She did.

In fact, she loved listening to audio stories so much that we got her the travel-sized Yoto Player for her third birthday.

So when an email landed in the inbox recently about a new kids’ audio player —one that’s been compared to the Yoto and the Toniebox —I was intrigued. It’s called the Seedpace Interactive Player, and I figured it deserved a look from me and my chief tester.

Thanks to Seedpace for sending one out for review purposes. We also use affiliate links in this review, which means we earn a small commission if you choose to buy through them, but it never costs you anything extra. Affiliates never cloud our judgement, so you can always trust that you are getting our honest thoughts.

Now, let’s get on with it.

What is the Seedpace Interactive Player?

I’ll admit, the cynic in me suspected it might just be a Yoto copycat. But the Seedpace Player definitely stands out on its own.

Seedpace is the brainchild of a dad whose three-year-old asked, “If I were the hero, could I be brave too?” during a bedtime story.

Like the Yoto, it’s a portable screen-free audio player that lets you plug in and play different stories and songs. But that’s where the similarities end.

Seedpace looks a bit like a small robot’s head, with its buttons forming a face. Pick it up and give it a wiggle, and the player acts dizzy. Even left alone, the face stays “alert”, offering the odd wink, frown, or smirk. It is a small detail, but a fun touch that makes it instantly endearing.

Seedplayer Crafts

Instead of Yoto-style cards, the Seedpace audio comes on sturdy, disc-shaped crafts. To play one, simply place it on top of the player, and it starts automatically. Swap it for another, and it even remembers where you left off.

You get three crafts in the box:

Storybox: 12 Bedtime Stories

Not much more to say about this, it does exactly what it says on the tin. Or craft, as it were.

Dino Land

Here, we add some interactivity. Dino Land is a fun and educational craft that blends audio drama with learning about dinosaurs, featuring interactive true-or-false quizzes along the way.

The Cursed Wizard

This one’s the Seedplayer’s piece de resistance. The Cursed Wizard uses AI to generate stories that cast your kid as the main character. I couldn’t really believe what I was hearing, first time round.

Seven other crafts are available on the Seedpace website. I’ve got a couple on my Santa list, Space & City Explorers-The Alien’s Adventure and Clumsy Monster: Learning at School & Time Travel. We’ll see if the big man delivers.

Podcasters can create their own audio stories and add them to blank crafts, too. Why not pair the player with the ultra-accessible Micro-Speak Plus recorder and let your kid tell some stories of their own?

How Do the Seedpace AI Stories Work?

What’s under the hood is a mystery. But you set up a profile on the Seedpace companion app, where you’re invited to enter your child’s first name, age, and gender.

Then, you pick from a range of Educational Goals. These are things like:

• Values: Kindness, honesty, compassion, etc
• Social Skills: Friendship, sharing, conflict resolution, etc
• Emotional Education: Confidence, perseverance, coping with setbacks, etc
• Cognitive Development: Curiosity, creativity, problem solving, etc
• Life skills: Time management, basic etiquette, healthy habits

There’s also a ‘More Goals’ section where you can add in any that weren’t an option. For example, “patience”.

It seems the player uses this information to create fully AI-generated stories, but they sound surprisingly well produced.

Kids choose a location using the left button and a best friend with the right, then, after a short pause, the player creates a brand-new story. It is a clever and impressive feature. Granted, they don’t compete with something a human has written and produced, but the stories manage to capture a real sense of fun, imagination, and discovery.

It’s worth noting that I’ve had a minor bug with the smartphone app where it won’t lock in my wee one’s gender settings. I set it to ‘Female’, but it always reverts back to ‘Prefer not to say’. It’s a small thing, and I doubt it has any bearing on the stories, but I’ve tried everything to fix it and just can’t.

Seedpace Interactive Player Vs Yoto Player

So the Seedpace Player isn’t just a Yoto knockoff. That said, it’s unlikely your kid would need both. So which to choose?

Pricing

At the time of writing, you can get the Seedpace with its three crafts for $99/£80. The Yoto Mini is currently $80 (£60), and the Yoto 3rd Gen is $110 (£100).

It’s unclear which cards are included. From memory, there was a small bundle (including a ‘write your own’ card) that came with the 3rd Gen. I’m sure the Mini was accompanied by one ‘write your own’ card, too.

Variety

If you’re looking for variety, then there’s very little you can’t find for the Yoto. They have a huge library, from Disney and Sesame Street to Roald Dahl and Harry Potter. You can even get Bob Marley and The Beatles albums on Yoto cards.

Looking at the cost of stories, you can get a pack of cards with six Disney classics for $45. The Swashboggling Collection sits at $50, whilst The Chronicles of Narnia is a princely $60.

Seedpace’s small library of crafts is typically cheaper than Yoto’s offerings. Everything is currently priced at $20 on the player’s website, though there’s no big IPs on there yet.

Durability

As for durability, our two Yoto Players have had a tough life and still live to tell the tale. The Seedpace Player seems durable enough, though I’m not going to ask her to throw it down the stairs to find out for sure.

I do think the crafts look more resilient than the Yoto cards, though; it would take something special to bend or break one of those!

Headphones

None of these players comes with headphones, but all have a 3.5mm jack. Often, it’s fun to hear their audio. But on lengthy car journeys, do you really want to hear Elsa belting out Let It Go for the fiftieth time?

Extra Features

The Yoto 3rd Gen has an “okay to wake” light feature, which Seedpace and the Yoto Mini don’t. I know that has nothing to do with audio stories, but if you’re in the market for one of those, too, then that might just swing it.

Interactivity

Interactivity is the Seepace Player’s USP. Not only can you play educational true-or-false quizzes, but The Cursed Wizard craft tailors AI-generated stories around your kid’s first name and learning goals.

That isn’t to say Yoto is an entirely passive player. There’s a wide range of interactive content and audio games available. My wee one’s favourite is Dungeons & Dragons: Forge Your Quest. It’s actually my favourite, too.

Summary: Seedpace Interactive Player

Seedpace is a distinctive and welcome addition to the growing world of screen-free audio players for kids. At only $99 (£80 in the UK), it offers excellent value, especially given its near-infinite story potential.

Currently, the Seedpace catalogue is limited, while Yoto’s is extensive. But since both players let you record and add your own, you’re unlikely to feel stuck with a small selection. I fully expect Seedpace to add more crafts to its range over the coming year as well.

There’s no clear winner, and I’d be happy if my wee one could only ever use one or the other. Seedpace has the novelty edge right now, though, and it’ll be exciting to see what they do next with this clever technology!

Nothing can turn folks off your content quicker than poor audio quality! You could offer up life-changing tips in a beautifully filmed setting, but if it sounds like you’re recording on a potato, your content is destined to struggle.

In 2025, computers and smartphones do a fantastic job at helping us record pristine audio, especially when paired with gadgets like USB audio interfaces, XLR mics, or wireless lavalier clip-on setups. But if you’re looking for the most robust, reliable, and dedicated way to capture the spoken word in all its high-fidelity glory, then you need a digital voice recorder.

Best Digital Recorders For Podcasters, YouTubers, & Content Creators

In this guide, I’ll help you choose the best digital recorder for your needs and budget. These picks come from over 15 years of testing and real-world use. You’ll notice a lot of Zoom models because they’ve made many great ones (and we’ve owned most of them in our studio), but they are not the only brand worth considering. You’ll also find excellent options from Tascam, Rode, and others.

Some of the links in this guide are affiliate links. We only recommend products we’d use ourselves, and buying through these links helps support our free content at no extra cost to you.

Alright, let’s get into it…

Zoom H1essential

Cost: $110

It feels like the Zoom H1 has been around forever, and the H1essential is the latest update to Zoom’s classic pocket recorder. It packs a lot of quality into a small and affordable package, now offering 32-bit float recording, which means you are far less likely to ruin takes with clipping or distortion. It is light, portable, and simple to use, making it perfect for beginners or anyone who wants something small enough to keep handy for spontaneous interviews or ideas on the go. You won’t get XLR inputs at this price, but as a starter recorder, it’s a brilliant way to step into the world of podcast audio.

Check out the Zoom H1essential on Amazon

Tascam DR-05XP

Cost: $110

Tascam’s DR-05XP brings their well-respected audio pedigree to the entry-level range, with the bonus of 32-bit float capture and a USB-C connection. The next evolution of the old Tascam DR-05, the DR-05XP is a handheld recorder with built-in stereo mics that perform well for voices and general ambience. Its straightforward layout means you can get up and running quickly without lots of fiddling in menus. Like the H1essential, it doesn’t have XLR inputs, but for its low price, it offers excellent recording quality and reliability.

