Podcast Directories are one of the things any podcaster can use to syndicate his/her show.

And besides word of mouth, it’s probably the most common way people find your show. What’s it mean to syndicate your show?

Syndicate: to publish simultaneously, or supply for simultaneous publication, in a number of newspapers or other periodicals in different places:

For our purposes we’re not talking about newspapers or periodicals – we’re talking about Podcast Directories

There are many, many, MANY places you can submit your show where others may find it. But you have to know WHERE those places are and HOW to find them. I’m going to help you out with both of those steps, on this episode of Podcastification

SUBSCRIBE TO PODCASTIFICATION HERE!

Before you dive into the list and instructions below – understand this…

#1 – What I’m about to share does NOT include sites or apps that pull directly from iTunes/Apple Podcasts itself. If your show is already IN the Apple directory (whatever it’s called these days) you’ll automatically be included in those directories or apps. This includes MOST IOS or Android podcast apps. Most, but not all. 🙂

#2 – This list does NOT include directories or services that will modify your RSS feed or the contents of your podcast in any way, including the insertion of advertisements.

MY SUGGESTED PODCAST DIRECTORIES, LISTED ALPHABETICALLY

Acast:

Anyone who hosts a podcast on any media host or storage facility can provide the Acast folks with their RSS feed and they’ll make your show searchable and listenable on their app platform.

SUBMIT YOUR SHOW TO ACAST HERE.

Amazon Flash Briefing (Amazon Alexa Skill)

If you want your podcast to show up as a “Flash Briefing” in Amazon, you’ve got a little bit of work ahead of you.

Before you dig into the instructions below, might I make a suggestion? It’s something I recommend, not a rule from Amazon or any such nonsense like that. It’s just what seems best to me. OK, here it is…

PLEASE DO NOT create a Flash Briefing that includes your ENTIRE podcast episodes if they are over 5 minutes long.

Flash Briefings are meant to be short, easy to digest morsels of audio goodness. The Amazon website that provides instructions for how to create your own “skill” (the power behind the Flash Briefing) says this…

You can create a Flash Briefing skill to provide Alexa customers with news headlines and other short content. Typically a flash briefing becomes a part of a customer’s daily routine.

For example…

One of my 4 (soon to be 5) podcasts is a 5 minute “Morning Mindset” podcast. I’ve created a Flash Briefing version of it because it’s a daily, morning publication podcast that is ideal for just this sort of application.

If you search your Alexa app for new skills, or do so here, you could find my “Morning Mindset” – Right now it’s the top result returned for that keyword phrase.

Then, once subscribed, you can speak to your Alexa tube of wonder in this manner, “Alexa, play my flash briefing” – and my Morning Mindset (among other flash briefings you’ve subscribed to) will begin to play.

How to create your own flash briefing

As I mentioned at the beginning of this section – there’s quite a bit of work to creating a Flash Briefing Skill – but you can read all about it and actually get it done by following the helpful instructions here.

Apple Podcasts (formerly iTunes, sort of)

Apple has long been the 800 pound Gorilla in the room when it comes to podcast directories. It’s the one people refer to when they talk about their show being a “top podcast” or “ranking” in a certain way. It’s perhaps THE podcast directory you want to be concerned with most, simply because more people discover and listen to podcasts using an Apple device than anyplace else… by a VERY huge majority.

So get into the Apple Podcasts/iTunes directory –Here’s how.

Submitting to Apple Podcasts

Some things you need to know about submitting…

• Your show needs to have at least one episode published and “live” on your feed
• Your cover art needs to meet the minimum 1400px X 1400px requirement
• And if your cover art is over 500kb in size, you’ll likely have problems (you can reduce the size by using a tool like this – https://www.reduceimages.com/ )

To submit

• Go to Podcasts Connect and follow the prompts

It typically takes 6 hours to 48 hours to receive an email response, letting you know that your show has been approved. During a holiday season (Thanksgiving and Christmas in the US especially), it may take a bit longer.

Blubrry Podcast Directory

Blubrry is most widely known for its podcast hosting services and the PowerPress plugin used on many WordPress sites.

However, they have a pretty impressive podcast directory too.

Here’s what they say about it…

Our main goal is to offer additional distribution points that otherwise are not available to podcasters. With this philosophy, we believe the Blubrry Podcast Directory fills the void where iTunes and podcasting is otherwise unavailable.

THAT is why the Blubrry podcast directory is significant in my mind. Some of the places the Blubrry directory can list your show are…

• ROKU TV
• GOOGLE TV
• Android
• Samsung SmartT

So, how do you get your show into the Blubrry podcast directory?

Submit your show to the Blubrry directory

• Create an account on the Blubrry Platform
• Once that’s done, add your podcast at this link

Deezer

Deezer is not exactly a podcast directory – it’s a bit more.

If you were to subscribe to Deezer using its app, you’d mostly be listening to music, but it has added podcasts as well. And it uses some sort of fancy schmancy algorithm to “curate” content for you and make recommendations.

