How to build a profitable podcast.
This post will walk you through EXACTLY how to start a podcast on Spotify in 2022.
With over 182 million premium subscribers worldwide and 80 million songs, Spotify has become one of the largest and most popular streaming platforms.
If you want your content to be widely seen and heard, Spotify might be the best place to do it. With 28.2 million monthly podcast listeners in more than 200 countries as of 2021, the platform has become an increasingly important part of music fans’ everyday lives.
Spotify is an excellent platform for distributing audio and video content. Millions of people are using it as their primary source of entertainment each day. It’s quickly becoming one of the most popular ways to consume media.
According to statista, this figure was slightly higher than Apple Podcasts, one of its main competitors in the podcast streaming industry. Apple podcasts had about 28 million monthly listeners in 2021.
Starting your podcast has never been easier! If you have an idea, the first step is to pick up your microphone and get to recording.
However, if you want to expand your show’s reach and audience, using Spotify as a distribution channel could be what you need.
But, of course, it's not quite that simple if you want your podcast to sound good, be easily found and shared, and ultimately make you money or grow your brand.
Yet, starting a podcast on Spotify is simple and easy, whether you’re already a regular podcaster or utterly new to podcasts.
In this article, you’ll learn how to get started with the streaming service to use it to promote your podcasting content and grow your audience online.
You’ll also see how creating and promoting episodes on Spotify complements other ways of reaching your listeners, and you’ll even find out how setting up your podcast on Spotify has the potential to bring new audiences to your website or blog.
Spotify’s Podcast function launched in July of 2017, and with it came something called Spotify for Podcasters.
However, it wasn’t until October 2018 that Spotify opened podcasting for all its users, and by the end of the year, podcast listening grew on Spotify by 175%.
Spotify podcasts bring together podcasts from dozens of publishers and connect them with millions of premium subscribers.
It’s already one of the most prominent players in podcasting. With over 50 million podcasts available, it’s safe to say that they have lots of room for new ones.
However, before you dive in and create your show, it’s essential to understand how exactly these shows operate within the larger context of Spotify itself.
There are similarities between creating an audio show for Spotify and Apple Podcasts or Google Podcasts, but some key differences are.
For example, not all episodes need to be uploaded at once—you can add them individually whenever you like.
And if you want your listeners to know when a new episode is out, you can send them push notifications via their phone or email - Spotify takes care of this.
You also have more control over which songs are played during your show than other platforms.
However, unlike with other platforms, no one can listen to what episodes you’ve published until they listen to the first (although anyone who attends will see what you’ve posted).
Getting people to subscribe is crucial if you want anyone to hear your work!
Here’s why you need to put your podcast on Spotify.
Podcasting is in full swing, and now that more and more people are tuning into these audio shows every day, there’s never been a better time to make one of your own.
And as we all know, an audience is what every creator wants — but how can you get them?
That’s where Spotify comes in.
If you want to increase your listenership by getting onto a platform with millions of users, then it makes sense to upload your podcast episodes on Spotify for free.
Anyone who uses Spotify can find your show and listen whenever they want!
Why Spotify,
Although Spotify is basically like Apple Podcasts, it gives listeners free access to podcasts from various creators worldwide.
There are tons of different genres to choose from, which means there’s something for everyone.
So far, Spotify has over 182 million active users worldwide; each month, over 75 million unique listeners stream music through its app alone.
And that's just music alone. Imagine the figure that listens to podcasts every day and how content creators like Michelle Obama, Conor O’Brien, Joe Rogan, and the rest get paid when listeners stream their shows.
You’d love a piece of that pie!
In other words: if you want to grow your podcast following, then you need to be on Spotify!
Once you have a handle on why you should get started uploading your podcast to Spotify, it’s time to dive right in. Luckily, setting up an account is easy — so don’t worry about any headaches!
Before you upload your podcast episode(s) to your show’s Spotify page, you’ll want to make sure they meet some essential criteria.
Two counts as a minimum requirement for many music services (and is almost always recommended), but it also allows fans who discover your show on one platform a quick way to find out what else you have in store.
And make sure the files are MP3 files with a high bitrate of 128kbps+ as Spotify supports this type of file upload and MP4s with AAC-LC. Spotify also recommends a maximum episode length of 2GB (roughly 12 hours @ 320 Kbps).
