Hi! I have a passion project I want to work on, I am not expecting to make money off of it (it would be nice though). I have researched a bit but it is hard to find something that is not suggested by AI or an affiliate. I don’t want to break the bank on getting podcasting equipment, I need help with suggestions!

• Mics, I would like at least 2 if not 3 (depending), what are some good options? I also don’t know if there would be a problem recording from that many mics, what kind of software/devices/equipment would be able to handle that? (Would I also be able to record music with them?)
• Best free or inexpensive editing software?
• I also want to film it and post it on social media and YouTube from multiple angles to try to reach my target audience more, but I also know it’s landscape vs portrait. Any suggestions for what kind of filming equipment? I’m hoping the episodes don’t go over one hour. How do I edit the cuts to who is speaking without losing video quality?
• Will it be easy to setup and take down? It will be at my house and possibly other locations (depending).

Thank you so so much, any advice helps!

I’ve looked at Riverside, Podbean, Spreaker, and a few others (but haven’t signed up yet) and haven’t seen some features that seem important to me.

Is there a platform that has all the sophisticated recording, AI editing, sound leveling, teleprompter, and publishing to all platforms (etc) that also have things like:

Managing the guests:

• Guest CRM
• eSignature for Guest Agreements
• Collab space for bio, topic, question flow, and gathering episode-specific content (like guest headshot, presentations, logos, etc) with guest before recording

Managing the content calendar:

• Organizing topics and timing
• Connecting potential guests to topics

Podcast website design & hosting:

• Consolidation of social media comments from all accounts
• Add pages (bios of host, vote on guests, submit guests and topics, advertising opportunities, etc)

Social media integration:

• Ability to post and respond to all social media in one place

Looking for a complete all-in-one platform.

If that doesn’t exist, what tools do you use in addition to your main podcast recording/editing/publishing platform?

Tomorrow will be day 6 of having our first ever podcast.

So far we’ve dropped 3 episodes:

1. A meet the hosts Episode ~3 mins
2. First story Episode~ 35 mins
3. Bonus Pod - we visited the site of the story ~ 30 mins

I’m using Spotify 4 Creators to host and also uploading to YouTube. I’ve linked our RSS to all the big sites. I’ve also been doing some aggressive promotion on the socials, as well as leveraging my community.

What do pods do for views/subs/streams in their first week/month? Idk how to tell if I’m doing well? Or lagging behind. I have stats but nothing to compare myself with. General stats:

From Spotify 4 Creators:

Total Plays Across All Platforms: 647 Plays Per Episode: 216 Audience Size: 392 Can’t see all platform followers/subs

Spotify Specific #s: Streams: 191 Consumption Hours: 43 Followers: 159

YouTube #s:

60 Subscribers 301 Views 21 Likes 4 Comments (2 of my own responses) 12 Shares 12.1 Watch Hours

• keep in mind YouTube isn’t full video. It’s an audio podcast where I’m creating a looping gif as video.

All-in-all, how is this for week 1? Any advice? I feel like we’ve tapped our community and am now turning heavily to socials for growth. We’re going to hit the TikTok/Instagram/Facebook/YouTube shorts and reels moving forward.

What’s your take on these numbers so far?

So far we’ve dropped 3 episodes:

1. A meet the hosts Episode ~3 mins
2. First story Episode~ 35 mins
3. Bonus Pod - we visited the site of the story ~ 30 mins

I’m using Spotify 4 Creators to host and also uploading to YouTube. I’ve linked our RSS to all the big sites. I’ve also been doing some aggressive promotion on the socials, as well as leveraging my community.

What do pods do for views/subs/streams in their first week/month? Idk how to tell if I’m doing well? Or lagging behind. I have stats but nothing to compare myself with. General stats:

From Spotify 4 Creators:

Total Plays Across All Platforms: 647 Plays Per Episode: 216 Audience Size: 392 Can’t see all platform followers/subs

Spotify Specific #s: Streams: 191 Consumption Hours: 43 Followers: 159

YouTube #s:

60 Subscribers 301 Views 21 Likes 4 Comments (2 of my own responses) 12 Shares 12.1 Watch Hours

• keep in mind YouTube isn’t full video. It’s an audio podcast where I’m creating a looping gif as video.

