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How to Submit Your Libsyn Podcast Feed to iTunes & Stitcher

Here’s a quick guide on submitting your Libsyn feed to iTunes and Stitcher.

1. Setup Your Show on Libsyn

In order to generate a valid feed, you first need to setup your show on Libsyn.

On the Libsyn website, go to ‘Settings > Edit Show Settings’, and enter all the relevant information about your podcast. Also, update your 1400 x 1400 pixel of your show artwork.

Then go to ‘Destinations > Edit or View Existing’, and click the ‘Edit’ button next to the ‘Classic Libsyn Feed’. Select your iTunes categories and also update the recommended information.

After you’ve saved this information, Libsyn will display the feed’s web address. Copy this address as we’ll need this for the next step.

2. Validate Your Libsyn Feed

The next step is to validate the feed. Go to the W3C Feed Validation Service and paste the feed web address that you just copied. Click the ‘Check’ button to validate your feed.

3. Submit Your Feed to iTunes

Next we’re going to check that your feed shows up correctly in iTunes. The easiest way to do this is to open iTunes and select ‘File’ > ‘Subscribe to Podcast’.

In the next screen, paste your feed web address and click ‘OK’. If the feed is working correctly, then you should see iTunes downloading all the episodes from Libsyn.

Assuming the feed is working correctly, we can now submit the feed to the iTunes store.

  1. In iTunes, click the link for the iTunes Store.
  2. Click on the Podcasts navigation link.
  3. Click the ‘Submit a Podcast’ link.
  4. Paste your feed address and click the ‘Continue’ button.
  5. Review the podcast information shown (from the feed) and click ‘Submit’.

You may have to wait up to a week for iTunes to approve your podcast.

4. Submit Your Feed to Stitcher

Now we can also submit the feed to Stitcher.

  1. Go to the Stitcher site and register for a content provider account.
  2. Log into your Stitcher account and click the ‘Add Shows’ link.
  3. Enter information about your podcast including the feed address.
  4. Agree to the terms & conditions and click the ‘Continue’ button.
  5. Confirm your submission.

And you’re done! Once your feed is approved, any new episode that you publish on Libsyn will also be automatically published to iTunes and Stitcher.

 

 

Omer Khan

I'm the founder of Prestopod a software product that helps you plan, organize & publish your podcast. And I'm also the host of The SaaS Podcast

27 Comments

  1. Frost Simula on March 21, 2016 at 11:51 pm

    Great walkthrough! I have done all of these steps once before, and wish I had this article. Very clear and concise!

    Reply
    • Omer on March 23, 2016 at 6:44 am

      You’re welcome Frost! Thanks for the feedback!

      Reply
  2. Kristy Hunt on June 27, 2016 at 4:54 pm

    Thank you! How do I edit my show once it’s already in iTunes? I need to change the category…

    Reply
    • Omer on June 27, 2016 at 8:09 pm

      Hi Kristy – you can change your category in Libsyn.

      1. Go to Destinations > Edit or View Existing
      2. Click Libsyn Classic Feed in the left column/navigation
      3. Choose your new categories (you can select up to 3)

      I hope that helps.

      Reply
  3. John on September 22, 2016 at 5:10 pm

    Hey – great tutorial! Quick question: On Stitcher there is a blurb on the left titled “About This Show:” How do you ensure there is a show description there? Ours is blank but other shows have nice descriptions… Thanks!

    Reply
    • Omer on September 23, 2016 at 4:23 pm

      Hey John — I believe that Stitcher gets this information from your RSS feed. Many services like Libsyn and Soundcloud allow you to add that description to your RSS feed. How are you generating your feed?

      Reply
  4. regina on October 21, 2016 at 11:32 pm

    do you have to upload episodes before submitting your feed?

    can you upload episodes before submitting feed?

    thanks in advance!

    Reply
    • Omer on October 22, 2016 at 1:49 am

      Hi Regina – you need to upload at least one episode to Libsyn before submitting your feed to iTunes. Otherwise, iTunes will reject your feed.

      Reply
  5. frank saccomanno on April 12, 2017 at 4:57 pm

    Quick question, is making a Libsyn account absolutely necessary in order to be successful podcasting?

    Reply
    • Omer on April 12, 2017 at 7:20 pm

      Hi Frank – you need somewhere to host your podcast audio files. Libsyn is a great podcast hosting service, but it’s not the only one. You can also use services like SoundCloud. It’s just a question of finding the one that’s right for you.

      Reply
  6. Morganne on July 13, 2017 at 11:47 am

    Hi Omer,

    Is this still a viable way to submit a podcast to iTunes? I can’t find a way around creating an Apple Developer account.

    Thanks!

    Reply
    • Omer Khan on July 13, 2017 at 5:23 pm

      Morganne – you should be able to login using your regular Apple ID. