You’ve recorded your first episode, survived the editing process, chosen your cover art, and finally published the show through a podcast host.
Now you need listeners.
Spotify is an obvious place to start. Millions of people already use it for music and podcasts, and having your show available there makes it much easier for Spotify users to find and follow you.
Fortunately, getting a podcast onto Spotify isn’t particularly difficult.
The part that confuses beginners is understanding what you’re actually submitting. In most cases, you aren’t moving your entire podcast to Spotify. Your podcast continues to live with your hosting provider, and Spotify receives information about your show through your RSS feed.
Once that connection is working, publishing future episodes becomes much easier. Here’s how the process works.
First, Understand What an RSS Feed Does
You’ll hear the term “RSS feed” constantly when setting up a podcast. It sounds technical. The idea behind it really isn’t.
Your RSS feed is basically a constantly updated source of information about your podcast. It contains things such as your show title, description, cover artwork, episode information, and links to the audio files.
Your podcast hosting company normally creates the feed for you.
Suppose you publish a new episode on Friday. You upload the finished audio to your podcast host and press Publish. Your host updates the RSS feed with the new episode.
Platforms connected to that feed can then recognize that something new has been published.
That’s why you don’t want to manually upload the same audio file to ten different podcast directories every week.
Your RSS feed does much of the distribution work for you.
Get Your Podcast Ready Before Submitting It
Don’t rush into Spotify the second you create your podcast hosting account. Spend a few minutes checking your show first.
Look at the podcast title. Read your description again. Check the cover artwork. Make sure at least one episode is properly published and playable.
Then listen to that episode. Yes, the whole thing if possible.
You don’t want to discover after launching that your intro music is painfully loud or the final ten minutes of the episode are missing.
This is also a good time to clean up your episode title.
Something like:
Episode 1
doesn’t give a stranger much reason to press play.
A title such as:
How I Built My First Online Business With $500
It immediately tells the listener what they’re getting.
You can still include episode numbers. Just don’t let the number do all the talking.
Find Your Podcast RSS Feed
Next, log in to your podcast hosting platform. Look for an area called Distribution, Directories, RSS Feed, Podcast Settings, or something similar.
The exact location depends on your host.
You’ll eventually find a URL representing your RSS feed.
Copy it carefully.
Don’t confuse the RSS feed with your normal podcast website address.
They aren’t the same thing.
If you’re unsure, your hosting provider’s help center should have instructions explaining where to find the correct feed.
Go to Spotify for Creators
Spotify manages its podcast creator tools through Spotify for Creators.
If you already have a Spotify account, you may be able to use it to sign in. Otherwise, create an account and follow the setup process.
What happens next can depend on how your podcast is hosted.
If Spotify hosts your show, the publishing process is integrated more directly into Spotify’s creator tools.
If your podcast is hosted somewhere else, you’ll generally need to connect or claim the existing show.
Spotify may ask for your RSS feed so it can identify the podcast and confirm that you’re the owner.
Follow the instructions shown in your dashboard, since Spotify occasionally changes the layout and wording of its creator tools.
Verify That You Own the Podcast
Spotify doesn’t want random people claiming podcasts they don’t own.
So you may need to verify ownership.
With RSS-based verification, Spotify can use contact information associated with the podcast feed to help confirm that you’re authorized to manage the show.
This is one reason it’s worth checking your podcast settings before submission. Make sure the email and ownership information associated with your show are correct and accessible.
If Spotify sends you a verification code, enter it where requested. Don’t leave the process halfway through and assume the podcast has been claimed.
Finish verification and check that the show appears properly in your creator dashboard..
What Happens After You Submit?
Once everything is connected and your show is available, your normal publishing routine should remain pretty simple.
You don’t need to submit the podcast again every time you make an episode.
Instead, you go back to your podcast hosting service.
- Upload your new episode.
- Add the title.
- Write your episode description.
- Choose the publishing date.
- Then publish.
Your RSS feed updates, and Spotify can receive the new information.
There can sometimes be a delay before changes appear everywhere, so don’t panic if a newly published episode isn’t visible the exact second you press Publish.
What If You Host Your Podcast With Spotify?
Spotify also provides podcast hosting and creation tools. If you use Spotify itself to host your podcast, you don’t need to submit the show back to Spotify in the same way an externally hosted podcast would.
Your workflow is more direct because you’re already publishing through Spotify’s own system.
That doesn’t mean you should think only about Spotify, though.
If you want your podcast available elsewhere, check the current distribution options and make sure your show reaches the other platforms that matter to your audience.
The goal is usually to make listening convenient rather than forcing everyone to use your favorite app.
What If Your Podcast Isn’t Showing Up?
Don’t immediately submit it again. First, check your podcast host and confirm that the episode is actually published.
Then check your RSS feed.
Make sure your podcast information is complete and that your audio files are accessible.
If you’ve recently made a change, give the platform some time to update.
If the problem continues, check Spotify’s current creator support documentation. Podcast platforms change their interfaces regularly, so current support information is more reliable than a five-year-old tutorial.
Final Thoughts
Submitting a podcast to Spotify isn’t something you need to overcomplicate.
Get your podcast ready first. Make sure your title, description, artwork, and first episode look the way you want them to. Find your RSS feed through your hosting provider.
Then use Spotify for Creators to connect or claim your show and complete any ownership verification Spotify asks for.
After that, you can go back to your normal publishing routine.
You create an episode, upload it to your host, and publish it. Your RSS feed takes care of delivering the updated podcast information to connected platforms such as Spotify.
Then comes the harder part: making a podcast people actually want to follow.
Don’t spend all your energy getting listed in directories and forget about the show itself.
Getting onto Spotify puts your podcast in front of the door. Good episodes are what convince listeners to walk through it—and come back next week.