Check out the Tascam DR-05XP on Amazon

Micro-Speak Plus

Cost: $75

The Micro-Speak Plus was designed for blind and low-vision users, which also makes it accessible for beginners, kids, or anyone who wants a simple setup. Matthew recently tested it with the help of his four-year-old daughter and was impressed by its design, features, and sound quality. It doesn’t support external microphones and records in a compressed format, so it won’t satisfy audio purists. But the sound holds up well, and it’s an accessible, budget-friendly option for many podcasters.

Check out the Micro-Speak Plus on Amazon

Zoom H1 XLR Handy Recorder

Cost: $150

If you liked how Zoom upgraded the H1 to the H1essential, look what they’ve done this time round. With “XLR” in the name, this will come as no huge surprise, but it comes with two proper XLR/TRS inputs. The H1 XLR also has phantom power, so you can plug in studio mics and capture high-quality sound wherever you are. It records in 32-bit float, which means you no longer need to stress over gain settings or clipping, and accessibility has also been a big focus, with voice guidance and tactile buttons making it easy for anyone to operate!

Check out the Zoom H1 XLR on Amazon

Zoom H2n

Cost: $150

Matthew’s first-ever Zoom recorder was the venerable Zoom H2. That was so long ago that even its successor, the H2n, was released almost 15 years ago. The H2 and H2n have been long-time favourites among podcasters, conference attendees, and field recordists. Both models are incredibly flexible for capturing all sorts of content, from panel discussions to sound effects.

The H2n doesn’t have XLR inputs, so you’re limited to the onboard mics, but they are excellent for the price, and it remains one of the most versatile grab-and-go recorders available today.

Check out the Zoom H2n on Amazon

Zoom PodTrak P4

Cost: $170

Another one of Matthew’s picks, the PodTrak P4 is purpose-built for podcasters, and it really shows. It offers four XLR inputs, four headphone outputs with individual volume control, and handy sound pads for music or effects. It even has mix-minus built in, so you can record remote guests or phone calls without worrying about echoes or feedback.

Despite all these features, it’s still very affordable and portable, running on batteries or USB power. The trade-off is that it doesn’t have any built-in mics, but if you already have or plan to buy external microphones, the P4 is one of the easiest ways to record a multi-person podcast on the move.

Check out the Zoom PodTrak P4 on Amazon

Zoom H4essential

Cost: $220

My Zoom H4n served me well for many years, and the range is still going strong today. Like the H1, it has had a few iterations since 2007. The latest model, the H4essential, continues to deliver reliable, good-sounding recordings at up to 32-bit float. This recorder combines a pair of high-quality onboard mics with two XLR inputs that provide phantom power for external microphones.

I would take this on the go with me to events and conferences, but it also doubled up as a USB audio interface when I was recording back in the studio.

Check out the Zoom H4essential on Amazon

Zoom H5

Cost: $250

We both upgraded to the Zoom H5 around 2015 and loved its interchangeable capsules, which let us swap between mic types (like the SSH-6 shotgun). It also has two XLR inputs with phantom power for plugging in studio mics. Like the H4n, it’s a superb all-rounder, equally at home in a portable kit or a studio setup, and the fact it’s still widely recommended years later speaks volumes. One small downside is that after about a decade, the rubber coating can start to break down and perish, though this can apparently be fixed with alcohol. That’s probably not a sentence you expected to read in this roundup, is it?

Check out the Zoom H5 on Amazon

Zoom H6essential

Cost: $330

There was a funny period in podcasting between around 2013 and 2018 when creators became obsessed with multi-mic setups. The more mics, the better. And if you could record them all on separate channels, then that truly was the Holy Grail. We added an H6 to our studio setup somewhere along the way and marvelled over just how many people we could potentially record.

Last year, the new H6essential added 32-bit float recording and some other modernised features like USB-C connection. The H6 is bigger and heavier than the H5, but the ability to record six individual tracks at once makes it invaluable for podcasters working with larger teams or casts.

Check out the Zoom H6essential on Amazon

Tascam Portacapture X8

Cost: $400

There’s more to the digital voice recorder world than Zoom’s various offerings. Tascam’s Portacapture X8 is a high-end handheld recorder that combines pristine sound with a modern touchscreen interface. It can record up to eight tracks simultaneously at 32-bit float and 192 kHz, delivering extremely detailed and distortion-free audio.

The X8 is as comfortable in the field as it is in the studio, and its versatility makes it appealing to podcasters, filmmakers, and sound designers alike. It is not the cheapest option by any means, but if you want to invest in a recorder that captures professional-grade audio in almost any setting, the X8 is hard to beat.

Check out the Tascam Portacapture X8 on Amazon

Rode Rodecaster Pro II

Cost: $595

The Rodecaster Pro II is where the digital recorder meets the more traditional mixer or soundboard. This has been the hub of my podcasting setup for many years now, and it’s often described as the ultimate podcast studio in a box.

The Rodecaster offers four high-quality XLR inputs, multi-track recording, sound pads, Bluetooth connectivity, and seamless integration for remote calls. The big colour touchscreen makes setup and operation straightforward, while its processing tools and effects mean you can polish your sound without any extra gear. It’s not exactly pocket-sized, but for podcasters who want a dedicated hub that can handle everything from recording to live streaming, the Rodecaster Pro II is a powerful and well-designed solution.

You can also pick up the Rodecaster Duo (designed for recording two people, would you believe?) for under $500.

Check out the Rode Rodecaster II on Amazon

Mackie DLZ Creator

Cost: $800

Mackie’s DLZ Creator is another all-in-one podcasting studio, with a larger footprint and an emphasis on ease of use. Its sizable touchscreen and “AutoMix” features guide beginners through the process of recording professional-sounding audio, while still offering plenty of control for experienced users.

The DLZ offers multiple mic inputs, headphone outputs, and advanced routing options, making it suitable for everything from solo episodes to full panel shows. It is more expensive than the Rodecaster and takes up more desk space, but for podcasters who want a feature-rich, intuitive workstation, it is an impressive piece of kit.

You can also opt for the Mackie DLZ XS, a more compact version, for around $500.

Check out the Mackie DLZ Creator on Amazon

Summary: Best Digital Recorder For Podcasting

Alright, let’s quickly summarise with a few takeaway recommendations.

When it comes to choosing the best digital recorder, there’s no getting around it that budget will be a huge factor for most.

The Micro-Speak Plus is the cheapest in the roundup, and although it’s perfect for folks seeking pure simplicity and maximum accessibility, the audio limitations might put many off. If you want minimal spend but studio-quality audio, opt for the Tascam DR-05XP.

If you’re looking for an all-rounder workhorse, while still keeping an eye on spend, then you can’t go wrong with the Zoom H4essential.

If you’re looking for a real top-tier recorder, then the Tascam Portacapture X8 or Zoom H6essential are hard to see past.

And, if you’re venturing into the realm of all-in-one podcast recorders, the Zoom PodTrak P4 is the affordable option. After that, choose how many hundreds you’d like to spend on one of the various Rodecaster or DLZ Creator models!

Ready to Record Your Podcast?

A digital voice recorder is only one of many ways to record brilliant audio for podcast or content creation.

If you’re looking for software rather than hardware, then check out our Best Podcast Recording Software roundup. Or, take a look at our How to Record a Podcast guide if you’d like to start with the very basics.

Many of the digital recorders mentioned in this roundup can run external XLR mics, too. Here’s our Best Podcast Microphones roundup, where we list our top recs, along with pricing, sound samples, and our musings on each.

Finally, if you’re looking for the perfect place to make your podcast, then check out Alitu. An all-in-one podcast maker software, Alitu records solo or calls, automatically cleans, levels, and optimises your audio, provides filler word removal and text-based editing tools, and you can publish directly to Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and beyond. Try it out free and see what you think!

What Do I Need Before Uploading a Podcast?

In theory, you just need an audio file to act as a trailer or first episode. Of course, it helps if you know why you want to podcast and who you want to reach, but that isn’t the main focus of this guide. Check out How to Start a Podcast if you want to optimise your show for growth, success, and monetisation. Crucially, it’ll also teach you how to go ahead and make the thing!

But let’s assume you have an episode ready to publish, and a long list of tantalising ideas for the next 10-15. What’s next? First up, we need to create an RSS feed and start submitting it to the places we want the show to be found.

How Do I Create and Submit a Podcast RSS Feed?

