Feed distribution
The episodes you upload are initially stored at RSS Blue. But how do you distribute them to your listeners?
Why you should submit the feed yourself
We only submit your feed to the Podcast Index (unless you turn off Podping). For many commercial apps that require a feed to be submitted manually, we leave it up to you to do so. As seen in the diagram in this article, we don't have a direct relationship with all of your listeners. By submitting the feed yourself, you will:
- gain access to listening analytics that these platforms provide
- be able to communicate with your fans in a more direct way
- in some cases, generate additional earnings through partnership programs
- become more independent
Submitting the feed
“Submitting” a feed to a distribution platform typically entails providing the URL of that RSS feed. The RSS feed contains a field with your email address; this will prove to the podcast distribution platforms that you are the owner of the podcast. Alternatively, some platforms may allow to verify ownership without an email address by simply embedding a special string in your feed.
Here are some platforms and indices that you may wish to submit the URL of your RSS feed to:
| Platform | URL |
|---|---|
| Podcast Index* | podcastindex.org/add |
| Apple Podcasts | podcasters.apple.com/support/897-submit-a-show |
| Spotify | podcasters.spotify.com/dash/submit |
| YouTube† | studio.youtube.com |
| TuneIn | help.tunein.com/contact/add-podcast-S19TR3Sdf |
| Castbox | helpcenter.castbox.fm/portal/en/kb/articles/claim-your-podcast |
* We submit to the Podcast Index automatically, unless you turn off Podping.
† Click “Create” and then “New podcast”.