Apple Podcasts fixes its submissions process

• After last year’s Podnews Report Card highlighted the difficulty of submitting a show to Apple Podcasts, Apple has fixed things - rolling out a new, streamlined, process to automatically submit a show for creators using selected podcast hosts. It removes the requirement to open an Apple account first. The launch podcast hosts are: Audioboom, Audiomeans, Ausha, Blubrry, Buzzsprout, Captivate, Castos, Hubhopper, Libsyn, Pinecast, Podbean, Podspace and Transistor.

  • Creators can then claim their show in Apple Podcasts Connect at a later date, should they want to. There is a new, streamlined process for that, using a token to place in your RSS feed. The new process also handles transferral of podcasts from one account to another.
  • The existing method of submitting a show isn’t going away, if you’re on other hosts.

• The clarity of responses to the Podnews Report Card last year was clear - with creators and publishers saying the Apple Podcasts submission process was “awfully complicated” with “too many hoops”, that the account requirement was “ridiculous and unnecessary”, and that it was particularly bad for “people who are new to podcasting”. We shared all the responses with Apple last year, and are delighted to see significant change, which should benefit the entire industry. Please, if you’ve not yet done it, complete the Podnews Report Card this year: and who knows what we can accomplish this time around.

• Edison Research released the Top 25 Podcasts in the UK for Q4/2024. News podcasts did well this quarter, which included the US Presidential Election. The BBC has the most titles in the list overall, though Goalhanger Podcasts has three shows in the top 5.

• SiriusXM and Wondery have reportedly opted out of Podtrac and Triton Digital’s US rankers. The companies complain that the rankers only measure audience size using RSS downloads.

  • The report was carried in Inside Audio Marketing, and carries many mentions of the companies being “second only to the iHeart Audience Network”. If you’d not already guessed, Inside Audio Marketing is owned by iHeart, a fact the website doesn’t disclose.

• You shouldn’t bother going to podcast conferences, says Steve Stewart… unless you want a bag of gold. Writing for Podnews, he highlights the benefits he’s gained from attending conferences, and tips on how to save money on attending.

• In Sweden, podcasting is continuing to grow, according to new data from Dagens Media. Hosting and ad tech company Podspace is the platform growing fastest, up 23% year-on-year, though it’s still significantly smaller than Acast and Swedish Radio. (Notable that Podspace is in Apple’s announcement today, too - see above)

Separated at birth?

At On Air Fest this week, Bumper’s Dan Misener and Lower Street’s Harry Morton. Harry’s the one in the blue jacket.

Tips and tricks - with Pod Predictor by Coleman Insights

• One of our most popular articles is how to understand podcast stats. It’s also our longest article, so we’d recommend brewing a nice cup of coffee before you start.

Podcast News - with Memberful

Using Memberful: Calm History is an independent history podcast narrated in a relaxing tone, with a sprinkle of sass and snark. The host says: “Memberful tools and features have helped me greatly to grow my paying members five-fold since changing platforms.”

SubwayTakes is a podcast now - announced at On Air Fest, the show adds a long-form video and audio extension of what audiences already know and love, with plans to introduce a variety of podcast formats to create the SubwayTakes multiverse down the line.

The Podnews Weekly Review this week includes an interview with SoundStack’s Rockie Thomas - and thoughts on whether Podcasting 2.0 has “failed”, as another podcast said this week.

Podcast Marketing Trends Explained is back for a new season. The data-driven podcast marketing show from Jeremy Enns (Podcast Marketing Academy) and Justin Jackson (Transistor) dives straight in with “Will Discovery Algorithms Save (or Destroy) Podcasting?”. If you’re a podcast creator, marketer, or producer wondering about how algorithmic discovery will change what it takes to make and market your show, you’ll want to check this episode out.