An RSS feed is like a unique URL. You’ll get your own after creating an account on a podcast hosting platform.

Setting up your podcast in a hosting account is like filling out its profile on social media. You add things like its name, description, and cover art. The beauty of it all is that this is the one single place you upload your episodes.

Here’s an example of an RSS feed in Alitu. In most hosting providers, you’ll find it in a tab labelled Distribution, Show Distribution, or similar.

Submitting your RSS feed to apps, directories, and listening platforms means your podcast and all its episodes will be available there, even though you’ve only published them in your hosting account.

As for which hosting provider, I’ve linked to our full guide featuring all the best options, pricing, and special tools. But if you’re just looking for some quick recs, then:

• Captivate is a feature-rich hosting platform with some brilliant growth and monetisation tools. Our link is an affiliate, so we would earn a small commission should you choose to sign up via it, never at any extra cost. We use Captivate ourselves for some of our shows and really trust the folks there.
• Alitu is an all-in-one podcast maker platform where you can easily record and edit your episodes before publishing them. If you’re short on time or completely non-technical, then Alitu is the perfect option for you.
• Spotify has a free hosting option built-in. You don’t need to host with Spotify to be listed on the platform, and it’s a lot less personalised than the dedicated hosting services out there, but if you’ve no budget at all, then it’s a potential starter option. If your show starts to gain traction down the line, though, I’d recommend moving it to a dedicated hosting provider.

Whether you create your show in Spotify or submit through your hosting platform, making your show available there is essential for growth. Around a third of all podcast listening happens on Spotify, and it seems like a good place to start…

How Do I Upload a Podcast to Spotify?

To publish a podcast on Spotify, start by logging in to the Spotify for Creators portal or creating a new account. In the top-right menu, select your profile icon and choose Add a New Show.

The Create a New Show option lets you launch a brand-new podcast directly on Spotify. The ‘Find an Existing Show’ option is for podcasts hosted elsewhere (E.g., Alitu, Captivate) that you want to list on Spotify.

Once your episode is published, Spotify will ask if you would like to enable RSS distribution. This is a no-brainer, and means you can make your show available everywhere else podcasts are found, from Apple Podcasts to Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Overcast, and beyond.

Spotify for Creators offers some handy tools for podcasters, ranging from interactive show notes to cross-promotion with other creators. You’ll find a full breakdown in our guide to optimising your podcast on Spotify.

Uploading Video Podcasts to Spotify

Spotify has made a big push to compete with YouTube on the video front, and you have the option to add a visual component to your episodes, whether you host on the platform or elsewhere.

Inside Spotify for Creators, go to the Episodes tab and click the three dots next to any episode. You’ll see options to upload a clip (a short vertical video) or a full video version of the episode.

Be aware that uploading a full video episode means Spotify will replace your podcast audio with the audio from that video. If you use dynamic ads, they won’t run, so proceed with caution.

How Do I Upload a Podcast to Apple Podcasts?

Apple Podcasts is still the ultimate and non-negotiable place to submit your podcast. It accounts for even more of the podcast consumption pie than Spotify, and being listed there automatically makes it available almost everywhere else; Overcast, Castbox, Pocket Casts, etc.

Most hosting providers have a one-click submission to Apple Podcasts within their dashboard. That’s as easy as it sounds. So long as you have the essentials like your artwork and one published episode, you’re good to go ahead and hit the button.

One-click submission is convenient, but it means you’ll miss out on useful analytics from Apple. If you want to check data like listen time, then you should submit manually. To do this, log in to Apple Podcasts Connect and click the plus icon in the top left.

Choose Add a show with an RSS feed. Copy the link over from your hosting provider, and hit ‘Add’. Your show will usually be available in Apple Podcasts and across all other platforms within a couple of hours!

Uploading Video Podcasts to Apple

Not many people know that Apple Podcasts supports video as well as audio. If you want to add a visual element to your show that is not dependent on YouTube or Spotify, here is how to do it.

First, choose a podcast hosting provider that supports video podcasting through RSS. Many hosts focus on audio and only allow video for embeds or web players, but a few, such as Libsyn, Blubrry, and Podbean, handle video files correctly for Apple Podcasts.

Set up your show as normal in one of these platforms. The main difference is that when you publish an episode, you upload a video file, such as MP4, instead of an MP3 audio file. Your hosting provider will mark the file as video in your RSS feed, and Apple Podcasts will display it as a video episode. Other apps that pull listings from Apple treat this differently. Apps that support video (like Pocket Casts) will show the video, while audio-only apps (such as Overcast) will play only the audio track.

You can mix audio and video episodes in the same feed, but this usually creates an inconsistent experience for listeners. Many creators instead publish two separate feeds, one for audio and one for video, with the video version clearly labelled in its title. Because support for video podcasts outside of Apple is limited, most podcasters who create video also release it on YouTube, or focus their video efforts solely on YouTube.

Can I Upload a Podcast Directly to YouTube?

You don’t need me to tell you that YouTube is one of the biggest platforms in the world (though here I am doing it anyway ). Publishing your podcast there makes total sense, even if you don’t pay it any extra attention.

You don’t need to record video to list your podcast on YouTube. All you need is a YouTube account. Open YouTube Studio, click Create in the top-right corner, and select New Podcast. You’ll see three options:

1. Create a New Podcast
Enter your podcast title, description, and visibility (public, private, or unlisted). Note that “title” means the overall show name (e.g. Podcraft), not an individual episode. You’ll also be asked to upload your podcast cover art. Once set up, you can tag any uploaded videos as episodes in the series.

2. Set an Existing Playlist as a Podcast
Choose this if you already have a playlist you want YouTube to recognise as a podcast. Select the playlist, then add the same details as above.

3. Submit Your RSS Feed
Paste in the RSS feed URL provided by your podcast host. From then on, episodes published through your host will automatically appear on YouTube.

Be aware that this is a one-way ingestion process, which may sound complicated (or even painful), but it simply means that once a new episode is published there, it’s no longer connected to your hosting account. Because of this, any edits you make to the title, show notes, or audio won’t update on YouTube, unlike in all other podcast directories.

Bottom line: if you ever had to update an episode on YouTube, you’d need to log in to the platform and do it manually.

On YouTube, many podcast “videos” are either a static image (often your cover art) or an audiogram, which is a still image with simple dynamic elements like captions or a moving waveform.

What your episodes look like depends on how you publish:

• Submit RSS feed: episodes appear as static images.
• Distribute via your host: may generate either a static image or an audiogram.
• Upload manually: full control over visuals. You can create anything from simple graphics to professionally shot videos. Our guide to AI tools for podcasters can help you build these quickly, and our guide to the best video editing software is essential if you plan to make a big push on the video podcasting side.

Can I Upload a Podcast to My Website?

If you own or manage a website on a platform like WordPress, you could, in theory, use it to host and distribute your podcast. I wouldn’t recommend this route, though, even if your web hosting service claims “unlimited bandwidth”. They’ll quickly change their mind when it comes to serving up audio files.

Always use a dedicated podcast hosting provider; they’re specifically designed to handle requests for hundreds or thousands of media files in short periods of time. You can still use your own website as the “shop front” for your show, creating blog posts for each episode and embedding your podcast player into them. Like this…

Your hosting provider will give you a basic website, too, which is good enough for most. As an example, here’s the Podcraft website on Alitu. You can buy a domain name (yourpodcast.com), point it to this site, and call it done. You can also link your RSS feed to a tool like Podpage, which uses your podcast to create a feature-rich podcast website in minutes.

What About Publishing Private Podcasts or Selling Podcast Episodes?

The vast majority of podcasts are available freely to everyone – but there are exceptions.

Some folks want to create private podcast feeds. This might be for an internal company podcast as a way of communicating with employees. Or, it might be done as premium content alongside an existing show. In any case, here’s our full guide on how to create a private podcast.

And speaking of premium content, too, here’s our guide on how to sell podcast episodes, if you’re looking to go down that route.

How to Combine Recording & Editing With Uploading & Publishing a Podcast

Alitu is an all-in-one podcast maker that lets you handle recording, editing, and publishing from a single dashboard. It’s built for people who either don’t have audio production experience or simply don’t have the time to spend hours editing, but still want a professional-sounding show.

You can record solo episodes or remote calls, cut mistakes, and build your episode with music and segments using simple drag-and-drop tools. Alitu automatically processes your audio to clean it up, balance volume, and remove filler words or long pauses.

When you’re ready to release, publish directly from Alitu or connect it to another hosting service, like Captivate. Either way, it keeps your workflow simple and centralised.

