question is just about how to be listed in Apple and Spotify.
Amelia Hruby:But this episode is about how to be featured in Apple and Spotify. And what I mean by that is how do you get your show to show up on one of Apple and Spotify's featured pages or channels? So inside of Apple, there are features like new and noteworthy, top shows, top episodes, and then they also do a number of curated features. So for instance, for women's history month, they'll feature podcasts created by women. As I'm scrolling through it right now, they also have a feature on adulting 101 that includes shows, as they put it, about how to fight the grown up scaries.
Amelia Hruby:So they do a number of curated features in addition to their more numerical, shall we call it, features. So within Apple, things like top shows, top episodes, and top subscriber shows are going to be determined by the listenership of each show and by analytics that Apple is pulling from their back end. So the only way to make those lists is to have tens or hundreds of thousands of downloads. But for these other curated features, they have real live humans who are paying attention to podcasts, who are selecting those to go along with the themes inside of the Apple Podcasts browse function. Similarly, within Spotify, they have charts that are determined by the most downloads and the engagement of the listenership, but they also have curated features like new shows we're loving, episodes you won't want to miss, or as I'm recording this, Taurus serial killers.
Amelia Hruby:So again, they have their numerical charts and then also their curated features. And this episode is about how to be featured by Apple or Spotify in those curated features. Now now that I've explained what those are, let me talk a little bit about why you might want to be featured. Apple and Spotify are the 2 biggest podcast listening apps on the market. So there are a ton of places that you can listen to podcasts, but most people are listening in Apple or Spotify.
Amelia Hruby:Additionally, podcasting is one of the few remaining marketing channels that don't present an algorithmically curated feed. So when someone goes to Apple Podcasts or goes to Spotify to find podcasts there, they either have to search for the name of the show or a keyword topic that they're interested in, or they have to go to these browse pages or featured pages to see what Apple and Spotify themselves are featuring. And those pages, at least as I'm recording this, are curated by, again, real life humans who are creating the features or by the analytics on the back end of the platform for their charts. And so what's so great about being featured by Apple or Spotify is that, one, your show can actually be selected to be featured even if it's a relatively small show. And 2, when it is featured, it's going in front of the majority of podcast listeners because the majority of listeners are showing up in these apps.
Amelia Hruby:They're listening to podcasts in these apps. And most people who love podcasts, according to Edison's industry research reports, are looking for more podcasts to listen to. And one of the ways they're doing that is through these browse and featured pages in these apps. And so getting featured in Apple or Spotify is a really great way to boost downloads and to grow the audience for your show. So now that we've talked about what features are and why you might want one in one of these apps, let me give you the best news of all, which is that anyone can apply for a feature in Apple or Spotify.
Amelia Hruby:Both companies have promotional request forms or editorial submission forms where you can share the name of your show, what it's about, why and how you might want it to be featured, and they review those as they choose the selections for their featured pages. So I will link to both of those forms in the show notes, and I wanna give you a few pieces of advice for submitting the most successful promo request or feature pitch. Apple especially is very clear that you wanna be submitting with a minimum of 2 weeks of lead time. I would recommend 4 to 8 weeks of lead time, so they have plenty of time to see the application and slot it into their editorial calendar. They also provide a lot of space for you to explain what you would like to be featured and how it fits with timely themes.
Amelia Hruby:So you could apply to have an episode featured or a whole show episode featured or a whole show featured. Thinking about what works best for your show will be important for these applications. I also think it's important to think about both the events happening in the world and the events happening on your show. So perhaps you wanna be featured during mental health awareness month, and your content overall relates to mental health. But could you perhaps be doing a series during that month that really ties into that theme and makes it very clear to Apple or Spotify, like, why that is a great month to feature you.
Amelia Hruby:So like any promo pitch, timeliness is important, and we wanna be thinking about it in terms of what's happening on your pod feed and what's happening in the world. The forms for both of these companies also ask about other ways that you're promoting your show and how you will promote listening to your show on their platform specifically. So you can always apply to both Apple and Spotify for a feature, but perhaps you look at the back end of your podcast dashboard and you see, like, oh, actually, most of our listeners are on Spotify. Maybe it makes sense to try to push listening on Spotify a little more and then focus on the Spotify editorial request form, editorial submission form, or vice versa. Maybe you're like, wow.
Amelia Hruby:75% of our listeners listen in Apple. We're gonna change the CTA at the end of the episode to find us on Apple Podcasts, and we're gonna say that in our application to Apple and make clear how we're promoting listening through Apple Podcasts specifically. Again, what I'm trying to emphasize here is that Apple and Spotify receive a lot of these applications, so you wanna make sure that yours is well thought out so that it stands out. You wanna make it as easy as possible for them to promote and feature your show by making sure that you're doing things that are aligned with their editorial calendars and guidelines. So before you apply, make sure you're looking at what they're featuring in Apple and Spotify.
Amelia Hruby:Make sure you are thinking about the timeliness of what's happening on your feed and what's happening in the world. Make sure that you're considering what other promotional efforts you have in place and how you might promote the show during the time in which you're applying for a feature, and then consider if you wanna tailor your applications to one platform or another, or if you're going for a more general approach. At the end of the day, the best news here is still that you can apply for these features, that they feature shows that are brand new, that are legacy shows, that have tiny audiences, that have giant audiences. So there really is an opportunity for podcasters of all shapes, scopes, and sizes to be featured by Apple and Spotify and to grow their show in the process. Those forms are linked in the show notes, and I wish you the very best in completing and submitting them.
Amelia Hruby:And I think that's it for this episode. If you wanna learn more about DIY podcast marketing and monetization, we have a course that teaches you exactly that, which I'll link in the show notes. And as a softer cast listener, you can take $10 off with the code softer cast 10, which is also listed in the show notes. And if you have a question that you'd like to hear me answer on this podcast, you can send me an email at hihi@softersounds.studio, or you can leave us a voice message at the SpeakPipe inbox linked in the show notes. I would love to answer your questions in an upcoming episode, so please send them my way.
Amelia Hruby:And if you enjoyed this answer, I would really appreciate a 5 star rating and review, particularly in Apple Podcasts or Spotify so that we can have a little more social proof about how well this show is supporting you and your podcast journey. So if you can, please take 60 seconds to leave us a rating and review. And until next time, I will see you on the softer side of podcasting. Thanks so much for listening to the softer cast. If you enjoyed this episode, please send it to your podcast bestie.
Amelia Hruby:And after you do that, go ahead and drop us 5 stars on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. If you'd like to submit a question, head to speakpipe.com/softercast to record a message or email us at hi at softorsounds dot studio. And last but not least, we made some awesome free things for you. Head to the show notes to download our free podcast launch toolkit or our 3 step podcast audit. No matter where you're at in your podcasting journey, we're here to support you.
Amelia Hruby:Thanks again for tuning in and joining us on the softer side of podcasting.