YouTube, a popular content platform, now supports the direct distribution of audio podcasts via RSS feeds to both YouTube and YouTube Music. This method automatically converts your audio episodes into static image videos, providing an easy way to share audio content on YouTube. While this update simplifies the process of getting your show on YouTube, it's important to know that it operates differently from other podcast directories. This guide will help you navigate these distinctions and successfully submit your podcast on YouTube.
In this article:
Key Considerations for YouTube Distribution
Methods for Publishing to YouTube
When deciding how to get your podcast on YouTube, the method depends on whether your content is audio-only or includes video.
For video podcasts, Zencastr’s YouTube integration is the ideal choice. It uploads the video files for each episode directly to YouTube, saving you the time and effort of manual uploads through YouTube Studio. This approach ensures that your full visual content is presented exactly as intended.
For audio podcasts, YouTube supports RSS feed distribution. This method converts your audio episodes into static image videos, using your podcast’s cover art or individual episode artwork. It’s an easy way to share your audio content on YouTube and YouTube Music, but keep in mind that the RSS feed option doesn’t support video uploads, even if your RSS feed has video enabled.
Choosing the right method comes down to the type of content you’re sharing. If your content includes video and you want to showcase those visuals, Zencastr’s YouTube integration is the way to go. But if your focus is audio, and a static image video meets your needs, connecting your RSS feed to YouTube is a simple solution.
Ad-Free Requirement
To comply with YouTube’s Terms of Service, content uploaded to the platform cannot contain advertisements. Therefore, dynamically served and programmatic ads cannot be present in your podcast episodes. However, host-read promotions or sponsorships are permitted, provided you inform YouTube and tag the relevant episodes accordingly. For further details, refer to YouTube's Paid Product Placements and Endorsements policy.
Show and Episode Updates
Unlike many podcast directories, YouTube's RSS tool imports your show and episodes only once and then caches them. While new episodes published to your RSS feed will be sent to YouTube subsequently, most edits to show or episode details won't be reflected in YouTube automatically. Instead, YouTube requires all edits to your show or any edits to already published episodes, besides their titles and descriptions, to be made directly on YouTube after the RSS feed is initially imported.
Analytics
YouTube's analytics differ from traditional podcast directories, measuring views rather than downloads. Therefore, YouTube view counts cannot be aggregated into your overall podcast analytics and won't reflect in your hosting provider's numbers. If you want to monitor your podcast’s performance on YouTube, you will need to access those analytics on YouTube. For further insights into hosting provider versus YouTube analytics, see this Podnews article.
Before You Start – Preparing
To submit to YouTube and YouTube Music you will need to have:
Access to your Zencastr account and RSS Feed
Created a Google account
Created a YouTube channel
Submitting Your Podcast to YouTube Via RSS Feed
Sign into your YouTube account to get started. Once signed in, click YouTube Studio in the left side menu or click your avatar in the top right corner and then select this option from the dropdown. In YouTube Studio, click Create at the top right, then select the New Podcast option in the dropdown. Select Submit RSS feed to start the process, which has these steps:
Accept Terms: Accept YouTube’s terms of service.
Enter RSS Feed: Copy and paste your Zencastr RSS feed here.
Verify Ownership: In this step, YouTube will send a code to the email address that is in your RSS feed. You need to enter the code that was sent to proceed.
Upload: Determine which of your episodes to send to YouTube with choices being all existing episodes on the RSS feed, episodes published since a selectable date, or only future episodes. At this point, you also need to inform YouTube if your episodes contain any host-read ads by selecting the paid promotion option.
Visibility: Read details about how episodes will be uploaded to YouTube.
What happens next: After you complete the above process, YouTube starts uploading your episodes, which can take a few hours to a few days. Unlike other podcast directories, your show will not be automatically listed on YouTube/ YouTube Music. Instead, you will have to manually publish your show once the episode upload completes.
Publishing Your Podcast on YouTube
After you submit your RSS feed to YouTube, you will receive an email from them when all episodes have been uploaded and copyright checks have been completed. Please note this can take up to a few days. When you receive this email, sign into your YouTube account and navigate to YouTube Studio. In YouTube Studio, click Content in the left side menu and then select Podcasts from the channel content options at the top. Locate your podcast and click Publish next to it.
And that’s it, your podcast is now on YouTube!
For a detailed overview of the submission and publishing processes as well as editing episodes on YouTube after your podcast is listed there, we highly recommend checking out this YouTube article and video about delivering podcasts using an RSS feed.
Related Questions
If I replace the audio for an episode that I already published to YouTube, will it update there?
No, if you replace an audio file in Zencastr, it won’t be reflected on YouTube because YouTube only accepts limited edits to the episodes’ titles and descriptions when a podcast is distributed via RSS feed. Additionally, even within YouTube, replacing files isn’t an option. If you need to update an episode that’s already published, you can either use YouTube’s editor to make changes to the existing video, or upload the new file as a separate video, then delete or set the original video to unlisted. For more details on this, see this YouTube article.
I have video RSS enabled, but my video episodes are still showing on YouTube with just the podcast/episode cover art. How do I fix this?
YouTube doesn’t support video uploads through an RSS feed. Even with video RSS enabled, episodes connected to YouTube via RSS will be converted into static image videos using your podcast’s cover art or episode artwork. To upload full video episodes, you’ll need to use the Zencastr YouTube integration or upload the videos directly to YouTube instead.