It’s worth a shot to see if you can get your podcast included. Who knows who is listening to stuff on Deezer who might become your next big super fan?

Submit your show using this form. That’s all there is to it.

BUT KNOW THIS: Submitting this form does NOT guarantee you’ll be included in the platform. It’s an application – you’re asking to be considered for inclusion, that’s it.

doubleTwist

This one is not exactly a podcasting app or directory. It’s a media player. BUT, it’s also got a directory you can submit to so that people who use it can easily find your podcast.

How to submit your show to doubleTwist

• Go to the contact page on the doubleTwist.com website – In the drop-down for “subject” choose “Request New Podcast” – and complete the rest of the form.

Google Assistant Actions

Much like the Alexa Skill Flash Briefing above, you can set up your podcast to play using voice commands on Google Assistant.

DISCLAIMER: I have NOT done this for any of my podcasts yet.

Why?

Because it’s amazingly learning-curve intensive. It’s a bit of app development that I’d have to learn and I simply haven’t had the time to devote to it.

So… if you’re into this kind of thing or think it’s a worthwhile thing to do, I recommend you get to it. Or you could hire someone to build it out for you (now THAT’s an idea).

To set up your own Google Assistant Action that plays your podcast via voice commands – go here and get started. There’s an intro video to help you understand what you’re doing. Sort of.

Google Podcasts

When it comes to podcast directories I can’t say Google Podcasts actually qualifies as a directory, per se.

That’s because it’s Google. When you are able to search every bit of conceivable data in the world, podcasts are naturally included.

And the Google Podcasts app pulls FROM Google search – but there ARE ways you can ensure your podcast will show up there easily and without any errors.

How to get your show into the Google Podcasts App

If your show is hosted on Libsyn, Blubrry, or any of the other major media hosting platforms, chances are your show is already in Google Podcasts.

How can you know? Just do a Google search for the exact name of your show. If you find your show listed with actual “play” buttons next to some of your episode titles – you’re there. No need to go any further.

But if you are NOT able to find your show in that format, you may need to do a little bit of work.

Go to this page on the Google Reference site.

Follow the instructions carefully.

According to that page, this may also cause your podcast to…

be automatically turned into an action on the Google Assistant.

That’s a pretty cool perk. If you’d like to hear my episode about the Google Podcasts App itself, check it out.

iHeart Radio

iHeart Radio is a podcasting app and a way to stream internet radio, including events. And I just drove by one of their offices in Loveland, Colorado.

In order to get your podcast into the iHeart podcast directory you have to have a relationship with someone (a company) who has already established a relationship with them that you can “piggy back” on.

At this point, I only know of two options.

#1 – Libsyn

If you are a Libsyn user, you’re in – almost. The only stipulation is that your show has to be regularly publishing for at least 2 months before you are eligible to be submitted to iHeart Radio.

You also have to be using the Libsyn destination feed functionality to make it work.

Watch Krystal’s great tutorial on how to do it in this video from the Libsyn team

#2 – Spreaker

You may not know much about Spreaker, but they are another of the high quality media hosts out there – and have some pretty snazzy FREE software for recording live interviews as well – if you don’t mind a combined track.

I have to say right up front that I’m not a Spreaker customer or user but the info here is accurate as of the date of this post and can ONLY be used by Spreaker customers.

• Go to http://spreaker.com
• From your show’s settings, go to Spreaker’s Content Management System.
• Choose your show, and click the yellow EDIT button.
• Select iHeart in the menu that appears on the left and click the SUBMIT button.

After clicking it, you’ll be asked to accept the Terms and Conditions, and then submit your show to iHeartRadio.

And if you’re a visual type person, here’s a great screencapture-style tutorial of how to do it from the good folks at Spreaker.

Learn Out Loud

Learn Out Loud is not exactly a podcast directory – it’s a directory of all kinds of resources – audio books, free resources, etc. and podcasts are among them.

By my initial experimentation it appears that the content in their search engine is NOT pulling from the iTunes/Apple Podcasts ecosphere, so I’m including it here.

With so many other resources available, it seems that it’s worth being “discovered” by someone who is searching for something else and stumbles upon my show.

How to be listed on Learn Out Loud

The website says to include your podcast you need to email them at podcast (at) learnoutloud.com – and I assume you’ll need to include your RSS feed and other relevant information like

• Podcast Name
• Description
• Website
• Cover Art

The website doesn’t SAY to include those things – but hey, let’s make it easy on them.

Listen Notes

Listen Notes is a podcast search engine that claims to be “…like Google, but for podcasts.” A self-funded software engineer from San Francisco, Wenbin Fang created the directory and it appears to be working fairly well (the site touts almost 587,000 podcasts listed as of November 2018).

How to get your podcast listed in the Listen Notes directory

• Go to www.Listennotes.com
• Choose the “submit” option way at the bottom (see image
• Follow the prompts

That. Is. it.

