How to start a podcast
The parts that actually block a launch are never the microphone. They are the RSS feed, the artwork specs Apple really publishes, and knowing that a median episode gets 27 downloads in its first week.
9 minute read
Decide what the show is, in one sentence
Before any gear decision, write one sentence covering who the show is for, what they get from it, and why it comes from you. That sentence settles the format faster than any equipment list. A solo show needs a strong point of view and more scripting discipline than people expect. An interview show trades that for booking work, and is only ever as good as the guest pipeline you can sustain month after month. A co-hosted show is the easiest to keep energetic and the hardest to schedule. Narrative is a different craft and takes roughly ten times the edit. Pick the format whose recurring cost you can actually pay every week, not the one that sounds most impressive in a pitch. Length, cadence and how clippable the show is all follow from that choice.
What a podcast host and an RSS feed actually do
Podcasting has no upload button. A podcast is an RSS feed: an XML file listing the show's title, description, artwork, categories and language, plus one entry per episode, each pointing at an audio file through an enclosure tag carrying a URL, a byte length and a MIME type. Apple's published feed requirements add that the feed must be valid RSS 2.0, publicly addressable rather than password-protected, contain at least one episode, and give every episode a globally unique identifier that never changes. A podcast host is the company that generates that XML, stores the audio, serves it from a server answering HEAD and byte-range requests, and counts downloads. You can hand-roll all of it. Almost nobody should, because when you eventually change hosts, that unchanging GUID and a redirected feed URL are the only things that keep your subscribers.
Cover art: what Apple publishes, and what everyone repeats
Cover art is the one asset with hard specs, and most guides quote stale ones. Apple's current show cover guidance asks for 3000 x 3000 pixels, accepts 1400 x 1400 up to 3000 x 3000 when the art is delivered through your RSS feed, takes PNG or JPG, and adds two rules that rarely reach a checklist: the image cannot contain transparency or an alpha channel, so it needs a solid background, and it cannot include Apple logos or hardware. The familiar 72 dpi, RGB, under-512 KB line comes from Apple's older feed requirements and from hosting validators that still reject anything much over 500 KB, so keep to it regardless. Spotify's creator help explains how to upload artwork but does not publish dimensions at all. Build to Apple's numbers and you clear every directory.
The metadata that decides where you get filed
Apple lets you choose up to two categories per show, a primary and a secondary, plus subcategories where they exist, drawn from what Apple describes as more than 100 categories and subcategories. The primary is the one that matters. Apple says it determines which category page you appear on, your placement in Top Charts, and how you surface in personalised recommendations. The secondary helps with select category pages, recommendations and editorially curated collections, which is a real but smaller effect. The rest is unglamorous and worth deciding once: language, an explicit flag, contact email, country availability, and a show type. Episodic plays the newest episode first and is the sensible default for interview and chat shows. Serial starts listeners at episode one, and more shows should use it than do.
Getting listed on Apple, Spotify and YouTube
Each directory is a separate submission, and each verifies you through the email address published in your feed. For Apple, create an Apple Podcasts Connect account and submit the feed URL. It runs technical validation, then a review, and Apple states plainly that passing validation does not mean approval, because content guidelines are assessed separately. For Spotify, go to creators.spotify.com, choose to add a new show, find your existing show, paste the RSS URL, and enter the eight-digit code Spotify emails you. For YouTube, use Create then New podcast in YouTube Studio, accept the RSS ingestion terms and verify by email code. YouTube turns each episode into a static-image video, uploads them privately first, and warns that audio on a published ingested video cannot be replaced. RSS ingestion is only offered in some countries.
Episode length and structure, without the folklore
Length folklore comes from the top of the charts, where three-hour interview shows live. The real distribution is far shorter. Buzzsprout's platform statistics for July 2026 put the most common episode at 20 to 40 minutes, covering 30% of shows, with 21% under ten minutes and 16% between ten and twenty, so well over a third of podcasts run under twenty minutes and only 13% pass the hour. Let the format set the length rather than a target. Internal structure matters more: open on the most interesting thing said in the episode instead of a greeting, name the show and yourself inside the first minute for anyone arriving from a search result, and build in segments so a listener joining late finds a foothold. Segments also make the episode much easier to excerpt later.
Pick a cadence you can hold in a bad month
Weekly is the assumed default and it is not what most shows actually do. In Buzzsprout's July 2026 figures the largest group publishes every 8 to 14 days at 38% of shows, with 34% on a 3 to 7 day cycle, 20% every 15 to 29 days, 7% posting near-daily and only 2% slower than monthly. Fortnightly is normal, not a compromise. Choose the cadence you can hold through a bad month, because the failure mode is common enough to have earned a name, podfade, and it nearly always traces back to a schedule set with launch-week energy. Batch where you can: recording two episodes in one sitting costs far less than two separate sessions. A show that publishes fortnightly for two years beats one that publishes weekly for six weeks.
What the first ten episodes are actually for
The first ten episodes exist to find the show, not the audience, and it helps to know what small numbers look like. Buzzsprout's July 2026 percentiles put the median episode at 27 downloads in its first seven days. Ninety-seven downloads puts you in the top quarter, 409 in the top 10%, and 4,579 in the top 1%. Anyone promising thousands out of the gate is selling something. Use those ten episodes to settle your open, your length and your booking process while nobody is watching. Then treat discovery as a separate job from publishing: YouTube now ingests podcast feeds directly, and vertical clips are how most shows recruit listeners who have never opened a podcast app. Tools like FrameOS cut those clips from the recording you already made. 300 credits for 3 days · no card.
FAQ
Do I need a podcast host to start a podcast?
Practically, yes. A host stores your audio, generates the RSS feed that directories read, serves files from a server that answers HEAD and byte-range requests as Apple requires, and counts downloads. You can self-host the feed and files, but you take on that infrastructure yourself, and you lose the redirect tooling that keeps subscribers when you move.
What size should podcast cover art be?
Apple's show cover guidance asks for 3000 x 3000 pixels and accepts 1400 x 1400 up to 3000 x 3000 through RSS, in PNG or JPG, with no transparency or alpha channel and no Apple logos or hardware. Keep the file under about 500 KB, since hosting validators still enforce the older 512 KB ceiling. That single file satisfies Spotify and YouTube too.
How do I get my podcast on Apple Podcasts and Spotify?
Publish at least one episode, then submit your RSS feed URL to each separately. Apple takes it through Apple Podcasts Connect, which runs technical validation followed by a review. Spotify takes it at creators.spotify.com under Add a new show, then emails an eight-digit code to the address in your feed. Both verify ownership through that feed email address.
How many downloads is good for a new podcast?
Lower than most people expect. Buzzsprout's July 2026 platform statistics put the median episode at 27 downloads in its first seven days. Reaching 97 puts an episode in the top 25% of shows on that platform, 409 in the top 10%, and 4,579 in the top 1%. Early episode numbers say almost nothing about whether a show will work.
Sources
- Artwork guide · Apple Podcasts for Creators
- Apple Podcasts categories · Apple Podcasts for Creators
- Adding a new show to your Spotify for Creators account · Spotify
- Deliver podcasts using an RSS feed · YouTube Help
- Buzzsprout Podcast Stats · Buzzsprout
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