How to Publish a Podcast: Next Steps

Hopefully this guide has helped show you that uploading and publishing a podcast is simple.

Actually succeeding at podcasting, on the other hand, is a much bigger test.

In our 2025 Indie Podcasters Survey, 72% of respondents reported growing an audience and discoverability as their major challenges.

Much of that comes down to the groundwork you lay in the podcast planning stages. But a successful podcast is always a work in progress. Action, execution and accountability are the priorities when you work with us in the Podcraft Academy. In there, we’ll listen to your show and give you detailed feedback on everything from episode titles and show notes, to audio quality, presentation style, and conversation clarity!

Why List Your Podcast on Spotify?

Spotify is one of the biggest podcast listening platforms on the planet. It accounts for 32% of all downloads on podcast hosting platform Buzzsprout, second only to Apple Podcasts. By getting listed on Spotify, your show will become available to millions of potential listeners in over 75 countries.

And the good news is that it’s quick and easy to make your podcast available on Spotify. This guide will show you a few different ways to do it.

A quick heads up: some of our hosting provider links here are affiliate links, as we highly recommend them all. If you decide to sign up through one, we’d earn a small commission, though at absolutely no extra cost to you!

How to Upload a Podcast to Spotify Directly

Spotify has had podcast hosting built in since it acquired Anchor. This means you don’t need to use a dedicated podcast hosting provider, and as Spotify for Podcasters (Spotify’s hosting service) is free, you don’t need to spend any money, either.

To publish a podcast on Spotify, you’ll need to log in to (or create an account for) the Spotify for Podcasters portal. Then, in the top right-hand dropdown menu, click your name icon, then ‘Add a New Show’.

• The ‘Create a new show’ option enables you to build a new audio or video podcast from scratch on Spotify.
• The ‘Find an existing show’ option is used when you choose to host the podcast elsewhere, but want to make it available in Spotify.

If you’re creating an entirely new show, you’ll need to fill in the essential details, such as the podcast name, description, category, and language.

Then, you’ll be prompted to upload your podcast cover art.

Once you’ve created your podcast, you’ll need at least one published episode to launch your show and make it available in the Spotify directory. This could be a short trailer or an episode zero.

Once your episode is published, Spotify will ask if you would like to enable RSS distribution. Doing so means you can make your show available everywhere else podcasts are found, from Apple Podcasts to Podcast Addict, Pocketcasts, Overcast, and beyond.

Should I Host My Podcast on Spotify?

Spotify’s hosting is the most direct way to publish a podcast on their platform, but it isn’t the most reliable. Like most free services, you trade control and support for zero cost. If you ever need personalised help, a dedicated podcast host is far more likely to step in quickly and reliably.

Beyond that, paid hosting platforms offer more tools to help you create, grow, and monetise your show. Let’s look at how to publish to Spotify using some of those options.

How to Upload a Podcast to Spotify With RSS.com

RSS.com allows you to create an account and upload up to one episode for free, but you’re better off opting for their $11.99/month annual plan. This gives you unlimited episodes, duration, monetization features and more. 

RSS.com offers automatic distribution to Spotify and other major podcast directories. Once you’ve signed up for an account and uploaded an episode, click the “Distribution” tab from your Dashboard, enable “Automatic Submission,” and then enable Spotify and any other directory you’d like your podcast automatically submitted to.

Use the promo code THEPODCASTHOST to get two free months on the standard monthly subscription.

• Sign up With RSS.com
• Read Our Full RSS.com Review

How to Upload a Podcast to Spotify With Alitu

Alitu is an all-in-one podcast-maker app. It’s one single place where you can record, edit, publish, and distribute your podcast. You get access to absolutely all of its tools and features for $38 per month (or get two free months when paying annually). This means you don’t need to pay for additional subscriptions to call recorder, audio editing, transcription, and hosting services.

Once you’ve created your podcast inside Alitu, you just need to go to Settings > Distribution. You’ll then see a ‘Copy RSS Feed’ button and an ‘Add to Spotify’ button. The latter takes you to their podcaster dashboard, and you simply claim your show by copying in your RSS feed.

• Sign up With Alitu
• How to Make a Podcast With Alitu

How to Upload a Podcast to Spotify With Captivate

Captivate‘s lowest price tier is $19 a month. You can start and run as many podcasts as you like on Captivate. Their payment tiers work by capping the overall number of monthly downloads from all your podcast episodes, combined. For the $19, that number is 30,000 downloads a month. To put things in perspective, here’s a guide on ‘typical’ download numbers for podcasts.

After signing up and creating your podcast in Captivate, you just need to click ‘Distribute’ on the main menu. Again, you’ll see a list of places you can submit your podcast to, and Spotify is one of them.

• Sign up With Captivate
• Read Our Full Captivate Review

How to Upload a Podcast to Spotify With Transistor

Transistor is another top-tier hosting platform. They offer a 14-day free trial, and their lowest-paid tier is $19 a month. They work the same way as Captivate, so you can run as many podcasts as you like. Your overall combined download limit this time would be 20,000 per month.

To get a podcast on Spotify via Transistor, sign up and create your podcast, then look for the ‘Distribution’ option in the menu on the left-hand side of the page. There, you’ll find all your submission options alongside Spotify itself.

• Sign up With Transistor
• Read Our Full Transistor Review

How to Upload a Podcast to Spotify With Buzzsprout

You can start using podcast hosting provider Buzzsprout for free, but you’re better off opting for their $ 12/month plan. That way, your episodes won’t be deleted after 90 days, and you can upload more content, too.

Once you’ve signed up and created your podcast, you simply need to click the Directories tab, and you’ll see all the places you can get listed. Again, naturally, Spotify is one of them.

• Sign up With Buzzsprout
• Read Our Full Buzzsprout Review

How to Submit or Claim Your Podcast on Spotify

I’ve covered several podcast hosting options, but there are plenty more out there. Wherever you host your show, you’ll have an RSS feed link, and that’s all you need to submit your podcast to Spotify.

Again, you’ll need to log in to (or create an account for) the Spotify for Podcasters portal. Then, in the top right-hand dropdown menu, click your name icon, then ‘Add a New Show’.

This time, select ‘Find an existing show’ and click ‘Somewhere else’. Then, paste in your RSS feed link, which you’ll find in your hosting provider dashboard.

If your podcast is already listed on Spotify, you can also use this method to ‘claim’ it. This will let you see your show’s Spotify stats, demographics, and other useful info.

Spotify Verification Email

When claiming an existing show in Spotify, they’ll contact you via the email address associated with your podcast hosting account. That’ll give you instructions on how to verify and confirm everything.

Spotify for Podcasters Tips, Tools, & Tactics

Making your show available on Spotify is a major step forward for any podcaster. But, whether you host on Spotify or another platform, you can take advantage of some additional analytics and growth tools in the dashboard.

Spotify Users Podcast (& Music) Stats

Once you’ve claimed your podcast in Spotify, you can despair in the fact you’ve discovered yet another place to obsessively check stats. Remember, these are only stats from Spotify, and not other listening platforms like Apple Podcasts, Podcast Addict, etc.

You’ll even get to see the guilty listening pleasures of your audience in the ‘Artists they’re listening to’ section. This is based on the most-streamed artists of the past 28 days. I had someone called Billy Eyelash as my audience’s top pick. I’ve no idea, either…

There are demographic stats, which might come in handy for your media kit. You can also look at episode stats to see completion and listener drop-off rates. These can give you a useful sample in identifying segments of your show that hold attention and the bits that have your listener reaching for the skip forward button.

Spotify Listen Time Data

You can combine your Spotify listener data with similar data available in Apple Podcasts Connect to get a decent sample size of your overall podcast listen time.

Listen time is a more compelling and robust statistic for your media kit than cold, hard download numbers, too. After all, this is proof that people have heard it.

How to Add Interactive Spotify Shortcuts

“Links in the show notes” is a familiar phrase for most podcasters. But on Spotify, you can take it further by adding direct links to other podcasts, songs, or audiobooks right inside your episodes.

Inside Spotify for Podcasters, select any episode in the Episodes tab, then click ‘details’. In the ‘Add a shortcut’ tab, you can search for anything you want to include in there.

Growth Partnerships With Other Podcasts on Spotify

Spotify app users will see a ‘More like this’ tab when browsing your show. Spotify enables you to pick two custom recommendations here.

Inside your Spotify for Podcasters dashboard, click on ‘Settings’ then scroll down to the ‘Host recommendations’ section. You can then add two podcasts of your choice, which can make for a brilliant collaboration opportunity with other shows in your niche.

