Distributing Your Public Feed
To begin making a public feed, have at least one episode ready to publish, as well as your show artwork. Starter and Pro plans can create one public feed. Powerhouse users can create two.
Public feeds will appear in searchable databases, like Apple Podcasts and Spotify. In contrast to your private feeds in Hello Audio, you won't know who subscribes and the only way to remove access is to unpublish the entire feed.
Know that getting your podcast published on all platforms is a lengthy process. The general advice is to plan on a month before your show appears in all databases. You can submit the show to all platforms in an hour or so, but they take a while to be approved. Apple could take a week. Sometimes it's a couple days. The good news is, you only have to submit your show once, and never worry about it again :)
Create Your Public Podcast on Hello Audio
To begin, create a new feed and select "Create Public".
You'll be greeted with several additional feed options not present in private feeds. All public feeds are date-based, meaning each episode is set to be released on a particular day and time. This is to match podcast database expectations.
The Main and Secondary categories help Apple position your podcast in their category charts. (You can be #1 in the Science -> Physics category, for example.) You are required to have one category. The second is optional.
Be sure to truthfully indicate if your feed is explicit. This will prevent your podcast from appearing for some listeners due to parental settings, for example. And some regions of the world block explicit podcasts, e.g. India. Apple can remove your podcast if they find your show to be explicit while not having the explicit tag. Note that you can uncheck this box at the feed level, but instead mark individual episodes explicit if you'd prefer. Unfortunately, Apple does not give guidance as to what they consider explicit content.
The link and description fields appear in some apps and databases, but not all.
Note that your Hello Audio account's email address and business name are used in the public feed. The business is listed as the copyright owner of the feed. And the email address is used to verify your ownership of the feed by several platforms.
Your image should be a square, 3000x3000px jpg or png file. Once the image is uploaded, save your feed to begin adding your first episode.
Publish at least one episode
Add your first episode by uploading your media file. Set the title, optional episode description and explicit tag, and the publish date and time. The timezone is your browser's timezone. Click "Publish Episode".
You can add more episodes and schedule them to be released in the future. And you can backdate episodes so they appear to have been released earlier.
When you have at least one episode published, you're ready to submit your podcast the various "podcatchers" like Apple, Spotify, Stitcher, etc.
(Optional, but recommended) Create a free Chartable account for improved stats
We offer basic statistics, such as total downloads over time, and per episode. A tool like Chartable can provide more insights, and track your show in various charts and categories. We integrate with them directly from within Hello Audio.
We recommend creating a free account with Chartable and start using them to track your downloads from the beginning of your show. It's easier to do it now rather than make changes later.
See our help doc on integrating with Chartable here.
Apple Podcasts
Submitting your podcast to Apple is your first step. Many podcast apps pull from Apple's database, so once you're there, others will follow.
Grab your feed's RSS link by clicking the + clipboard in your podcast info. This is what you'll be submitting to podcast directories, including Apple.
The 1,2,3 steps below are the short answer. But there's details to get it done right.
1. Sign in to Podcast Connect with your Apple ID. https://podcastsconnect.apple.com/
2. Paste your RSS feed URL and click Validate
3. Click Submit at top-right
Done!
It can take anywhere between a couple days to a couple weeks to be accepted by Apple. And then a few hours to appear in the Apple Podcasts app correctly. Things like your podcast image and some episodes might not appear right away.
A common error when validating is issues with the image. Hello Audio ensures it's a square jpg. You'll need to make sure it's more than 1000px wide, but less than 3000px. You may want to run it through an image compressor to get the file size down. Apple is unfortunately inconsistent with this enforcement.
An Apple ID is an email address used in an Apple account for app downloads, iCloud, etc. If you don't have an Apple ID or want to create a new one, see below:
1. Visit http://appleid.apple.com/ and click Create Your Apple ID at top-right
2. Activate the ID by signing in somewhere that's not a website with your new Apple ID and accept the Terms and Conditions. Examples of places to sign in:
- Apple Music, Apple Podcasts, Apple TV apps on a Mac computer: Account --> Sign In (or Sign out first if needed)
- On Windows, download and sign into iTunes for Windows.
- On Android, download and sign into Apple Music.
4. Agree to the terms and click Continue to complete your Apple ID activation.
5. Sign in to Podcast Connect with your new ID and continue from the first step above https://podcastsconnect.apple.com/
Once you submit your feed to Apple, you'll receive an email to your Apple ID address saying it's under review, and another email when it's accepted. Again, this could take several days to weeks.
Meanwhile, you can submit the feed to other directories.
Spotify
You can now submit your feed to Spotify in one click! In your feed, find the "Submit to Spotify" button. We still recommend claiming your feed so you can see your Spotify-specific stats.
Spotify is thankfully an instant process, but can take a few hours to appear in the app correctly.
Note: We still recommend claiming your feed* so you can see your Spotify-specific stats.
*To claim your feed:
1. Log in or create a Spotify account at https://accounts.spotify.com/login?continue=https%3A%2F%2Fpodcasters.spotify.com%2Fgateway
2. Paste your RSS feed URL
3. Click to have them send an email verification to the address in the feed. This is your Hello Audio account email address.
4. Paste in your verification code from the email.
5. Provide the requested information (location, language, etc.)
Done!
Google Podcasts
Google Podcasts is also a simple process. Paste your RSS feed link at https://podcastsmanager.google.com/. You'll need to be logged in to a Google account to do so. They'll send a verification code to the email address in the feed. (Your Hello Audio email address.)
If you've had your show published for a while, Google may have already found it. Following the instructions above will connect the show to your Google account as the owner.
Pandora and Stitcher
Pandora for Podcasters has now transformed to Simplecast Creator Connect. This a new podcaster portal, which you can use to get your show on both Pandora and Stitcher in a single step. NOTE: You do not have to host your podcast on Simplecast in order to submit or claim your show.
Amazon Music
Amazon now includes podcasts in its Amazon Music subscription.
https://podcasters.amazon.com/submit-rss
Note: This is different than Audible's podcasts. (Amazon owns Audible.) Audible is selective in curating what shows they include, where Amazon is delivering general podcasts to their users.
TuneIn
TuneIn is used in Amazon Echo products, as well as some cars (Tesla) and smart home devices. Although I imagine Echo devices are probably moving to Amazon Music at some point.
You can submit your show by filling out this form: https://help.tunein.com/contact/add-podcast-S19TR3Sdf
iHeartRadio
iHeartRadio is built in to some cars and smart home devices. You can submit your show to iHeartRadio by completing this form: https://www.iheart.com/content/submit-your-podcast/
Some links and processes change over time. Please let us know if content here needs updating by emailing support@helloaudio.fm. You can usually find updated answers by searching "how to submit podcast to _________".