Pandora (ADDED 12/7/18)

The much anticipated launch of Pandora’s “Podcast Genome” project has finally reared its head – and podcasters need to take action to be included in the first podcasting attempt of the BIGGEST STREAMING AUDIO PLATFORM that exists.

You heard that right. More people use Pandora than Spotify, iTunes, etc.

So how do you get your show into their new directory-that’s-not-really-a-directory-but-more-of-a-recommendation-engine?

First, you have to submit your show using the form here. Be sure to fill out everything.

Then you wait.

From what I understand, a person (not an algorithm) will consider your show for inclusion. In the future, this step may be done away with. But then again, it may not. We simply don’t know.

So get that – your show MAY NOT be included. It’s up to the Pandora-powers-that-be. Perhaps they’ll open their magical box and let you in.

Player.FM

Player FM is a multi-platform app for podcasting that even works offline. You can connect it to your TV. You can access its curated catalogue (not sure exactly HOW its curated) to find niche topics and interesting stuff.

Here’s the submission process for the Player.FM directory.

• Go to this link: https://player.fm/importer/new
• Follow the prompts. It’s easy-peasy.

Podbean

If you don’t know about Podbean, you’re in for a treat. I have met a person or two who works over there and they are doing some great things for the Podcast-o-sphere.

Here’s how to get your show listed in the Podbean Directory

• Click this link to create a free account (you can do so by creating a login or using Facebook or Google Plus)
• Once you do, the page should redirect to the submission page
• Follow the prompts and your show is added to their podcast directory immediately.

Podknife

Podknife is a fairly new podcast directory of sorts. I met some of the folks from the organization at Podcast Movement 2018.

It’s fairly simple to get your show included in their directory.

You’ll have to go to their website here – create an account – then in the top-right menu select the option to submit a show.

That’s it. Pretty simple.

RadioPublic

RadioPublic is both an app and a podcast directory.

It claims to have over 250,000 podcasts listed. That’s impressive. So it appears to me it’s a decent place to get your show listed.

Nothing more to say about it than that – and that they have a pretty snazzy looking submission form – that requires you to enter a lot of stuff other forms don’t.

But, so it is.

Submit your podcast to RadioPublic

• Visit this page to start filling out the form
• Follow the prompts

Spotify

Spotify is a growing destination for podcast consumption – the 2nd highest already and it’s only been listing podcasts for just over a year.

If your podcast is NOT listed in Spotify, it should be. Millennials especially seem to be using it a lot.

There are two ways to get submitted to Spotify.

If your media host provides a way (Libsyn, Blubrry, etc.) then USE THAT WAY. It may come with perks you won’t get by doing it yourself.

And if you HAVE submitted through your media host, DO NOT submit again independently.

But if you’d like to submit your show yourself – you can do so here.

Submit your podcast to Spreaker – even if you aren’t a Spreaker user

I mentioned Spreaker earlier when referring to iHeart submissions. But Spreaker has it’s own podcast directory as well – and it doesn’t ONLY contain shows from their customers.

Rob Greenlee is a podcasting veteran – podcasting before podcasting was even a thing. Seriously.

He now works for Spreaker as Head of Content, and he’s been a guest on my podcast (episode 64).

Rob told me he’d be willing to do some “additions” to their directory – to be listed in their Android and IOS Spreaker apps. He calls them “Pass Through Submissions”

Here’s how to submit your podcast to the Spreaker podcast directory as a Pass Through Submission

Send a kind email to Rob.Greenlee(at)Spreaker(dot)com and ask him to kindly include your podcast(s) in Spreaker as a “pass through” submission – be sure to include your RSS feed URL

That’s it. Rob’s a peach of a guy.

Stitcher

Stitcher is likely the main directory for Android devices, though it is available on IOS devices and PCs as well. Over 65,000 shows are available to stream.

Stitcher’s process is a bit different and a lot the same.

You’ll have to sign up to be what they call a “Content Provider” and then follow a few additional steps.

Sign up to submit your podcast to Stitcher

• Go to the this page
• Fill in all the required info

Tunein

Tunein is another of those apps that has tons of content, including audio books. It’s becoming more and more popular from what I can tell so it’s worth the effort to make sure your show is included in their directory.

How to get your podcast listed in the tunein directory

• You’ll need to navigate to this contact page for tunein and follow the steps

Others I did NOT want to include in this post…

There are lots of niche-specific directories out there as well as other “general” directories that I didn’t think were high enough quality to warrant taking the time to submit to them.

For niche-specific directories, do a Google search for “your nice podcast directory” and see what comes up. You may need to play around with the wording in your search query, but it should work.

You can also check out Podcast411. For along time the site has kept up a list of podcast directories that either do or don’t work. Take your chance on what you find there if you like.

Overall, when it comes to submitting to podcast directories

Take your time.

Maybe do one submission a day.

Or one a week.

In time, you’ll get them all done and have your show out where people can find it.

Thanks for listening/reading.