Sharing Your Spotify Links

You can grab a direct link to your Spotify podcast listing once you’re listed there.

You can do this in both the Spotify desktop and mobile apps.

To get your show’s link in the desktop app, click the little ‘more’ button (the circle with three dots in it) to the left of the ‘Play’ and ‘Follow’ buttons. Then click ‘Copy Show Link’.

In the mobile app, the ‘more’ button is up in the very top-right corner of the screen. Again, it appears as three dots. Click it, then click ‘Share’, and then ‘Copy Link’.

Add these links to the subscribe page on your podcast website – make it easy for your listeners to find your show anywhere audio is consumed.

Bonus tip: You might even want to create a public Spotify playlist with your best episodes.

Showing Listeners How to Follow Your Podcast on Spotify

Adding links to the places your show can be found is all well and good. But showing people how to listen is even better.

Here’s a quick ‘how-to’ video you can embed on your website. Or, use it as a template to make your own. If you do this for Spotify, be sure to do the same for Apple, too. Here’s how to follow a show on Apple Podcasts.

Reach a New Audience on Spotify

Millions of people are listening to podcasts on Spotify right now. If you’ve launched your podcast, it’s well worth being available there.

And if you’re looking for somewhere to host your new podcast so you can push it out to places like Spotify, be sure to check out Alitu. Not only is Alitu a podcast hosting provider, but it also has every other feature needed to run a podcast. These include call recording, editing, text-based editing, auto noise reduction, volume levelling, and AI-generated transcription and shownotes. Check it out with a week’s free trial and see for yourself!

There are only so many ways to review microphones, and I’ve reviewed billions of them over the past decade.

And then, just as I have a fleeting thought of “Would anyone know if ChatGPT wrote this for me?” along comes a mic that actually does something different!

A quick heads up: we use some affiliate links in our reviews to help support all of our free content. We earn a small commission should you choose to buy through them, though never at any extra cost to you. We also received the MV7i on a loan from Shure for review purposes.

What’s So Unique About the Shure MV7i?

During my years as an audio gear reviewer, here’s how things have almost always worked:

• Option 1 – get a USB mic and plug it straight into your computer.
• Option 2 – get an XLR mic (or two) and run it through a USB audio interface plugged into your computer.

USB audio interfaces can be great bits of gear, but they are very single-purpose. They don’t record the audio, and they don’t store the audio. These are the jobs of your mic and computer, respectively.

Shure reinvented the wheel here by taking the role played by a USB audio interface and turning it into a USB mic.

Now, you can simply plug it in and hit record, just as you would with any other USB mic. Or, you can plug a second (XLR) mic into the Shure MV7i, and it runs both as if you had a USB audio interface.

The Shure MV7i as a Microphone

The original Shure MV7 was voted the third most popular mic in podcasting, according to our 2024 Podcaster Gear Survey.

In 2024, the MV7 was succeeded by the Shure MV7+, which quickly became another popular quality option for podcasters.

The Shure MV7i is part of the same family. It looks very similar to the other two, though it doesn’t work in XLR form (the other two could be plugged in via USB or XLR). It can run an additional XLR mic through it, but can’t act as one itself.

The MV7i has the same Digital Signal Processing as the MV7+. DSP refers to the various ways a microphone captures sound, impacting factors such as noise reduction, equalisation, and echo cancellation.

The fact that the MV7+ is such a great mic bodes well for the MV7i, and the fact that the latter doubles up as a USB audio interface makes this a powerhouse piece of kit.

The MV7i as an Audio Interface

You could buy the Shure MV7i purely as a USB mic, though it would be an expensive one if that’s all you did with it. At this price point, buyers will be leaning into its unique audio interface-style capabilities.

Have a guest or co-host visiting the studio? Grab an XLR mic, connect it to the Shure MV7i, and you’ll be all set to record on your own individual mics.

The XLR input is a Combo jack, meaning it can also take a 1/4″ TRS plug. This type of connection is more common in music than podcasting, but if you’re talented enough to sing and play the guitar, you can record each on two different tracks.

The MV7i, in its audio interface costume, offers a respectable +60dB of gain to help those quieter mics be heard, and 48v Phantom Power will run any XLR condenser mics at your disposal, too.

The MOTIV software acts as a digital mixer, allowing you to access all the settings for each mic, and you can also record directly inside there, too.

Comparable Setups

$349 is a lot of money, but how does it compare to buying an audio interface and two mics instead?

My favourite USB audio interface is the Focusrite Scarlett 2i2. Now in its 4th Generation, this would cost you about $200, brand new. That’s already more than half the cost of the MV7i.

Next, I’d need two mics. Our most recommended entry-level mic is the Samson Q2U – brilliant value at $70, but for two of them, that’s another $140. So we’re now less than $10 short of the MV7i asking price.

Of course, buying the MV7i doesn’t get you a secondary XLR mic, so this setup assumes you already have one. $350 will get you the MV7i, but it won’t guarantee you the maximum use out of it.

A Shure MV7+ (the MV7i’s sister mic) costs $279, so two of them would rack up to $558. Adding on another $200 for a standalone audio interface would come to $758!

So even if you needed to buy a second XLR mic (again, the Q2U is less than $70), you can still save a decent chunk of cash here.

How Does the Shure MV7i Sound?

Here’s a wee sound sample of the mic in action, courtesy of a “YouTube Shorts” video (sidenote: in my day, “YouTube Shorts” was a common answer to the question “what should I wear in hot weather?”)

The audio was recorded via a MacBook Air.

The MOTIV software presets gave this a bit of a “radio” sound, which divides opinion among podcasters. But I think it comes across well, and I like the way it presents the Samson Q2U, too.

Summary: Shure MV7i Review

The Shure MV7i is an instantly memorable piece of kit. I’m almost certain that no other USB mic doubles up as a USB audio interface. It’s a clever concept, well-executed, and there are numerous situations where it could come in handy.

With that said, you’ll still need another (XLR) mic to make use of the MV7i in its audio interface form. If you’re starting from scratch and buying all your equipment, a Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 and a couple of Samson Q2Us can cost less than the MV7i alone.

But, if you already have a solid XLR mic and are in the market for a USB audio interface, then the MV7i is well worth your consideration!

• Podcasting is long-form content. Don’t compare podcast download numbers with YouTube plays, social media “likes”, or follower counts.
• Potential audience sizes are totally dependent on show topics. There’s no single podcast download numbers gauge here.
• However, statistically, if you get over 27 downloads for a new episode in the first week of its release, you’re in the top 50% of all podcasters.
• Read on to find out more…

Download numbers are one of the most obvious metrics for measuring the success of your podcast.

Download stats are immediately accessible from the minute you launch your first episode. Watching the numbers climb can be rewarding—some might even say addictive.

But after the initial novelty has worn off, it’s natural for podcasters to begin asking the question, “Are my average podcast downloads good?”.

So, are your podcast download numbers “good”? Let’s take a look.

How Many Podcast Downloads Should I Be Getting?

In a world of YouTube views and Twitter/X followers, we’ve become accustomed to figures in the hundreds of thousands (and even millions!).

It’s important to realise, though, that these numbers are completely irrelevant to podcasting. The time and effort it takes to click ‘Follow’ on social or watch a few seconds of a YouTube video should never be compared to listening to podcast episodes.

Podcast listening is a commitment and an investment. It’s long-form content that isn’t immediately accessible via shiny sidebars and viral social media clickbait.

So, comparing your average podcast downloads to someone else’s Instagram followers is like comparing the number of rooms in your house to the number of trees in the Amazon. It’s completely irrelevant and utterly pointless.

Does it (as Usual) Depend on Your Content?

Of course it does.

Could a show about breeding Russian white dwarf hamsters realistically expect to see the same average podcast downloads as a show about Game of Thrones? Absolutely not.

Does this mean that the podcast with more downloads is the more successful one? Again, absolutely not.

If you run a podcast about a topic that was only interesting to literally ten people in the world, and you were getting seven downloads an episode, statistically, you’d be running the most popular show in history.

The big factor is the size of your potential audience. Here are a couple of things to consider.

Firstly, how many folks out there are interested enough in your topic to actually want to consume content about it?

Secondly, how many of those people are current podcast listeners?

Case Study – Board Game Design Lab

Gabe, who runs the Board Game Design Lab Podcast, shared some great words of wisdom on a recent episode of Podcraft.

