How publish a podcast on Spotify easily ? From creating your account to technical prerequisites, including the validation steps, we guide you step by step to put your podcast online quickly and efficiently.
In 2024, two out of five French people listen to podcasts 64% of whom listen to them at least once a week.
As for the listening platform, the streaming giant Spotify has over 276 million paying subscribers in the 2nd quarter of 2025 and nearly 700 million in total. Thinking about joining this podcast “The place to be”? In this article, find out how to format and publish a podcast on Spotify, step by step.
Prerequisites for publishing a podcast on Spotify
Before you hit the Spotify scene with your podcast, make sure your show is ready to go, with a quality recording that meets the streaming platform's standards:
- MP3 files must follow the ISO/IEC 11172-3 MPEG-1 Part 3 format, with a bitrate between 96 and 320 kbps;
- The size of the episodes must not exceed 200MB;
- Your cover must be in square format (1:1) and in PNG, JPEG or TIFF;
- The RSS feed must include a title, cover image, and detailed metadata for at least one episode;
- Titles and descriptions should be concise (less than 20 characters).
Regarding accommodation, several options are available to you. You can choose specialized hosts such as Podbean, Libsyn or even YouTube, or save your web show directly to Spotify, for easier access to your audio stream.
With these elements in place, you are ready to move on to creating your account on Spotify for Creators, to officially begin publishing your future podcast on the music platform.
Creating an account on Spotify for Creators
Spotify for Creators is a platform designed specifically for web show creators. It offers a space to publish, manage and analyze their podcasts.
By signing up, you gain access to valuable tools that allow you to track your audience engagement, understand listening trends, and maximize your reach.
To get started, go to the website Spotify for Creators. Use your existing Spotify account to sign in or create a new one if necessary.
Signing up will guide you through a simple process to validate your account and set up the essential details of your podcast.
Steps to Publish a Podcast on Spotify
After creating your account on Spotify for Creators, publishing your podcast involves several key steps to ensure its success on the platform.
1- Upload your podcast to Spotify for Creators
Log in to your Spotify for Creators account, then click the button to add a “+New Episode” podcast.
2- Write information about the episode
While your podcast is downloading, come up with a title and write an engaging description. Tip: Use relevant keywords to improve the visibility of your episodes on Google!
Spotify then gives you the option to publish your podcast immediately or schedule it for a date of your choosing. Useful for programming your future episodes in advance and maintaining a regular presence with your listeners.
If your podcast contains explicit content or advertising, also consider reporting it. Transparency is important for the streaming platform, but also for your community.
3- Encourage interaction on the podcast
If you want, Spotify allows you to create a poll to interact directly with listeners. You can ask them for their opinion on your show, find out if there are topics you should cover or simply ask them for information on their profile to better know your audience.
It's up to you to choose multiple-choice or open-ended questions to obtain useful feedback for improving your content.
4- Publish a podcast: Check and publish
The last step summarizes your podcast information, as well as its publication date. Verify that everything is correct, then click “Publish” or “Schedule”, depending on your publishing deadline.
And there you have it, your podcast is ready for broadcast!
Publish a podcast on Spotify, what next?
Now you know how to publish a podcast on Spotify and yours is now live? Be careful not to rest on your laurels. Now comes the step of managing your podcast channel. The Spotify for Creators platform becomes an essential ally for its management and analysis. There you will find an analytics-rich dashboard, which provides a comprehensive view of listener engagement.
These tools allow you to track key metrics like number of listens, average listening time, listener retention rate, as well as your audience demographics. These statistics are essential to improve your broadcasts, but also to monetize your podcast.
To get the most out of this information, examine viewing trends to identify which episodes are most captivating and which can be improved. Note the days and times when your listeners are most active to optimize your posting times.
How long does it take for my podcast to be validated on Spotify?
The time to validate a podcast on Spotify generally varies between 24 and 48 hours, but can sometimes extend up to a week for new creators or streams with multiple episodes. During this process, Spotify checks several elements: the compliance of the RSS feed, the quality of the cover image, the description and the audio content to ensure that it complies with the platform's rules.
If errors or missing information are found, validation may be delayed, and Spotify may request corrections before going live. To optimize the process, make sure your RSS feed is valid, all your episodes are formatted correctly, and the metadata is complete.
Is publishing a podcast on Spotify free?
Yes, publishing on Spotify is freemaking it a very accessible platform for podcast creators. However, some hosts may offer paid plans depending on the number of episodes published, storage capacity or advanced features (detailed statistics, monetization, web integrations). Even with a free plan, your podcast will be visible on Spotify and all platforms where your RSS feed is distributed.
Is a podcast already published on Spotify editable?
Have you published your podcast and want to make changes? Don't panic, it is possible to modify certain elements at any time, namely:
- the title and description of your podcast;
- the cover image:
- add or remove episodes.
All changes are automatically reflected on Spotify via your RSS feed. It is therefore important to review your updates before publishing to ensure a consistent experience for listeners.
Is my podcast automatically available on other platforms?
Logically, publishing on Spotify does not automatically distribute your podcast to another music platform. For iTunes/Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Deezer or other platforms, you must submit your RSS feed separately to each of them. However, using a host like Anchor or Ausha can simplify this cross-platform distribution by sending your podcast to several services simultaneously.
If you want to maximize your impact and generate engagement through your Spotify podcast, hire a freelancer expert in uploading and promoting podcasts, on Codeur.com. Post your ad for free to refine your strategy, optimize your content and expand the reach of your show.