Submit a show

You can submit a show to Apple via an RSS feed that’s hosted by a third-party hosting provider, or you can participate in the Apple Podcasters Program and create a show in Apple Podcasts Connect.

All shows must pass technical validations and a review process before they’re made available on Apple Podcasts.

Submit an RSS feed

If you use a third-party hosting provider to host your RSS feed, follow these steps:

1. In Apple Podcasts Connect, click the Add (+) button and select New Show.
2. Choose “Add a show with an RSS feed.”
3. Enter the RSS feed URL.
4. Choose whether you’d like to restrict user access to the show within your Apple Podcasts Connect account. If you choose to restrict access, and have already set up users in the Account menu, only the users you choose will see the show in Apple Podcasts Connect.
5. Click Add.
6. Review your show details on the Show Information page to ensure everything looks correct.
7. Set the Content Rights and confirm that your show has rights to any third-party content it may contain.
8. Provide contact information for the show, so we can reach someone if there’s an issue.
9. On the left, choose Availability.
   • Countries or Regions: Choose where you want your show to be available. You can edit availability at any time.
   • Distribution: Choose whether you’d like to make your feed publicly available. Selecting this option makes your RSS feed available in the Apple Podcasts Catalog API which allows podcast app developers to include your show in their app.
   • Transcripts: Choose whether you’ll provide your own episode transcripts via RSS feed or if you’d prefer for Apple to generate them.
   • Show Release: Choose whether you want your show to be released right away or select a date and time to release it on Apple Podcasts.
10. Add a subscription (optional). You’ll add promotional information and artwork, as well as set up pricing and free trial information. Learn more.
11. Click Save.
12. Publish your show.

Your RSS feed will be validated before it’s sent to Apple. If there’s an issue, a warning message will appear and must be resolved before you can publish the show. Learn more about validation warnings.

If you added a subscription, you must add subscriber audio to your RSS feed-based show in Apple Podcasts Connect. Then, you can link the audio files together. Learn how to set up your show for a subscription. 

Your subscription must be reviewed and approved, and at least one episode with subscriber audio must be published before your subscription is available on Apple Podcasts.

Create a show in Apple Podcasts Connect

While Apple recommends using a third-party hosting provider, if you’re participating in the Apple Podcasters Program you can create a show with subscriber-only benefits available to listeners on Apple Podcasts. 

1. In Apple Podcasts Connect, click the Add (+) button and select New Show.
2. Choose “Add a show without an RSS feed.”
3. Enter the name of the show.
4. Choose whether you’d like to restrict access to the show within your Apple Podcasts Connect account. If you choose to restrict access, only the users you choose will see the show in Apple Podcasts Connect.
5. Click Add.
6. On the Show Information page, add your show artwork and enter all relevant details.
   • Name: The name of your show. You can enter up to 150 characters.
   • Artist: The artist most often refers to the parent company or network of a podcast, but it can also be used to identify the host(s) if none exists.
   • Description: One or more sentences describing your episode to potential listeners. You can enter up to 4000 characters.
   • Channel (optional): Can only be updated when managing channels. You can add your show to a channel if you want it to be grouped with other shows on your account or if you are adding paid content to your show. Keep in mind that moving a show between channels could affect your subscriber access. A show can be associated with only one channel.
   • Type: Indicates whether it's an episodic or serialized show. Episodic shows can be listened to in any order while serialized shows are designed to be listened to in sequential order — from the first episode to the last. Learn more about show types.
   • Update Frequency: This appears in Apple Podcasts and lets your listeners know how often you plan to update your show with new episodes.
   • Category: Select the category that best reflects the content of your show. If available, you can also define a subcategory.
   • Explicit Content: Podcasts containing explicit material can‘t be distributed in some countries and regions. Learn more about content restrictions on Apple Podcasts.
   • Language: The language spoken on the show.
   • Show Website: If your show has a website, enter the URL.
   • Copyright: If your show is copyrighted, enter the copyright details.
7. If your show is part of a subscription, you can add a customized message to your subscription banner for this show. Learn more about writing promotions.
8. Set the Content Rights and confirm that your show has rights to any third-party content it may contain.
9. Provide contact information for the show, so we can reach someone if there’s an issue.
10. Click Save.
11. On the left, choose Availability.
    • Countries or Regions: Choose where you want your show to be available. You can edit availability at any time.
    • Show Release: Choose whether you want your show to be released right away or select a date and time to release it on Apple Podcasts.
12. Add a subscription (optional). You’ll add promotional information and artwork, as well as set up pricing and free trial information. Learn more.
13. Click Save.
14. On the Show Information page, publish your show.

Important: Your show will display a Published status, however, it will not be available on Apple Podcasts until an episode is added and published. If you added a subscription, it must be reviewed and approved, and at least one episode with subscriber audio must be published before your subscription is available on Apple Podcasts.

When you’re ready to add episodes to your show, click Episodes. Learn more about how to create an episode.

Add an RSS feed to your show in Apple Podcasts Connect

The show metadata in your RSS feed will override any show metadata you entered in Apple Podcasts Connect.

1. In Apple Podcasts Connect, click on the show you want to edit.
2. On the show details page, under More Actions, click Add RSS Feed. 
   
3. Enter the RSS feed URL.
   
4. Click Save.
5. On the left, choose Availability.
   
6. In the Distribution section, choose whether you’d like to make your feed publicly available. Selecting this option makes your RSS feed available in the Apple Podcasts Catalog API which allows podcast app developers to include your show in their app.
   

If your RSS feed validates, all episodes associated with the feed will be available on Apple Podcasts.