“The ceiling for board game design is pretty low. It’s not like Joe Rogan; it’s not like Tim Ferriss, where the whole world is kind of potential, right? And so, you have to be more intentional about not overspending. It’s like, how many people are there? How many people are in your industry and listen to podcasts and care about what you’re doing?”

Thinking along these lines will help bring you closer to seeing what those cold hard download stats tell you. They can help you set realistic goals that don’t involve drawing comparisons with viral videos, celebrity social media accounts, and behemoth podcasts like the JRE.

Audience Quality & Engagement

An audience might seem “small” in a numerical sense. But with long-form content like podcasting, shows with smaller but more niche, hyper-targeted audiences are often considered more successful.

I’ve given this example before. If you ran a podcast about the technology needed to fly people to Mars, and your only listener was Elon Musk, would you consider this a successful show?

Granted, it’s a far-fetched example. But it’s always more about exactly who is listening rather than how many of them there are.

And, it’s about the engagement. This isn’t something that can be achieved overnight. But, if you’re creating good content, over time, you’ll begin to hear from your listeners.

This could be because you’ve asked them a question or recommended they check something out. Or it could be because you’ve talked about a subject that resonated with them so much that they felt compelled to reach out.

Measuring engagement requires a little more digging than simply staring at your download stats dashboard. But often, they can tell you a lot more about the impact your show is having.

If your podcast host provides this data, take a look at the geography of your podcast downloads. Are you suddenly getting a burst of downloads in a particular region or country? If so, you might want to check the news and find out what’s happening there. It’s all about measuring podcast engagement.

I Still Want a Gauge on Average Podcast Downloads per Episode

Buzzsprout is one of the biggest podcast-hosting platforms in the world, with well over 120,000 active shows publishing content there.

Hosting this many podcasts means Buzzsprout has plenty of useful data to analyse. This gives them an accurate picture of podcast downloads on an industry-wide level. The good news is that Buzzsprout makes their global data available to everyone on their Platform Stats page.

Here’s one of the key sections that’ll interest any podcaster.

How Many Podcast Downloads Is Good?

If your new episode gets, within seven days of its release:

• more than 27 downloads, you’re in the top 50% of podcasts.
• more than 109 downloads, you’re in the top 25% of podcasts.
• more than 454 downloads, you’re in the top 10% of podcasts.
• more than 1,048 downloads, you’re in the top 5% of podcasts.
• more than 4,269 downloads, you’re in the top 1% of podcasts.

[Updated July, 2025]

And here are some other interesting stats from this page, at the time of writing.

Podcast Downloads on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, & Google Podcasts

34.2% of listening takes place on Spotify, with 35.1% on Apple Podcasts.

Buzzsprout

Podcast Download Locations

45.5% of downloads come from the USA, with 6.1% from the UK, and 4.7% from Canada, and 4.4% from Australia. The Netherlands are in fifth place with 3.4% of the share.

Buzzsprout

Podcast Download Devices

Mobile accounts for 85.7% of all podcast downloads, with 61.2% of those coming via the Apple iPhone.

Buzzsprout

Want More Podcast Statistics?

If you’re a fan of podcast stats, then be sure to check out our podcast industry trends post. We regularly update this article with all the latest data to help you keep your finger on the pulse. You’ll find everything, from podcast listenership stats (like the most popular podcast genre) to the latest Edison research.

What About Monthly Podcast Listeners & Downloads?

Some creators might say, “Oh, I get 10,000 downloads a month, ” but that doesn’t tell you anything about their average podcast download numbers. Instead, it suggests that they’ve published a lot of episodes to date.

For example, we run a daily show called Pocket-Sized Podcasting, which has hundreds of published episodes. Subscribers get one quick ‘how-to podcast’ tip each day, from Monday through to Friday. When new listeners find the show, they tend to binge through the back catalogue. This means our total monthly downloads can get pretty high, even if the new episode downloads are in the “modest” range.

Podcast Download Stats Don’t Tell the Full Story

Just because someone (or several hundred!) people downloaded your episode, doesn’t guarantee they hit play.

Of course, you can safely assume most of them probably did. But even then, how long did they actually listen?

Download stats are one of the best podcast performance metrics that we have in our arsenal. But they’re not the best. That title goes to “listen lime”…

Unfortunately, you can’t get a complete listening time number across all the apps and places your show is consumed. There are just too many, and most of them don’t share data.

But, Apple Podcasts and Spotify do. And they make up about 70% of the overall podcast consumption pie. That gives us scope to gather up a pretty decent sample size.

In this video, you’ll learn how to quickly and easily grab your listen time data from both platforms, as well as ideas on what to do with it, and how to present it.

Combine this with your podcast download stats, and you’ll really start to build a robust picture of your show’s performance!

Podcasting Numbers: Downloads & Listens FAQ

We are often asked about podcast download numbers in our IndiePod Community. Here are a few of the most frequent questions.

Do I Need to Share My Download Numbers With Anyone?

Nope, not at all. Though you might be asked for them if you’re talking to potential sponsors about podcast ads, or, if you’re in discussions with any podcast networks. Some potential guests might even want a gauge of your numbers before agreeing to come on. If this is the case, it’s best to create a media kit where you can optimally present this data. Also, be sure to explain that audience engagement is just as (if not more) important than hard numbers. As we’ve said so many times in this guide, download numbers never tell the whole story.

Can I See How Many Downloads Other Podcasts Are Getting?

Not unless the podcast host makes their stats publically available.

That said, it might be possible to find an approximate guide using a third-party analytics tool like Podtrac. You can search for the podcast in question and see if it’s listed in their directory. If it is, you may see some basic metrics, such as the number of downloads, subscribers, and podcast audience demographics. It’s worth taking any numbers you find with a pinch of salt, though, as they may not be wholly accurate.

Do More Podcast Reviews Equate to More Downloads?

Having lots of ratings and reviews on podcast apps can make a show seem like it has a big audience. Often, this is the case, and the show has reached a critical mass of listeners leaving reviews. It isn’t a rule without exception, though. Some shows have numerically small but super engaged audiences, whilst other podcasters may actively seek out reviews using various methods. Again, this approach can give you a hint, but it’ll never tell the whole story.

Do All Successful Podcasts Have “Big” Download Numbers?

Definitely not. Some of the most successful podcasts out there have numerically small audiences because the topic is extremely niche. Niche audiences are some of the most engaged and fanatical, though. There’s nothing to say that a podcaster in a certain niche might not work full-time on their show with an audience of “only” 100 people.

Can My Hosting Provider Get Me More Downloads?

Podcast hosting platforms are not responsible for your show’s growth or download numbers. In our article on changing podcast host, we talk about how these services set you up with podcast feeds, give you the tools and report the facts, but the rest is up to you.

Podcast Downloads vs Listens: What’s the Difference?

The end result is typically the same: the audience hears your content. However, there are some subtle differences between podcast listens and podcast downloads.

A download is when the episode is—funnily enough—downloaded onto a device such as a computer, tablet, or smartphone. From a listener’s point of view, this makes it more flexible to consume because you’re no longer reliant on an internet connection.

But from a podcaster, network, or advertiser’s point of view, it makes it harder to “prove” that a listen has happened. After all, someone might download an episode but never actually hear it.

A “listen” can be playing a previously downloaded episode, or it can be someone streaming an episode via the web or a podcast listening app. This can make it easier to see that listening has actually happened. That said, it’s a mistake to try and force your audience to stream rather than download. Let folks make up their own minds about how they prefer to consume your content.

If you need to demonstrate to sponsors, advertisers, etc, that your download numbers accurately reflect your listener numbers, you can show engagement via factors and strategies such as audience surveys, and your Calls to Action.  

Summary: Average Podcast Downloads Guide

Ultimately, asking, “What’s a good number of downloads for a podcast?” is similar to asking, “How long is a piece of string?” Every case is unique, and no two podcasts are the same.

By all means, keep track of your download stats. But this isn’t going to help grow your show.

Instead, spend your time on the things that do move the needle. Here’s our pillar guide to growing an audience, which can help form the basis of a solid and effective podcast promotion plan:

Podcast Promotion: From 100 Listeners to Your Next 100K – Let’s SCALE

Read article called: Podcast Promotion: From 100 Listeners to Your Next 100K – Let’s SCALE

And finally, a few questions for you:

Based on your topic, what do you feel your podcast’s potential audience is, and how does that stack up against your existing audience numbers? How much growth do you have left on the table? And what are your next steps for reaching those new listeners?

Hop into the IndiePod Community and let us know!