The title should be descriptive enough that someone could listen to it without hearing your voice or seeing any visuals from your podcast and still understand what the podcast is about, while descriptions should be detailed enough that anyone who reads them will immediately know if they want to hear more.
Your podcast cover art should be saved as a JPEG, PNG, or TIFF file, with a 1:1 (square) aspect ratio in the highest resolution possible.
It includes making sure there are no watermarks visible anywhere on your artwork, which means you may need to adjust how you take pictures or shoot videos for your podcasts before uploading them.
For example, instead of shooting videos with your phone or webcam, consider investing in a tripod and high-quality camera so that you can create professional-looking images.
The good, however, is that all of the following requirements above would have been included in your podcast hosting information before you can export RSS feeds to Spotify.
At this point, you need to make sure you get the perfect posting hosting to host your show. The significance of podcast hosting is to have a spot to keep your audio and export it to Spotify.
Getting your show on Spotify is as easy as 1-2-3.
You’ve recorded your first episode, and you’re happy with it. You even found a music bed that you like. But now, you need to know how to put your podcast on Spotify—and there are several steps you should take before you get started.
When putting your podcast on Spotify, we recommend using bCast as your podcast hosting partner because they make getting into Spotify super easy. Simply follow these few steps, and you’ll be good to go!
Head over to bCast.fm and sign up for an account. Then upload your audio file(s) by clicking Upload Your Audio File in the top right corner of your dashboard (you can also upload via drag-and-drop).
In our posts about how to start a podcast on Apple Podcasts, we walked you through the process of signing up on bCast and how to upload your first few episodes.
We will try to walk you through the process in the next step quickly.
bCast provides multiple hosting tiers, including a starter, growth, and legendary option. It is a tool that makes it incredibly easy to publish your podcast on Spotify.
Make sure that you fill in every information requested and add a podcast cover art (the button on the right-hand side of the page above). And make sure the image is according to Spotify recommendations as we said above.
For the podcast to be "live", you must click the "Live" option on the podcast setting screen. And now we’re done creating a podcast; congratulations.
While uploading your audio, don’t forget to upload a photo of your episode, Title, author name(s), the number of episodes, publish date and time, and summary or show notes. You can also upload recorded audio by clicking "choose an audio file."
bCast will provide the RSS feed URL after inputting all of the required information above and at least an audio file.
Proceed to copy the RSS feed URL and save it somewhere to be used later.
To upload your podcast to Spotify, you need to sign up with Spotify for Podcasters. Please note that it is not advisable to use your Spotify account as this may show errors, mainly if both the hosting platform and your Spotify account use different emails. So, we will advise you to use the same email for both.
Sign up with the appropriate information and proceed to the next step. After signing up, you should be able to log in to your dashboard at this point to add the RSS feed you copied from your bCast account to the Spotify platform.
The next step is to go to Spotify’s podcast website and click Get Started.
Proceed to paste your podcast’s RSS feed link that you copied from bCast in the box and click "Next". The podcast title, cover artwork, and description that you initially input while signing up on your hosting platform will all appear on the right side of the page.
Spotify will request that you verify you own the podcast next by providing a code sent to the linked email address you provided.
After the podcast has been verified, add additional information like podcast category (you'll have a variety of topics to choose from), language, and country. The great thing about choosing bCast is that while adding your information, you are allowed to select a primary and secondary category; this category is automatically added to your Spotify.
Proceed to review the information you have added and submit.
You will not get an email from Spotify when your show is live, be on the lookout for your show. When your show goes live, you can share it on all your social media platforms - Tiktok, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram - every platform you exist, increasing its popularity.
Show up! Go live, and go live often.
If you have people in your network who listen to podcasts, send them an email or connect with them on social media and tell them your show is live.
It will help you get new listeners more quickly.
The more episodes you release, the easier it’ll be for people to find you later when they’re ready for more episodes.
Start by releasing one episode per week, then move to two if that feels manageable.
Just make sure you’re consistent so that your audience knows what to expect from each episode. Consistency breeds loyalty.
And remember—it takes time to build an audience, so don’t lose hope if you don’t see immediate results. Stick with it and keep putting out content regularly!
There you have it... how to start a podcast on Spotify 🎤
Our team is always available to cater to your needs. Go through each step and follow them to the letter.
Email us at support@bcast.fm if you need support with Spotify and bCast.