All-in-all, how is this for week 1? Any advice? I feel like we’ve tapped our community and am now turning heavily to socials for growth. We’re going to hit the TikTok/Instagram/Facebook/YouTube shorts and reels moving forward.

What’s your take on these numbers so far?

My buddy and me made a podcast called "Life in Stereo". We're gaining a following now. We're looking for any guests who have a fetish to appear on and talk about it. The fetish path wasn't what we intended on our show being about but we had a few guests talk about theirs and it seems to be working so why not continue it. If anyone is interested in appearing on and talking about their fetish, please send me a message so we can set up a date and time. We do everything through Zoom unless you're in the Pittsburgh area.

Ive been looking for a free noise suppression software so you dont hear everything going on in the background. I just cant find one. Krisp only lets you use it for 60 minutes daily if your using it for free. Can anybody provide me with one?

I currently have a hobby of making videos on YouTube for fun and I enjoy it. I currently use a dji mic 2 in the field and a blue yeti at home for voiceovers. I’m looking at upgrading to:

Electro-voice RE20 Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 4th gen RODE PSA1+ studio arm Electro voice 309a shock mount On stage pop blocker Mogami gold XLR 10’ RODE DS2 desktop studio arm Electro voice foam windscreen

Is there anything I’m missing or some component I might have an issue with? I had a cloud lifter in there but a lot of folks say it’s not necessary.

Soooo. I just started streaming my podcast on tik tok, and the issue I'm having is playing sounds from my soundcard to the livestream. So at the same time, I'm recording for audio distribution on spotify, and I hear the sound effects just fine. My audience doesn't hear anything. I just purchased a USB-C splitter that connects to the sound card, and allows me to theoretically play sounds to both the PC and the phone, however still no sound to the phone. What am I doing wrong?

Also my phone recognizes the sound card via bluetooth, yet no sound wirelessly or hard wired

Hi guys. Looking to get away from Zoom for remote guests. Just wondering if Riverside is the best option or if there's better out there? I'm just looking for one that's easy to use and cheap (or free even) Thanks

Hello! I apologize in advance for my ignorance, I'm quite new to the subject as a whole.
I will be moving into a building which, apparently, has some very thin walls. You can easily hear the upstairs neighbours, as well as your roommates.
I was hoping to get some advice on soundproofing my room enough to muffle my own voice whenever I do need to record something. I'm aware that pure soundproofing is unattainable without changing the structure of the building- So I am only looking at how to make it quieter, rather than quiet.

I have seen people recommend white noise machines, and my own friends recommended me to buy panels of some kind. I have even found Mats that could potentially help with the downstairs neighbour issue? I am truly unsure, I don't know much about any of these things, to be honest.

Let it be known! I care more about the soundproofing than the quality of the audio. If my audio will end up mildly messed up because of the equipment- I will cope.
If any of you had any pieces of advice on what I could do, or should look for- preferably under the 100-150$ mark as well? I would love to have some pointers! I'm very lost and do not know where I should start.

Hello! I'm sorry in advance for my ignorance, i'm truly new to this subject as a whole.
I will be moving in an apartment that, apparently, has quite thin walls- You can hear the upstairs neighbours quite easily, as well as any of your roommates. While I know that pure soundproofing would be unattainable without changing the structure of the building itself, I was wondering if there was anything I would be able to do to help muffle my voice during the days where I need to work later than 10pm? As well as, potentially avoid my roommates from understanding what I'm saying?

I have seen some people mention a white noise machine, and some of my friends have told me that some soundproofing panels have helped them a ton as well, and I would love to have some of y'all input. I'm truly unsure on where I should start looking.

For context, i'm 19, trying to learn business, and moved to a beautiful mexican beach town three years ago (i'm canadian). I want to take advantage of where I live, and begin a series documenting how a kid like me can learn from various mentors, all the while listening to the waves crash and toes in the sand.

I'm looking for recommendations on some high quality microphones that would be best to have nice audio of my guests outdoors without interference from the wind, but also capture the background noise of the waves crashing.

Thank you very much!!

Hello fellow redditors I am seeking advice for my podcast I do a cybersecurity/Tech podcast how can I advertise myself so I can get viewers and make money from it? I am publishing my first episode soon how can I market my first episode to get viewers.

