Should I Put My Podcast On Spotify?

 Today we're talking all about whether or not you should have your podcast inside of Spotify.

When I put my podcast up for the first time--whether I got my hosting service through Libsyn, Spreaker or Blubrry, Anchor (yes, I said Anchor--even though that a platform that I don't recommend that you use)--you can get your podcasts listed inside of Spotify.

There was some recent news that had come out and it's actually some recent news that came out a while back.  As of this blog post we are talking about a Spotify now positioning themselves as a syndication platform officially.

You can now submit your RSS feed into their platform's website.

So this means that Spotify is just like Apple Podcasts. It's also like submitting an RSS feed to Google podcasts, Stitcher, and all the other syndication platforms.

The only difference with Spotify compared to the other platforms is that Spotify is now stepping up their game in terms of the analytics. And now I want to go over some of the pros that are coming with submitting your podcast into Spotify.

Now I'm going to get to that point where I talk about, "well, isn't my podcast already in Spotify?"

Yes, it probably already is.

But now that Spotify is now a a syndication platform, you now have to claim your podcast on the platform itself.  You have to actually manually go in and claim your podcast.

What Spotify is going to do is they're going to ask for your RSS feed when you go to their website to submit your "claim" for your podcast and they will get back to you and let you know that your podcast has been claimed.

That's going to be really the first step that you're going to be taking when it comes to claiming your podcast on Spotify.

Once you have your podcast claimed on Spotify--not through Libsyn, not through Blubrry--what happens?

You can actually go into Spotify itself and you will be able to get deeper analytics.

This is something that I think that has been needed for a long time when it comes down to looking to monetize your podcast later on down the line.  You'll need quality statistics in order to really share them with your potential new sponsor.

I want to go over some of the cool things that are going on with Spotify as a platform for podcasting and for the podcast content creator.

Measuring Streams vs. Downloads

The first thing Spotify has is the ability to measure stats and streams.

Now, Apple has this in their Beta tested analytics tool when you go in to check, but you really can't get quality analytics. Furthermore, I can't tell you whether or not Spotify's analytics are going to be accurate or not, but I do know that Apple's analytics--when it comes down to showing like who downloaded who streamed or who started a podcast--aren't reliable. Not all the data always shows up. It's still in a Beta test and it's not something that I'm really too keen on when it comes to grabbing my analytics.

That's why I always go to my analytics on Libsyn. I get those analytics and I'm able to extrapolate what I need if I'm going to a sponsor in order to try and get my podcast monetized.

But now you have these analytics inside of Spotify where now you can, now you can measure when someone starts a download and when someone starts a stream after 60 seconds. So if someone listens for 60 seconds, that is going to count as a stream. Those analytics can be very valuable.

One of the other cool things is that you can learn through Spotify statistics how long a listener listens for through your podcast that can make you a better podcaster. Typically when you listen to podcasts, there may have been a really boring part in the podcast and you kinda just dropped off. Maybe you fast forwarded through that portion.

Spotify doesn't look like they're going to let you know what that looks like in real time, But what they do provide are the analytics for 50% of the listens for particular download or a particular show. Those analytics will be able to tell you where someone may be dropped off or how long someone listened.

You're going to have to discover these behaviors for yourself and there's no better way than to have someone tell you then to do it for yourself.  I certainly can't tell you that and no one else can tell you that. You have to go in and experience it for yourself and start driving those analytics to figure out where people are dropping off in your particular podcast episode. 

The next thing is one of my favorites that I am glad that Spotify has added.

Timestamps Inside Your Show Notes

One of the things that Spotify is now doing is they're allowing you to timestamp certain points of your podcast in your show notes. This is very similar to what you see on YouTube where you can see in the description of every video--if the content creator decides to do so--they can put timestamps of where you can skip to that point in the particular video.

Spotify is now doing this where you can now put a timestamp in the show notes of your podcast and you can skip directly in Spotify to that particular point in the podcast.

To me, that is a huge bonus because not all the times do I want to listen to it and go all the way through and fast forward through a particular podcast just to get to one point.

Maybe it's just an interview that I want to hear from a particular guest and I just want to get to that particular point.

Or maybe there's a point in the podcast where the content creator or the podcaster said something that is really profound and they want you to get to that point to listen to it. You can now timestamp that inside of your show notes, which is a huge, huge bonus for people who are creating quality show notes.

Embedding Links, Individual Shows and Playlists

Next, Spotify is giving you the ability to now link to certain, uh, I guess, uh, shows and playlists within Spotify, which is a huge bonus.

I mean, that's huge because Apple Podcasts doesn't really allow you to do that. It's actually very, very cumbersome when it comes to Apple Podcasts.

You can put links inside of your show notes and that link may take you to maybe a particular episode on Spotify. It may also take you to this particular playlist on Spotify.

If you put a valid link that is directed outside of Spotify--for instance, a website--when you click that link, it will open up your favorite browser on your phone and it will take you to that particular place on the web.

When a podcasters says, "why don't you check the show notes and Spotify and will have a link right there and it'll take you directly to my page where you can see the blog where the podcast is listed," it's gold for getting people on your website.

One thing that I forgot to mention when it comes down to the timestamps is that timestamps can be clickable inside of the Spotify app itself, but they are not available on desktop, so it's only available on mobile. So if you are creating those timestamps, just make sure that you let your audience know that timestamps are only clickable within the Spotify app.you're watching it later on down the line. Your comments are always valuable and I tried to get back to them as soon as I possibly can. In the meantime, thank you guys so much for watching and I will see you next time.

If you want to learn more about Spotify's submission process, you can click here to be taken to their FAQ page.

If you enjoyed this post or video, leave a comment down below. I'd love to hear your thoughts on how you are utilizing Spotify.