Amelia [00:00:04] [Twinkling, airy music begins to play, overlapping with the introduction] Welcome to The Softer Cast, a podcast for small business owners and creatives who want tender podcast advice without any tech bro bullshit.

Amelia [00:00:12] I'm Amelia Hruby. 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.

Amelia [00:00:23] Things like:

Amelia [00:00:23] Should I put my show on YouTube?

Amelia [00:00:25] Can I just record it on Zoom?

Amelia [00:00:26] How much do editors really cost?

Amelia [00:00:29] And how many downloads should my podcast be getting?

Amelia [00:00:32] 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. If you like what you hear, please subscribe to the show and share it with your podcast bestie. Then, head to the show notes to check out our free resources.

Amelia [00:00:51] [Intro music quiets but continues to play] No matter where you're at in your podcasting journey, we're here to support you. Join us on the softer side of podcasting.

Amelia [00:01:04] Hello and welcome to The Softer Cast, a podcast for small [music fades out] business owners and creatives who want tender podcast advice without any tech bro bullshit.

Amelia [00:01:14] I'm Amelia Hruby and I'm the founder of Softer Sounds, a feminist podcast studio for women and non-binary entrepreneurs and creatives. On this show, I answer your questions about podcasting.

Amelia [00:01:28] If you're listening live when this releases, we've been on a little bit of a podcast break for the end of 2022, headed into 2023.

Amelia [00:01:36] Our last episode was about how to take a break without losing listeners and I'm happy to report it doesn't seem like we've lost any. Stats have been growing while we've been away.

Amelia [00:01:45] So, if you want to take your own podcast break, head to that last episode and plan a break of your own. I'll link in the show notes so you can go back and listen.

Amelia [00:01:56] Now, if you're new to The Softer Cast, this is a podcast advice show. So, I answer questions from Softer Sounds fans and clients and folks that we're working with as well as anybody who listens to this show. You can submit questions at the link in the show notes, and I tell you what I think about how to run an intentional and successful podcast in this day and age.

Amelia [00:02:22] So, today's question, let's dive right in [laughs softly]. Today's question. I've gotten it many, many times, most recently from Elly and Sam of Feelings Soup podcast. Go find it. Go subscribe to it. Going to be a great early 2023 release.

Amelia [00:02:38] But the question is:

Amelia [00:02:40] How do I get my show on Apple and Spotify?

Amelia [00:02:44] I'll say that again. How do I get my show on Apple and Spotify? Have you ever had that question? Maybe. Yes. No. Kind of [chuckles].

Amelia [00:02:53] Well, the good news is I'm going to give you the answer in advance. It's pretty easy. It is easy to get your show on Apple and Spotify and you only have to do it once. So, today's episode is going to be short and sweet. But let me talk you through the how of it all.

Amelia [00:03:09] So, once you've got your podcast idea, your equipment, and you've done your first recording, folks often come to me because they're like, "Well, I've got the recording, now I want to put it on Apple and Spotify. How do I give it to them?"

Amelia [00:03:23] [Chuckles] Great question. And the answer is a little bit roundabout. So, you don't actually give your recordings to Apple or Spotify. You give your recordings to a podcast hosting platform that hosts the recordings for you, that host the episodes for you, and then that platform distributes your podcast to all of these different distribution platforms or listening platforms through your RSS feed.

Amelia [00:03:53] So, Apple and Spotify and Pocket Casts and iHeart Radio and all these other places, you might listen to podcasts, they don't actually hold on to your audio at all. They just read your RSS feed every time and check it all the time. And then, when you upload a new episode, they pull it from there.

Amelia [00:04:11] So, what you need to get your podcasts on Apple and Spotify, the first thing you need is a podcast hosting platform. Now again, your podcast hosting platform is the service that hosts your RSS feed and keeps your episodes online. Your RSS feed is what you upload those new episodes to. You're going to upload your MP3 files to your RSS feed so that the podcast distribution services like Apple and Spotify can share your episodes of listeners.

Amelia [00:04:40] So, basically your podcast hosting platform is the one centralized place where you upload every episode and then, from there, they go to all these other listening places. Simple enough. So, we've got your episode, we've got your podcast hosting platform, and then we've got the distribution platforms. So, it is very simple. But to get your podcast on Apple and Spotify, you do have to submit your RSS feed to them.

Amelia [00:05:09] So, your first step of this process is, as I hinted [laughs lightly], getting some audio ready, getting your first episode or a trailer ready.

Amelia [00:05:16] Your second step of this process is choosing a podcast hosting platform and setting up your account. Now, there are lots of different options out there. I will link a blog post that I have created in the show notes that walks through, kind of, our top five.

Amelia [00:05:31] I most often recommend Buzzsprout for small business owners who are looking to host their podcast— that are looking for a podcast hosting platform. It's got some really great tools that are really good for business owners. Like, you can put ads before or after your show. You can— they've got, like, mixing and mastering built in if you upgrade to that package. So, they've just got lots of really great supportive add-ons that I appreciate.

Amelia [00:05:56] If you are podcasting on a budget, I generally recommend Anchor, which is a free podcast hosting platform. It's owned by Spotify. It's very closely connected to Sp— like it's a Spotify— a podcast hosting platform, but it is free, which is, like, a great benefit. So, if you are on a budget, I recommend Anchor. If you're thinking about other options. Buzzsprout is a fave.

Amelia [00:06:18] I host all of the Softer Sounds podcasts with Transistor and that's because it's a flat fee for an unlimited number of podcasts. And since you might have noticed we have multiple shows [laughs lightly], that's my podcast hosting platform of choice. But again, I will link that article in the show notes and so you can make your own choice about the best podcast hosting platform for you.

