Producing a podcast is loads of fun – but it’s also hard work. Lining up schedules, booking in a recording session, setting up, making sure there’s a good capture… And all of this comes long before the often arduous editing and post-production process. Still, when all is said and done, at least you’re left with a brilliant show that you can be proud of.

Okay… Now what?

After you’ve made the thing, you need to get it out into the world. And this starts with publishing. In this post, we’re going to look at the best places to publish a podcast – but we’re going to make a distinction between podcast publishing and podcast marketing, which are two very separate things indeed. As you might be aware reading this, merely publishing a podcast is not enough to get listeners. You need to promote and market your show, too.

For now, let’s leave the marketing and promotion side of things for another day – it’s a deep topic with a lot of ground to cover. Instead, we’ll focus on the publishing part: the platforms, the pitfalls, and the perks. We’ll also cover a “one and done” approach, where you let an aggregator distribute your podcasts to all the platforms, with just one upload…

The podcast publishing platforms you should be on

Some of these are household names, others not so much – but if there’s an audience to be had, you should consider making your mark there.

Apple Podcasts

This is where it all started. And even today, Apple Podcasts remains a significant platform, with 28.5 million average monthly users. While this audience base has matured, and the platform has a somewhat “legacy” vibe to it, the birthplace of the podcast is still an absolutely essential place to publish.

Spotify

The Beast. The elephant in the room. The lumbering giant. Spotify has become a juggernaut, as unstoppable as it is unsustainable. But for now, its music streaming subscribers seamlessly transition into podcast listeners – giving you a massive potential audience: how’s half a billion active monthly listeners?

Google Podcasts

Not exactly known for its streaming prowess (although it should be, as we’ll find out), Google’s podcast platform automatically crawls the web looking for new episodes to add to its library. It’s worth being here because there’s a ton of advantages to using Google Podcasts, like claiming your show in search results for example – but in terms of listener numbers, we’re talking just 2.5% of the total podcast audience.

Amazon Music/Audible

Alexa, stop! Amazon Music and Audible have quickly become noteworthy platforms, thanks to Prime bundles. With Amazon’s extensive reach and the ability to appear on Echo devices, tapping into Amazon’s vast user base could be a win for a new show.

Stitcher

Stitcher has a devoted listener base. This platform values originality, so if you’re a leftfield producer, this could be where you find your home.

YouTube

This is Google’s party trick, and serves as a killer podcast publishing platform. You don’t even have to produce video for your podcasts, although it does help (quite a lot actually, but don’t worry about it…). YouTube has over 2.7 billion monthly users, simply destroying every other platform – combined. It’s free to publish, easy to use – and shouldn’t be ignored just because it’s a video streaming platform!

Your own website

Don’t forget to host your podcast directly on your website – because this is where you get the most control. You can also link in merch, further reading and do all kinds of community and audience-focused stuff from here.

All-in-one podcast distribution services

Upload once – be available to stream on everything. That’s right. Distributors and aggregators will put your show everywhere podcasts can be listened to, vastly widening your potential listener base. If you value simplicity and convenience, this might be your best bet – but be prepared to pay for the best experiences.

Podbean

Podbean provides hosting and distribution services. It offers features for both new and seasoned podcasters, simplifying the process from recording to publishing. If you prefer to manage the entire production process yourself, this might not be the one for you – but it does have excellent reviews, especially for customer service, and will put your podcast on every platform there is under the sun! It has a free tier, but the really useful options (including monetisation) start when you pay.

Spotify for Podcasters

Formerly Anchor, Spotify has been hoovering up distribution channels and networks (like Gimlet) to consolidate its hold on the streaming industry. Pushing your podcast to other platforms is, unsurprisingly, not enabled by default – but you can enable RSS feeds to push the show to other platforms. But it’s totally free to use, and extremely powerful.

Castos

Castos is a paid-for service, and at $19 per month, it’s on the pricey side. But it distributes everywhere, including YouTube, generates free transcripts, includes monetisation tools out of the gate – and even lets you analyse performance across platforms.

Should you really bother publishing your podcast everywhere?

Well, it might seem like overkill, but yes – at first anyway. It makes sense to see where your audience finds you, values you and wants to get more from you. In the early days, you’re starting from nowhere, and it’s up to your audience to build your profile. A bigger, wider net being cast makes sense.

Once you start getting some results in, you might find that your content performs best on a handful of platforms. And at this point, you might want to double down on those. But when you hit the bigtime… You’re going to need to be everywhere again!

That’s because by this stage in your podcasting career, people are going to want ease of access – and that means getting their shows on the service they’re subscribed to. If you’re platform exclusive, then you’ll have a deal in place for that, but otherwise, give the people what they want. Hint: the people do not want to be signed up for a million different streaming services…

We hope that better explains podcast publishing, and where to do it – and if you need support with your podcast production and post-production, get in touch!

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