How to start a podcast on Spotify (complete guide)

TL;DR: You can publish a podcast on Spotify for free using a third-party host like Buzzsprout or Podbean, then submit your RSS feed via Spotify for Podcasters. Most episodes go live within 24 hours. Pair your show with a proper link-in-bio page so every social profile drives listeners to your latest episode.

How to start a podcast on Spotify: the short answer

You need three things: a recording, a podcast host, and a Spotify for Podcasters account. The hosting platform generates an RSS feed. You paste that feed into Spotify for Podcasters, and Spotify pulls your episodes automatically from that point forward. The whole setup takes under two hours. Spotify distributes to over 600 million users in 184 markets, so it is the first platform worth getting right.

Below is every step, plus the parts other guides skip: how to actually get people to listen once your show is live.

Why Spotify is the right first platform for a new podcast

Spotify commands roughly 31% of global podcast listeners, ahead of Apple Podcasts at 14%, according to Podtrac's 2024 distributor rankings. More importantly, Spotify listeners skew younger (18-34) and stream on mobile, which means they discover shows through algorithmic recommendations the same way they find new music. A new podcast gets more organic surface area on Spotify than on any other single platform.

The cost to publish is zero. Spotify does not charge upload fees or take a revenue cut from your show. You pay only for your hosting platform, which starts at free on most providers. For a creator who is testing the medium before committing, that matters.

Spotify also has the best native analytics of any podcast platform available to independent creators. You can see average consumption per episode, where listeners drop off, and basic demographic data, all without a third-party analytics tool.

What you need before you record

Before you open a recording app, settle four things. Skipping any of them means you will make a decision under pressure mid-launch and probably regret it.

A show concept with a specific audience. "Business advice" is not a concept. "Bootstrapped SaaS founders, 30 minutes per week, on how to survive year one with no VC" is a concept. The more specific your premise, the faster Spotify's algorithm knows who to show your show to.

A show name that is searchable. Your show name is the single most important SEO asset your podcast has on Spotify's platform. Include the topic word in the title if you can do it without sounding awkward. "The Freelance Finance Show" beats "Coffee and Clarity" for someone searching "freelance money" with no prior brand awareness of your show.

Cover art at 3000x3000 pixels, JPEG or PNG. Spotify rejects submissions with art below 1400x1400 pixels. Make it readable at 60x60 pixels because that is how it appears in a playlist. White backgrounds get lost. Your face or a simple bold graphic works better than a busy template.

A publishing schedule you can actually keep. Weekly is the standard. Bi-weekly is fine. Whatever you pick, stick to it for the first 10 episodes before you evaluate whether to change it. Irregular publishing kills algorithmic momentum faster than anything else.

The 6 steps to get your podcast live on Spotify

Once your concept is locked and you have at least one recorded episode ready, the actual publishing process is straightforward. Here is exactly how it works.

Step 1: Record and edit your first episode

You do not need professional gear to start. A USB condenser microphone (the Audio-Technica ATR2100x costs around $79) in a quiet room will produce audio that is indistinguishable from a studio setup to most listeners. Record in a closet if you have one. Soft furnishings absorb echo better than any acoustic panel.

Export your finished episode as an MP3 at 128 kbps mono or 192 kbps stereo. Keep file sizes under 200MB per episode. Most editing tools (Audacity, Descript, GarageBand) export directly to these specs.

Step 2: Choose a podcast host

Your podcast host stores your audio files and generates the RSS feed that Spotify reads. You cannot upload directly to Spotify without one. The main options in 2026:

Buzzsprout (free tier: 2 hours/month, episodes expire after 90 days; paid from $12/month)
Podbean (free tier: 5 hours of storage, unlimited bandwidth; paid from $9/month)
Castos (paid only, from $19/month, strong analytics)
Transistor (paid only, from $19/month, best for shows with multiple hosts or brands)

If you are launching to test the concept before spending anything, Podbean's free tier is the most generous starting point. If you are serious from day one, Buzzsprout's $12/month plan removes episode expiry and adds better analytics.

Step 3: Upload your episode and fill in your show metadata

Inside your hosting platform, create a new show and fill in every field. Your show title, description, category, and language settings are all sent to Spotify via your RSS feed. Write your show description for search, not for vibes. Include the words your target listener would type into Spotify's search bar.

Upload your cover art. Add your first episode. Set it to public. Copy your RSS feed URL from your dashboard. You need it in the next step.

Step 4: Submit to Spotify for Podcasters

Go to podcasters.spotify.com and sign in with a Spotify account. Click "Add your podcast." Paste your RSS feed URL. Spotify validates the feed and shows a preview of your show details. Confirm everything looks correct, then submit.