It’s definitely worth a read, but if you’re needing a TL;DR, his argument essentially boils down to this: He believes a much broader definition of what podcasting is nowadays is essential to save the medium from market death.

He says:

“The lines between podcasts, talk shows, and TV are gone. What matters now is attention. And attention doesn’t care if it’s playing on #Spotify, #Apple, #YouTube or #TikTok.”

In line with this theory, Cutler’s team no longer talk about “podcasts” at his company, PAVE Studios, but “shows”. He even signed off the article with “Podcasting is dead. Long live the show”.

This will certainly rile up a few in the podcasting community (and I’ve no doubt that’s all part of the plan!). But there’s no denying that this is an important and timely debate to be having right now.

After running a quick experiment, we learned that indie podcasters certainly have a thing or two to say on the matter, too.

We ran a poll to find out what podcasters who subscribe to our weekly newsletter think about whether the term “podcasts” is becoming outdated. It was the most popular poll we’ve run to date. Here’s what the jury’s verdict looked like:

While the majority of indies (83%) clearly think the term “podcast” is still crucial to the industry, a considerable 17% think it has now become obsolete.

The comments around this debate came in thick and fast, too. There were a lot of interesting takes on the subject; here’s some of the highlights.

What Independent Podcasters Think

First, let’s take a look at what podcasters had to say about replacing the term “podcasts” with “shows.”

Yes, the term “podcasting” is dead

Podcasts have become so much more… there are news shows, now there are talk shows, there are so many segments of this. It’s a broadcasting, not a podcasting.

– Anonymous Podcaster

Podcast leaves many to believe it’s audio only, but video is valid and essential for growth.

– Cara at Kerouacs Cruising podcast

I make content now and call everything an “episode” as it’s audio, video, blog, newsletter, short video, infographics, carousels, etc.

– Darren Lake at 1% Better Runner

I think of them as “shows” and I think that distinction should be made based upon the level of quality of output.

– Host of the OYSTER-ology Podcast

And here’s what those podcasters on the other side of the fence had to say…

No, “Podcasting” Isn’t Dead

“Podcast” is immediately recognizable and is part of the growth of the industry.

– Anonymous Podcaster

“Show” is too broad. “Podcast” lets you know exactly what it is!

– Charles Tyson, Jr., co-host of Full Circle

Quite frankly, I’m tired of the video or audio component that I will say that I am a purist and I will strongly argue that audio connects more viscerally than any video. Still, it’s important to recognize that many Podcast fans expect video and that’s OK. But let’s keep the term “Podcast”. It’s a powerful term and it should be celebrated more often.

– Anonymous Podcaster

I think you have to differentiate now between a true podcast and a videocast but audio podcasts have not went away.

– Anonymous Podcaster

More and more people are discovering the power of podcasts to grow their knowledge and understanding so I don’t think changing the name ‘podcast’ to something else has any value apart from confusing the issue.

– Anonymous Podcaster

It’s become too big a tent; from one man shows recorded with a phone on the back deck discussing the lawn care challenges of suburbia, to video productions involving teams of actors, directors, and technicians costing tens of thousands of dollars.

– Anonymous Podcaster

What’s Our Take?

Max Cutler clearly excels at what he does, and there’s no questioning his pedigree or background in the industry. Even if you disagree with him, he has a real talent for sparking thoughtful conversation and healthy debate, like this one.

So are we ready to swap out the name “podcast” for “show”? Probably not. And that isn’t purely due to our domain name

Here’s the thing… “show” is a vague term that gives little away. Are we talking Yellowstone, Disney on Ice, or two guys chatting on Zoom?

Sure, it might work for creators building multimedia brands across platforms, but that doesn’t mean all podcasters need to follow suit.

The major platforms haven’t dropped the word. Apple, Spotify, and YouTube still call them ‘podcasts’. CNN even just announced it’s rebranding from ‘CNN Audio’ to ‘CNN Podcasts’ because “the fact is, these are podcasts. It’s what the industry and the general public, more importantly, calls them.” The term is only becoming more relevant every year: 85% of U.S. adults now know what a podcast is, up 10% in the last five years.

There are over 400,000 active podcasts today, and the vast majority of those creators are podcast-first and audio-centric.

Yes, there’s a “Yeti in the basement” stereotype, but to criticise someone for being “just a podcaster” reveals a narrow view of success. For many, podcasting is about depth over scale.

It’s not about building a media empire; it’s about making a real impact in a niche they care about. And many earn sustainable incomes doing exactly that, especially those who follow a “company of one” model over the high-growth, high-overhead route of traditional media companies.

Calling everything “a show” flattens the landscape. It assumes every creator wants to build a cross-platform brand, when many just want to have meaningful conversations, serve their audience, and maintain control of their time.

“Show” might work for some. But for most podcasters, there’s no upside in replacing a clear, purpose-built, and widely understood word like “podcast” with something this generic!

For more topical podcast industry (sorry… “show” industry ) analysis, data, and discussion, be sure to sign up to the Podcraft Perspectives newsletter.

But this newsletter and its companion podcast aren’t just brilliant sources of news, data, and analysis – they also make for a fantastic case study of creating content consistently over a long period of time.

In this episode of Podcraft, I caught up with James Cridland, the one-man operation behind Podnews, to pull back the curtain on how he’s built what might be the most consistent content machine in podcasting.

We covered a lot of ground, from why James started Podnews in the first place, to why he chose to publish a daily briefing in both newsletter AND podcast form.

We also talked about tools and workflows. You’ll find everything James uses in this Podnews piece, but some notable picks for me are:

• The Lewitt RAY mic and Scarlett 2i2 interface – I’m a big fan of both!
• Hindenburg PRO v2 as his software of choice
• FreshRSS – an RSS reader to keep up with new articles and blog posts

We got into some of the more “human” aspects of putting Podnews together, too. How does James manage to take holidays while still publishing every day without fail? How does he handle negative feedback when writing about something not everyone will respond well to? And how does he maintain journalistic freedom when sponsors help pay the bills?

Then there was the growth and reach stuff. How did he market Podnews in the early days? How did it grow, and was that growth slow and steady or ‘spikey’?

James also chooses to run Podnews largely by himself, where others in his position might look to build a team of employees. I asked him about his thought process there, and that led to a conversation about how he’s thinking about eventual semi-retirement.

All in all, this was a deeply enjoyable case study and a look under the hood of one of the industry’s most prominent and prolific voices. So much so that I even manually wrote the shownotes(!!) – who does that in 2025?

Podcast sponsorship as a whole can be a very effective form of advertising. In fact, when done well, it’s probably the best.

Acast’s 2023 Spanish listener survey revealed that 97% of listeners have a positive perception of brands advertised on podcasts.

I’ve also literally just finished reading a piece by Tom Webster of Sounds Profitable that I thought would be worth quoting here.

 86% of ad-supported podcast listeners recalled seeing or hearing an advertisement in the past week. That’s not just a robust number—that’s the highest recall rate of any measured ad-supported medium in this study.

So, if you’re going to run any kind of ad, a podcast is obviously a decent place to do it.

But, when you sponsor a podcast, how can you prove that it has “worked”?

After all, increased sales, sign-ups, or downloads might be purely a coincidence. Or, the result of some other tactic. You might even be sponsoring multiple shows at once – how do you know which one is the most effective?

Tracking the effectiveness of podcast sponsors isn’t watertight, but there are a few easy ways to build a picture. Let’s package them into a tenuous acronym or framework for no other reason than my own personal amusement.

If you’re happy and you know it…

C.L.A.P

… your… brands?

• C – Codes
• L – Landing Pages
• A – Attribution Polls
• P – Parameters (UTMs)

Alright, let’s get into them…

1. C – Codes

If you literally sell stuff – anything from coaching and courses, to books and beyond – then you can simply create a discount code relevant to the show you’re sponsoring. For example, “use coupon code PODCRAFT10 to save 10% at checkout.”

If you don’t want to discount your prices, set up this code to incentivise something extra instead. Are there any bonus resources you can add to your offering?

The bottom line is that these codes are highly trackable. You’ll know exactly how many people took action on the ad, and exactly where they came from.

2. L – Landing Pages

You might create a special landing page for listeners of the podcast and give it a memorable URL. Or, you could simply make the memorable URL as a redirect link (using a tool like PrettyLinks) and point it to your main landing page.

Either way, you can track metrics and get a decent gauge of how effective the ad has been. But then again, not all listeners will type in these special links. So here’s another option…

3. A – Attribution Polls

Sometimes, listeners hear an ad on a podcast but are unable to take action in the moment. Later, they might search for the product or service on Google, and any attribution to the podcaster seems lost.