Amelia [00:06:41] Now once you've got your podcast hosting platform account set up and you've uploaded your first episode, put that first MP3 on there, then you're ready to go submit your show to Apple and Spotify. And the good news is you only have to do this once, but you do have to do it for them to start sharing your episodes on their platforms, on Apple Podcasts or on Spotify or on Google Podcasts or on iHeartRadio or on Amazon. Any platform you want your show to show up on, you will likely have to go submit it— your RSS feed to them this one time.

Amelia [00:07:13] Now, the exception to that is that there are a lot of platforms that just mirror Apple Podcasts. So, for instance, I like to listen on Overcast and it just pulls through everything Apple Podcasts has. So, often when you submit to Apple Podcasts and Spotify, then your show is going to show up a bunch of other places as well, which is great. Very convenient for you, right?

Amelia [00:07:35] [Laughs lightly] Okay. So, let me take that opportunity then to pause and recap.

Amelia [00:07:40] So, the question was:

Amelia [00:07:43] How do I get my podcast on Apple and Spotify?

Amelia [00:07:46] Well, your first step is to have some audio that you want to publish.

Amelia [00:07:52] Your second step is to select a podcast hosting platform and sign up for an account and upload your audio there.

Amelia [00:07:59] And then your third step is to submit your RSS feed. You'll have to go find it in your podcast hosting platform, you will submit that to Apple and Spotify directly.

Amelia [00:08:12] Now, many podcast hosting platforms include really nice instructions for how to submit your RSS feed to Apple Podcasts and Spotify and other places.

Amelia [00:08:21] One of the reasons I love Buzzsprout is they've got a whole distribution and directory center where you can do a lot of easy, like, one-click submission with instructions for other places.

Amelia [00:08:30] I will link you to instructions in the show notes for how to submit to Apple Podcasts and how to submit to Spotify. No matter who you host with— and I'll let you know in advance that to do so, you're going to need an Apple— the Apple ID? Yeah, [laughs] an Apple ID because to log into— to submit your Apple Podcast— your podcast to Apple Podcasts, you have to log into Podcast Connect, which requires an Apple ID, and to submit to Spotify, you're going to have to create a Spotify account. You do not have to pay for a Spotify account. They'll just make you make an account to submit your show to their podcast platform.

Amelia [00:09:09] So, you'll make those accounts and you'll follow the instructions I've linked in the show notes and you'll submit your show.

Amelia [00:09:14] Now, Spotify generally approves shows almost immediately. Apple can take up to a week. I normally see shows get approved within a few hours or days. But you do want to be aware of that approval process if you are, you know, trying to plan a big launch for your first episode. Give yourself a little time. You're going to need to publish the episode and then submit to Apple and Spotify and then wait for them to show up there before your big launch day.

Amelia [00:09:40] So, that way—that way when you launch, people can immediately go subscribe in Apple and Spotify because that's what we want, right? That's how podcasts, like, retain listeners over time.

Amelia [00:09:54] So, hopefully, this answers your question— this answers the how do I get my podcast on Apple and Spotify q that I get all the time.

Amelia [00:10:04] So, one more time [laughs lightly] to get your podcast on Apple or Spotify, you need some finished audio. You need a podcast hosting platform that you're going to upload your audio to and then get your RSS feed from them. And then, you're going to go to Apple Podcasts and go to Spotify and submit your RSS feed.

Amelia [00:10:23] So, again, you will never upload an MP3 to Apple or Spotify. That's not something that's going to happen. You are just going to submit your RSS feed to them. It's going to look like a link and then they are going to check that for the audio that's being hosted by your podcast hosting platform.

Amelia [00:10:38] So, in the show notes, they're going to be a lot of great links to help you with this process. You'll see links to our favorite podcast hosting platforms here at Softer Sounds. You'll see links to the instructions to submit your RSS feed to Apple and the instructions to submit your RSS feed to Spotify. And you will see another great list I have found from podcast hosts Castos that includes 28 directories and instructions for how to submit to all of them [laughs].

Amelia [00:11:05] So, I'm going to link that in the show notes for you. I'm grateful they made that list because that was not an amount of work on my to-do list for the season. So, all of that will be in the show notes as will the link to our last episode on podcast breaks and a link to watch this show on YouTube.

Amelia [00:11:22] If you're not watching it on YouTube already, we are on video, friends, so come hang and find us there.

Amelia [00:11:30] As always, thank you so much for listening to The Softer Cast. I am your tender podcast guide, Amelia Hruby, founder of Softer Sounds. If you enjoyed this episode, please send it to your podcast bestie, to your friend with a podcast, to your friend who really wants a podcast. And after you do that, go ahead and drop us five stars in Apple Podcasts or Spotify or give us an upvote— a like on YouTube. We really appreciate it.

Amelia [00:11:56] If you want to submit a question for the show, you can do that at the link in the show notes or below if you're watching. And last but not least, we've made lots of free things for you, so just head to softersounds.studio/softercast to find some of those free resources.

Amelia [00:12:13] Thanks again, friends. We will be back very soon with new episodes. We're going once a month for [music begins to play, overlapping with the episode] 2023, so I cannot wait to see you in March. Or if you're listening from the future, back to the future [giggles]. All right, that's it for now, ya'll. Talk soon. Bye.

Amelia [00:12:36] Thanks so much for listening to The Softer Cast. If you enjoyed this episode, please send it to your podcast bestie. And after you do that, go ahead and drop us five stars in Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

Amelia [00:12:48] If you'd like to submit a question, head to speakpipe.com/softercast to record a message or email us at hi@softersounds.studio.

Amelia [00:12:57] 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.

Amelia [00:13:08] No matter where you're at in your podcasting journey, we're here to support you. Thanks again for tuning in and joining us on the softer side of podcasting [twinkling, airy music closes out the show].