I've tried several platforms. I started with podbean for several months then switched to buzzsprout a few weeks ago and now I just switched to simplecast. I've also tried transistor, pinecaast, redcircle.. and maybe some others. I couldn't try captivate because when I entered my sign up details and payment info nothing happened. Even though I'm capable of building a wordpress website and managing my own website, I prefer using the generic basic website that the host offers. I like buzzsprout and simplecast site/player the best.

Question: My podcast is also on apple, iheartmedia, spotify and several others. Do I need to update my feed with all of them manually? Or when I do a 301 redirect will that take care of it? Or does simplecast take care of that?

Also, anything else I should know about simplecast? And do you have any thoughts on other hosts? Recommendations?

Thanks.

I'm comparing different podcast hosting platforms, and in reading about what Buzzsprout and Podbean offer, it makes me wonder why anyone would buy a monthly subscription to Libsyn or any other paid podcasting hosts.

For example, Libsyn's basic $7 plan offers 3 hours of new uploads per month while Podbean's free plan offers 5 hours. Libsyn offers unlimited bandwith, but Podbean offers 100GB monthly bandwidth, which is a ton. Both sites give you a dedicated website. Both websites distribute to major listening platforms such as Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, and Spotify. Both websites offer an embeddable player and an RSS feed.

But the biggest benefit free podcast hosting platforms seem to provide (besides being free) is that, with sites like Libsyn, your RSS feed gets deleted if you decide to cancel your subscription. That doesn't happen on free podcast hosting platforms.

So my question is, why would anyone use Libsyn over sites like Podbean that offer the same, if not better, service?

Hey everyone, so I host a podcast called The Smashing Skull Sessions where I interview bands and musicians from metal and beyond. I took it over from another host and I have been producing episodes for it since February of 2024 (this year)

I've gained a few subs on YouTube and the views range from 13-65 per episode. I've never bothered with views as I do it for the love of it but I was just wondering if there are a few tips and tricks that I'm missing out on. Been podcasting for the guts of 3 years on other medias. The pod is on Spotify, Deezer, Apple, etc and on all social media bar X and TikTok.

Any help and advice is welcome.

Thank you in advance!

Bonjour,

Je viens d’acquérir le Rodecaster Pro ce matin et je débute totalement dans cet univers. Cependant, je rencontre un problème audio qui me laisse perplexe. Lorsque je diffuse un son via Bluetooth ou USB, j’entends parfaitement la musique de fond des vidéos ou des chansons, mais la voix principale (celle du chanteur ou du youtubeur, par exemple) est extrêmement faible, voire totalement inaudible.

Je me demande si ce problème pourrait être lié à mon casque ou à un réglage incorrect des paramètres de l’appareil. Je serais reconnaissant si quelqu’un pouvait m’éclairer et m’aider à résoudre cette situation.

Merci d’avance pour vos conseils.

Looking seriously at Streamyard but I don't see any good Black Friday or Cyber Monday deals. It's also pretty expensive compared to Evmux. What are your experiences like with these streaming platforms?

TL;DR - PodMatch is not a scam. It has helped me source high quality guests, receive more podcast reviews, and increase my download numbers. It has also paid me small commissions for interviewing guests which has helped me cover some podcasting related expenses. I encourage you to try it out for US$6/mo and see for yourself.

---

This post is for anyone on the fence about joining PodMatch. I am an established indie podcaster and have been using the platform for just over a month. Catch my video summary of PodMatch here:  https://youtu.be/vKj79mtr9Us?si=t1rTAWp4gdFMQFpc
---

What is PodMatch?

Put simply, PodMatch is a database of 10,000+ podcast hosts and guests. It uses AI to match hosts and guests together based on criteria you provide. This has taken me a bit of trial and error to get my criteria dialled in, however is providing pretty good matches now. I'd say approx 50% of the recommendations are a good fit for my podcast.

You can also manually search for guests which has been great.

My favourite part is the profiles. Each hosts and guest has a profile with all the information you need to quickly make an informed decision. Rather than explain what's on the profiles, here are links to my host and guest profiles as examples:

• Host profile: podmatch.com/member/rosieburrows
• Guest profile: podmatch.com/member/rosieburrowsguest

Does PodMatch really pay hosts?

Yes! They call this initiative 'PodValue'. HOWEVER, please be aware that you will not make a living off these payments. Not even close. What you could realistically do is use these payments to cover some/all of your podcasting related subscriptions.