Well, not quite. If you add a “how did you hear about us?” poll to your website or checkout, credit can still be assigned!

4. P – Parameters (UTMs)

UTM stands for – believe it or not – Urchin Tracking Module. So you really can enlist the help of urchins without becoming a Dickensian sweatshop owner.

With podcast sponsorship, you’re not totally reliant on folks hearing a link being read out. “All links in the shownotes” is a common phrase amongst podcasters. So when you sponsor a podcast, give the host a UTM link to insert into accompanying shownotes and blog posts.

You can easily make UTM links for free using this Campaign URL Builder tool. Here’s what they look like:

https://www.alitu.com?utm_source=thepodcasthost&utm_medium=blog&utm_campaign=podcast-sponsor-tracking-tips

Definitely not one for reading out on air, eh? But you can get much more nuanced with these across multiple different pages and posts than you could with a simple shortlink.

Tracking Podcast Sponsor Impact

If you’re spending money on marketing, you want to make sure it’s working, and if it’s working, you’ll probably want to do more of it.

Hopefully, these tips for easily tracking podcast sponsor impact will help you keep your finger on the pulse of your ad-based ventures. Employing some or all of these will likely help you build the most accurate picture – there’s definitely no need to stick to one and be done with it.

And of course, there’s more to podcast sponsorship than simply tracking its effectiveness. In our full guide to sponsoring a podcast, you’ll find info on costs, along with additional tips, tactics, and best practices to set up and optimise these partnerships.

I should really round this off with a callback to “the CLAP”, but I won’t give you the satisfaction. Stop laughing up the back… we’re done for the day!

Video.

Listening to the episode of Buzzcast that dropped shortly afterwards, Alban Brooke commented that, “One of the things that rubbed me the wrong way in the event, though, was the just unrelenting talk about video.”

I’d recommend listening to the episode for a more nuanced take on the Buzzsprout team’s thoughts. Suffice it to say that I went to The Podcast Show London with a feeling that this trend might continue. So we took some mics down and decided to ask as many people as we could about it.

This wasn’t a “video vs audio” thing, though. In my experience, almost everyone agrees that video is a part of podcasting and has its own benefits.

It isn’t about one or the other.

Instead, the focus was on spoken-word audio itself. More specifically, do we need to work harder to preserve or even champion this medium?

Was it possible to ask such a question without it being “loaded”? I’m not so sure, but I tried.

Thankfully, there was no shortage of kind and patient people who were happy to offer their own views on the future of spoken-word audio.

The answers threw up many different perspectives, but also a lot of common ground. Ultimately, the main goal here is to ensure audio stays front and centre of the podcasting conversation.

Wait, does that mean the question was loaded, after all?

Anyway, enough from me. Let’s see what a small but hugely respected sample of the industry is saying:

James Cridland (Podnews)

“The reason why podcasting is so successful is that it’s something for the ears when your eyes are busy… If we forget that, then I think we make a mistake for where the future is going.”

Podnews

Ana Ratala (RedCircle)

“There’s a reason why podcasts became such a huge and important medium and continues to grow… because people want to be away from their screens.”

RedCircle

Joel Pearlman (Riverside.fm)

“It’s still that collaboration between your imagination and the creator, and you kind of put the two things together, and you get to make the story up in your head.”

Riverside.fm

Carl Hartley (University of Leeds)

“Tonight I’ll be on the train, closed eyes, building those pictures in my mind, not having to watch what somebody’s saying… I think that for audio podcasting, we need to preserve that and we need to celebrate that and don’t lose that uniqueness of a podcast that is audio.”

Carl on LinkedIn

Abisoye Adelusi (A1 Content Studios London)

“There are certain genres of storytelling that audio only beats… Not every podcast needs visuals in a long form sense… you can create short social clips to promote your podcast on socials.”

A1 Content Studios

Pete Donaldson (Stak)

“Spoken word stuff kind of is the last bastion of discoverability for the sake of discoverability and word of mouth… video is just dominated by YouTube and the algorithm which makes our life terrible.”

Stak

Jay Nachlis (Coleman Insights)

“Audio consumption in the areas that should be going up is going up… Walking and exercising, on the go, at work—audio numbers are going up.”

Coleman Insights

Sarah Golding (Indie AF)

“If you say within fiction, imagine a super amazing spaceship, everyone will imagine a very different one. And that’s why I love it.”

Indie AF

Young Zhao (OpusClip)

“People right now should definitely cherish video format instead of audio… you can create high quality video podcasts… that’s gonna bring you 10x or even 100x in terms of traffic, in terms of followers and… revenue.”

OpusClip

Lauren Passell (Podcast Marketing Magic)

“I’m a champion of good conversations and good audio. For that to happen, you don’t need video. I think good things happen when we aren’t watching and we’re just thinking about the words being spoken.”

Podcast Marketing Magic

Naomi Wing (Blueprint Studio)

“I always listen to them, I don’t really watch them. But then at the same time, I suppose if there was someone that I’m really interested in and wanted to see how they connect with people, what their mannerisms are, it’s quite an interesting perspective to get.”

Blueprint

Jack Drury (Shure)

“You can probably do the video a bit badly… but if you do the same with the audio, you’ve lost.”

Shure

Kaleem Willock (Tipalti)

“Spoken word is key and it’s always going to be key… It is purely and simply the easiest form of communication and it gives people the opportunity to listen, learn whilst doing something else.”

Tipalti

Louise Lambert (Reviewed & Cleared)

“In today’s busy world, audio definitely has a really important role to play… I think it can help people to switch off.”

Reviewed & Cleared

Garry Aylott (Captivate.fm)

“You don’t have to sit down with a cup of tea and a meal and fire up YouTube. You can go and listen through the back catalogue at your own pace.”

Captivate.fm

Tavia Gilbert (The Podcast Academy)

“Audio is the most intimate medium… it cannot compete with the power of the spoken word that is our birthright as humans… if the audio is not powerful first, then I think you have not a lot of substance.”

The Podcast Academy

Justin Jackson (Transistor)

“What makes podcasting unique? At its core, it’s audio first… there’s this moment right now… to position audio podcasting as: here’s a way you can escape all of this addictive stuff on your phone.”

Transistor

Izabela Russell (Music Radio Creative)

“It’s really hard to discover good content and it’s even harder when it’s audio… because we don’t have the luxury of amazing algorithm like YouTube.”

Music Radio Creative

Todd Cochrane (Blubrry)

“If you’re a new creator just starting out… you don’t have to do video… it’s the best time to be an audio podcaster… there’s still a huge opportunity there.”

Blubrry

Alec Trunley (RedCircle)

“I’m personally an audio only listener… I work with tons of shows who have strong video audiences… but audio has always had its own place.”

RedCircle

Dan Kendall (Health Podcast Network)

“Audio is still critically important because you’re spending time with them in their kitchens, in their cars, while they’re exercising… the audience experience really lends itself to an audio first experience.”

Health Podcast Network

Felix Trench (Wooden Overcoats)

“We’ll always be chopping carrots at 6:30… Encouraging people to keep using those podcast feeds and make sure that there is an audio version out there.”

FelixTrench.com

Ian Prowse (Vortex)

“Most of the content is in the audio… what people say that matters… not where they are, not what they look like.”

Vortex

Bethany Jane (Music Radio Creative)

“I think your focus is really drawn when you’re just listening to something.”

Music Radio Creative

Sarah McDowell (Podcast Consultant)

“When I first started podcasting, video wasn’t even on my radar because I wanted to… figure out.”

SarahMcDowell.co.uk

Clayton M Coke (The Cashflow Show)

“Spoken word audio will never ever go out of fashion… hearing somebody tell their story is the most powerful thing… it’s three chords and the truth.”

The Cashflow Show

Kevin Field (Think Listener)

“Think audio first. Think listening… There are many slate of video podcasts where the audio is dreadful… The visuality for the listener’s not there… it’s not painting pictures with words.”

Kevin’s LinkedIn

Jeremy Enns (Podcast Marketing Academy)

“Podcasting is where he goes to escape the internet… It’s more immersive, it’s more slow… audio podcasting is already there… this offers something totally unique and disconnected in a really great way.”

Podcast Marketing Academy

A massive thanks to all who took the time to respond. Remember, these are just small “quotables” and you’ll get everyone’s full thoughts (in the spoken word!) on the latest episode of Podcraft.

If you have something to say on the matter, please send us a voice message, and we can continue the conversation in a future episode!