Publish a podcast on Spotify and Apple Podcasts: an RSS guide

Prepare a show, not just an audio file

You need a show title, a description, a language, a category, artwork and at least one episode. Also prepare episode titles and descriptions, an explicit content label if needed, and the rights to the material you distribute. A trailer can introduce the project before the first interview.

For Apple, show artwork must be square, in JPG or PNG format, with no transparency. Apple recommends 3,000 × 3,000 pixels and accepts dimensions from 1,400 × 1,400 to 3,000 × 3,000 pixels via RSS. Keep the title readable at a small size.

The workshop below lets you hear original narration about RSS and explore its audio file, artwork and example XML feed. The script, audio and feed are hosted on this website and available to download. This teaching example is separate from the Audacity exercise and needs neither your own podcast nor an account. It has not been imported or submitted to directories: do not submit this lab feed as your own show.

The Spotify and Apple procedures below use official help pages checked on October 15, 2026. No import or submission was performed in those services for this example; no account screenshot is presented as proof. Menus may vary with the language and version of the interface.

Your podcast has three types of address, each with a different role. Prepare your show with a hosting provider, then connect its feed to the directories you want to use. For subsequent episodes, return to that host: you do not register the show again every time you publish.

• The RSS feed is the technical catalogue supplied by the host: show information, artwork and links to the audio files. This is usually the address you submit to listening platforms.
• The Spotify or Apple Podcasts show link opens its public page. Share it with your listeners once the show is available.
• An audio episode link points to one specific file. It does not replace the feed for the whole show.

• Spotify: finding and enabling your RSS feed
• Spotify: distributing your show to other platforms
• Apple: compliant show artwork

Put your podcast on Spotify with Spotify for Creators

This documented process applies to a show hosted by Spotify for Creators. It requires a Spotify account and the creators.spotify.com web dashboard; the Spotify music player is not needed. For a real new show, the documented option is Create a new show.

1. Open your show in Spotify for Creators and complete account verification if requested.
2. On the website, choose New episode, then Select a file. Upload your final audio in MP3, M4A or WAV format.
3. Enter the episode title and description. Add useful optional information, such as season and episode numbers.
4. Under Publish date, choose Now or Schedule. Check the local time displayed before confirming a scheduled release.
5. After publishing, open the public show page and play the episode. Check that it is the right file, with the correct title and duration, before sharing the link.

A file that has been uploaded or saved as a draft is not yet available to listeners. If the upload fails, play the file on your computer and check its format.

Spotify creates the RSS feed after you publish the first episode. In the English web interface, open Settings → Availability, then RSS Distribution: the availability and RSS distribution settings. Enable the feed for external platforms, then copy its URL.

Enabling the feed makes its email address public. Choose a dedicated address that you check. Enabling the feed does not automatically submit your show to Apple Podcasts: continue with the Apple process below.

• Open Spotify for Creators
• Spotify: choosing a new or existing show
• Spotify: publishing an audio episode
• Spotify: finding and enabling your RSS feed

Add a podcast hosted elsewhere to Spotify

You can keep your current host. The process for an external show in Spotify for Creators lets you either add it to Spotify or claim management access if it is already listed there.

1. Copy the RSS feed from your hosting dashboard.
2. Sign in to Spotify for Creators. If you already manage a podcast, go through your avatar and Add a new show.
3. Choose Find an existing show, then Somewhere else.
4. Enter the RSS feed. For a show already on Spotify, this process also accepts its Spotify URL.
5. Retrieve the eight-digit code sent to the email address in the RSS feed and use it to confirm ownership of the show.

Do not create a second show with the same episodes to work around a claiming problem. Check the feed address and whether the show exists in the directory. If it has already been claimed, ask its current administrator for access.

The Spotify page link is not an RSS feed, even though Spotify accepts it in the claiming process. Apple requires the full RSS feed URL, rather than your Spotify page or your promotional website.

• Spotify: choosing a new or existing show
• Spotify: claiming an externally hosted show

Submit the feed to Apple Podcasts

For a free podcast distributed via RSS, use Apple Podcasts Connect in a browser. The local exercise needs no account. A real submission requires an active Apple Account with two-factor authentication, a configured Podcasts Connect account and a public feed. The following documented procedure was not performed for this preview:

1. Click +, then New Show. Select Add a show with an RSS feed and enter the full feed URL.
2. Confirm with Add. Check the information retrieved, enter the contact details and confirm the rights to the content you distribute.
3. Under Availability, choose the territories and release date. Also check the available distribution and transcription settings.
4. Save with Save, resolve validation warnings, then select Publish. Content review is separate from technical validation.
5. After approval, open the public listing and check that the episode plays.

These labels come from the English Apple documentation. Their translations may vary with the account language. A technically valid feed does not, by itself, guarantee approval.

An Apple Account managed by an organisation is not accepted. The activation documentation also asks for a valid payment method and acceptance of Apple Media Services terms; it states that no charge is made until a purchase. Activation can be completed in a browser without opening Apple Music. No account, payment method or access setting was created or changed for this preview.

Distributing a free podcast via RSS does not require joining the paid Apple Podcasters Program, which is intended for subscriptions among other uses. Audio distributed in the RSS feed must meet Apple’s requirements, including MP3 or AAC: a format accepted for upload by the host is not necessarily the format served in the feed.

If you generate the narration with a synthetic voice, disclose it in the audio. For an Apple submission, rule 1.11 requires disclosure in the content and in the metadata for the show and every episode. Keep the credits and rights for the files actually generated too. This local example has not been submitted to or approved by Apple.

• Open Apple Podcasts Connect
• Apple: submitting a show with an RSS feed
• Apple: setting up a Podcasts Connect account
• Apple: audio formats for the feed
• Apple: content rules, including synthetic voices (1.11)

Protect your contact address and keep a single feed

Spotify warns that the email address included in an enabled RSS feed becomes public. Use a dedicated, accessible address for verification. Once the platforms are connected to the feed, publish subsequent episodes through the host: the directories retrieve them without you having to recreate the show.

Updates can take time. Check the status in each dashboard and open the public links before announcing availability everywhere. No universal timeframe for initial approval or ranking within the apps can be guaranteed.

• Spotify: finding and enabling your RSS feed
• Spotify: distributing your show to other platforms

If the podcast does not appear

Follow this troubleshooting order rather than deleting and recreating your show.

• Is the RSS feed public and accessible without a password?
• Does it contain at least one published episode and compliant artwork?
• Did you provide the RSS feed rather than a web page?
• Can you receive the verification email?
• Does the platform report a specific error, or simply a review in progress?
• After correcting the issue with the host, did you run validation again if requested?

Apple requires, among other things, servers that support HTTP HEAD requests and byte-range requests for media access. With managed podcast hosting, you normally do not need to configure this yourself: send the full error message to support.

If an episode is visible on only one platform, check that the other has received and accepted the show, then check its status, scheduled date and RSS feed. Avoid announcing availability everywhere before opening the public links.

• Apple: resolving validation errors
• Apple: RSS feed and media requirements
• Apple: claiming an existing show