Before I signed up, I couldn't find any information online about how much hosts were getting paid, so here is a breakdown of what PodMatch paid me for the 8 interviews I have conducted so far:

1. $2.81
2. $7.85
3. $5.75
4. $2.07
5. $11.50
6. $7.25

The remaining 2 interviews were with "legacy basic members" for which I received no commission. Here's an article from PodMatch that explains how they calculate how much you will get paid (and why you won't get paid for some interviews): https://podmatch.com/help/how-do-the-commissions-work-for-hosts

Like I said, you aren't going to be making a living off these commissions. And the amounts aren't a reflection of how much effort goes into podcasting. BUT as someone who doesn't earn from their podcast, the commissions are helpful to keep things running. I like them and I haven't heard of any competitors doing this.

Note that you only get paid once your balance has reached $100. As you can imagine, it would take quite some time for the average podcaster to reach $100 based on the commissions I have received to date.

• Do I wish the payments were more? Absolutely. 
• Do I wish the pay out minimum wasn't $100? A thousand times yes. 
• Could PodValue be marketed better with more transparency on what hosts *actually* get paid? Yes.
• Is it a scam? No.

Why should I pay when I can get guests for free?

I initially found it really off-putting that I had to pay to be on PodMatch. I resisted joining for a long time for exactly this reason. Sourcing guests for free in Facebook groups worked well for me. However, after 18 months of doing this, it was unsustainable getting 60+ applications every time I posted asking for guests. The quality of guests was a mixed bag and I didn't have good systems in place to sort through applications. It wasn't awful, but it also wasn't great. I would spend hours reading the applications and conducting pre-interviews.

Last month I decided to see what all the fuss was about PodMatch. I was surprised to learn that it only costs US$6/mo for hosts (price is higher for guests). There is no free trial available, however they do offer a money back guarantee if you don't like it.

I think the argument that people who are willing to pay for something are more likely to take things seriously (because they have skin in the game) rings true here.

PodMatch is more that a database/matching service

There is so much more to PodMatch than I realised. Here are the top 4 that I think everyone should know about:

WorkFlows:

I really didn't think I would use this feature, but I kinda like it. It is essentially an easy way to keep track of all your podcasting related tasks. Think of it like project management software. But bare bones and actually useful. I use it to keep track of all the episodes I need to edit and schedule. It's been helpful.

---

PodMatch Network:

You can apply to be accepted into PodMatch's new podcasting network. It is still very new with a limited number of podcasts, however seems to be growing rather quickly. There are no contracts to sign and no obligations other than trying to source your guests from PodMatch and including a link in all your shownotes to your PodMatch profile. None of this seems to be regulated, so it is very much in favour of the podcaster. I was recently accepted into the network - it was a very easy process. All I had to do was fill out a Google Form and then wait a week or so for their decision.

I've seen my downloads double, however I think this is more to do with guests listening to my show, as well as PodLottery (see next section) than being part of the network. This aside, it sure does feel cool to be part of a 'network' 😂.

---

PodLottery:

You need to sign up to this separately, however it falls under the PodMatch umbrella and is free. In crude terms, it is a review swap tool. You listen to and review podcasts in exchange for the opportunity to enter the draw to win reviews for your podcast. It all sounds a bit silly, but I have received 9 reviews from this so far (and left a similar amount). The reviews all seem genuine as they are left by other podcast hosts who understand the importance of reviews.

More info here: https://podlottery.com

---

Community:

You also are part of the PodMatch community hosted on MightyNetworks which all PodMatch members are part of. This is a place to ask questions, support one another and attend podcasting events hosted by PodMatch. There is also a free in-depth podcasting course in there that I am slowly working my way through - I have found it really helpful!

---

At some stage I will do a detailed walk-through/review video. However, here is a condensed version that demonstrates the points discussed above:  https://youtu.be/vKj79mtr9Us?si=t1rTAWp4gdFMQFpc

I’ve launched a daily podcast 2 weeks ago , and I’m broadcasting it on Spotify , Apple podcast and YouTube . I put a lots of effort in it , but somehow I don’t know where to advertise it or how I can found a bigger audience for it. Can you please give me tips ? I’m also new in re-edit , so there might be already post like mine , can you please direct me ! Thanks for the help 😌

Good evening!