Review takes between a few hours and 24 hours. Spotify sends an email confirmation when your show is live. After that, every episode you publish to your host appears on Spotify automatically within minutes.

Step 5: Set up your listener destination

This step gets skipped in most guides. It should not.

Once your show is on Spotify, you need one place to send people from every social profile you own. Not your Spotify link. Not your Apple Podcasts link. One page that shows your latest episode, your back catalog, your merch, your newsletter signup, and any other way to stay connected with you.

Most podcasters drop a raw Spotify link in their Instagram bio and call it done. The problem: Spotify does not convert for creators. It converts for Spotify. A listener who clicks your Spotify link stays on Spotify. They never see your other offers, never land on your email list, and never buy anything from you directly.

Your link-in-bio page is where you capture that audience. Build it at MyLinks.page, where you get a custom domain, full SEO indexing, and analytics on every click, without paying for Linktree Pro just to remove their branding from your page.

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Step 6: Distribute to Apple Podcasts, Amazon, and iHeart

Once your RSS feed is validated by Spotify, submit the same feed to Apple Podcasts Connect, Amazon Music for Podcasters, and iHeartRadio's podcast portal. Each takes 24-72 hours to approve. Most hosting platforms have a one-click distribution feature that handles all of these submissions from a single dashboard.

You do not need to reupload anything. Your host pushes new episodes to every platform simultaneously.

The parts that actually grow a podcast

Getting listed on Spotify is table stakes. Growing listeners requires a different set of decisions, and most podcast advice gets this wrong by focusing on tactics instead of compounding mechanics.

The one thing that moves the needle faster than anything else in the first 90 days is getting existing listeners to leave a rating on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Spotify's recommendation algorithm weights shows with recent reviews more heavily than shows with older ones. Ask for reviews at the end of every episode for the first three months, specifically. Not vaguely ("if you enjoyed this...") but with a direct ask ("go to Spotify right now, leave a five-star review, it takes 20 seconds, and I read every single one").

Guest appearances on other podcasts in your category drive faster audience growth than any social media tactic. One appearance on a show with 5,000 listeners will outperform six months of Twitter posting. Find shows in your category on Spotify, check their review count to estimate audience size, and pitch the host a specific angle that serves their audience, not yours.

Your back catalog is a growth asset most podcasters waste. Every episode you publish should have a permanent, searchable home on the web. That means episode show notes with timestamps and key topics on your own site or link-in-bio page, not buried inside Spotify's closed ecosystem. When someone Googles a question your episode answers, they should be able to find your page, not just your Spotify listing.

This is where a link-in-bio tool with real SEO support pays off. A Linktree profile is a dead end for search engines: it blocks crawling, uses Linktree's domain authority instead of yours, and sends zero SEO signals back to your show. A MyLinks.page profile on your own domain gets indexed, passes authority to your linked content, and gives you analytics on which episode links actually get clicked.

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Common mistakes that stall new podcasts

Publishing inconsistently is the first one. Spotify's algorithm treats a gap in publishing the same way a social algorithm treats inactivity: it stops showing your show to new listeners. If you cannot commit to weekly, commit to bi-weekly before you launch, not after you miss your third deadline.

Burying the call to action is the second. Most podcasters say "follow me on Instagram" at the end of an episode and leave it at that. Your bio link on every platform should go to a page with your podcast front and center, your newsletter signup visible, and every social account linked. That page needs to exist before episode one goes live, not as an afterthought in month three.

Optimizing for downloads instead of engagement is the third. Downloads tell you how many people pressed play. They tell you nothing about how many listened past the first two minutes. Spotify's analytics show average consumption rate. If your average consumption is below 50%, something is wrong with the opening three minutes of your show. Fix that before you spend time on promotion.

Choosing a podcast name that cannot be searched is the fourth, and it is permanent. You can change your cover art. You can change your description. Changing your show name after you have an audience breaks every link, every bookmark, and every algorithm signal you have built. Make it searchable from the start.

Your next step

Record your first episode this week. Set up a hosting account on Podbean or Buzzsprout. Submit to Spotify for Podcasters. That part takes one afternoon.

While your submission is in review, build your link-in-bio page and point every social profile at it. Put your Spotify link there, your Apple Podcasts link, your newsletter, and anything else you want listeners to find. Make it the one URL you can say out loud at the end of every episode and have confidence it shows everything worth showing.

Podcasting rewards consistency over perfection. Episodes two through ten will be better than episode one. The only way to get to ten is to publish one.