Spotify has now made it easy to listen to your favourite podcasts. As Spotify has over 250 million users, it’s safe to assume if your podcast isn’t on there, you’re missing out. If you’re thinking about starting a podcast or you’ve been doing it for a while, then Spotify is a no-brainer. Add your podcast to Spotify to increase your discoverability and really drive traffic to your show.
Why You Should Add Your Podcast to Spotify
Aside from the phenomenal number of users, Spotify is fast becoming the number one place for podcasts. Just recently they announced a new measurement tool for advertisers. Safe to say, Spotify will only get bigger and better.
- Millions of Listeners: As of Q4 2019, Spotify has 250 million users. Not all are podcast listeners, but that's a good thing. Reach those you wouldn't have had the chance to talk to before.
- Exclusive Content: Spotify is working with creators to produce interesting new content like 'Stay Free: The Story of the Clash', 'Jemele Hill Is Unbothered', and 'Amy Schumer Presents'.
- Advertising Opportunities: 61% of US listeners report buying a product they heard about on a podcast ad. Get noticed by advertisers on Spotify and turn your show into a business.
Just like Apple, Spotify is a big company. Investment and resources are regularly pooled into places like this, so make sure you take advantage. Add your podcast to Spotify and get your show in front of as many listeners as possible.
#1. Find a Place to Host Your Podcast
Podcasts need a place to call home. Without a host, you can't submit your episodes to Spotify. Luckily, that's where we come in. Create, upload, and distribute your shows all-in-one-place with Podcast.co. Wanna know the best bit? If you don't want to follow the other 9 steps below, then let us add your podcast to Spotify for you.
Once you've created an account and uploaded your episodes, we can get to work. But we don't just stop at adding your podcast to Spotify. Once you're ready to rock, click a button within your account to automatically distribute your show to all the major places, including Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Breaker, Stitcher, and loads more.
#2. Keep Your File Size Low
Networks are the highway of the internet and bandwidth are the couriers. The smaller the load, the quicker it is to get from point A to point B. Make sure your episodes are under 200MB. To put that into perspective, a 200MB episode is 83 minutes at 320kbps or 200+ minutes at 128kbps.
#3. Use the Correct Audio Format
Spotify, and many other podcast directories, are a stickler for rules. If your episodes are not in the correct audio format they will get rejected. When exporting your audio, make sure it's in the MP3 format. Most audio editing tools will prompt you to choose a bitrate. Set the quality between 96kbps and 320kbps. See for yourself, here's how your audio should sound:
#4. Create Great Podcast Artwork
Ever noticed all podcast artwork are square? That's no coincidence. Apple Podcasts was the front-runner in the podcasting industry for a long time. During their reign, things like metadata and artwork are formalised to make things uniform and easier to manage. When creating your artwork, make sure it's square at 1:1, at a high resolution (meaning no pixelated images), and be either in a JPG or PNG file format.
#5. Format Your Podcast Feed
If you've got this far then here's where things get a bit technical. In your podcast's feed there are special characters. For example, ampersands like this > & < must be HTML encoded. In plain English, that means this > & < needs to turn into this > amp; <. Same goes for HTML tags like <p> or <bold>, if these are present then they will be automatically removed. When you add your podcast to Spotify it should translate all this for you, but it's best to update yourself so you know what your listeners will see.
#6. Keep Your Title Lengths Short
Attention spans these days are short. Same should apply to your episode title length. Titles shouldn’t exceed 20 characters. Anything more will be cut off in an ellipsis, like 'Common Podcasting Mi(...)', so keep it brief.
#7. Podcast Feed Requirements
Just like Apple, Spotify is a stickler for the rules. All podcast feeds must have a title, artwork, and at least one episode in order to be accepted. To put it simply, if you don't wear the correct dress code, you can't come in.
#8. Avoid Copyrighted Content ©
Spotify doesn’t like copyright infringement. If caught playing a popular song that's copyrighted, Spotify will take you down. Fortunately, the great thing about podcasts is they're mainly comprised of original content. Try not to lean too heavily on material that isn't your own to stay out of hot water.
#9. Spotify's Approval Process
Now we play the waiting game. Once submitted to Spotify, all there left for you to do is wait for approval. This varies and can take anything from around a few hours up to 5 working days. Spotify will notify you once approved or disapproved. As Podcast.co are a partner of Spotify, there's no waiting in line. Jump the queue when you create an account on Podcast.co.
#10. Analyse Your Podcast's Performance
Although the process to add your podcast to Spotify is done, it's worth mentioning podcast analytics. Spotify gives you a very limited view of your listeners. Get to know them better by glancing at all your stats from Podcast.co. Are most of your listeners tuning in from Germany? Is Tune In driving number of downloads? Take a step back to get an overview of your entire podcast's performance or drill down into individual episodes.
Did you know that 10% of podcast listeners use Spotify to tune into their favourite shows? Expect a boost in your podcast's reach, just be sure to get your podcast listed on as many places as possible.