I'm in the process of getting a podcast launched, and there's a few things I'm trying to figure out.

For context, I'm not looking to monetize this podcast right off the bat, if ever at all. That being said, I would like to reach a wide audience.

Part 1 - To Buzzsprout, or not to Buzzsprout?

I would at least like to have my podcast on YouTube and Spotify. Given that I'm just starting out, am I just as well simply uploading my episodes to those outlets, or is it worth it to invest in Buzzsprout if it means having my podcast on other outlets? (Apple, Amazon, etc.)

Part 2 - Music and Sound Effects

Someone I know had a YouTube Channel for a while and they used Epidemic Sound. Again, given that I'm just starting out, is it worth it to subscribe for that? I'm also considering just downloading/purchasing mp3 files as I go for now and then subscribing to a service like Epidemic Sound later if need be.

Hi - I’ve been running a podcast for four years but haven’t been able to monetize it. Would you suggest a newsletter or Patreon to generate more listens and income?

4 days a go spotify took down a episode call Zofloya and the Moor, Chapter 10 because they saw something that infinges the rights of the 3rd party. I been putting some audio books via spotify podcast because I have a hard time paying attention. The website is called Librivox.org and the books are in the public domain so I'm kinda confused on why only this chapter infinges the rights of the 3rd party. I went and deleted the podcast anyway because who knows what is going to happen next.

I guess what I'm trying to figure out is how deep of trouble am I in because I'm very scared. This never happen to me before and I don't want to get sued 😭.

My friend and I recently launched our podcast (we have 4 episodes out currently), and I’d love to know what others with successful podcasts suggest when it comes to paid advertising to promote our podcast to listeners.

We are very active on social media, and have just recently started recording video and posting reels / shorts. But since we are new (and hopefully not because we suck 😂), we really aren’t getting many organic listeners or followers.

I’m curious if we should simply pay for ads on all social media platforms, or if there are other options out there I’m missing that could be better.

Thank you 💕

libsyn could not load my mp4 in its preview player, does that mean the podcast doesn't exist? or is it just because libsyn cannot preview videocasts in its dashboard?

I've made sure to encode the MP4 with AAC audio (using ffmpeg). And I'm on Linux Firefox if that makes a difference. The video downloads and plays fine so sorry if this is an annoying question but I'm just wondering if aggregators will see the video fine ... or what.

Thank you!

It's a little long and he does rant a bit, but there's some good info for folks looking to understand why their stuff isn't showing up on "legacy" social media sites. I'm a bit clueless about how the algorithms work, but his breakdown of why dropping links in your posts is a bad idea was super helpful. I'm going to experiment with my own FB feeds to see if I can get more people engaged.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4ghgVq9z4M

I have a Røde NTA -1 microphone and a MacBook Air. Can I get an XLR to mini chord and plug it directly into the headphone jack or am I going to need a preamp of some sort?

Hey guys. Getting into podcasting and I'm working with some guys that happen to have a Mackie DLZ mixer. We attempted to record our first podcast the other day and ran into some issues.

For those of you familiar with the mixer, you know that much like a lot of cameras do, it after it hits a certain file size during recording for the BWF file, It automatically creates a new audio file that should seamlessly butt up too the previous audio file.

So for example. REC 0045_1 REC 0045_2 REC 0045_3

These are literally the files created by this recent first episode we recorded. The issue I'm having is that for whatever reason when it was recording and switched from 45_1 to 45_2 It did so without any issue. However when it switched from 45_2 to 45_3 It appears it did not actually begin the recording process for close to 10 minutes of audio. I now have a giant hole in the audio. Has anyone else ever experienced this issue? Is this a firmware issue? Is this an issue related to the USB thumb drive in the back of the computer?

I've been doing audio for close to two decades and never known thumb drives to be too sluggish for audio so I'm doubtful that that specifically is the issue.

The other thing I'm curious of that I can't seem to find the documentation for, is there a way to switch off the 2 GB cap that causes it to switch to a new audio file? Can it just record a non-stop audio file regardless of the length?

Thank you in advance for any help.

I just released my debut stand-up album and I'm interested in promoting it on podcasts! Please reach out if interested in chatting. Here is the album: https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/mattdundas/from-away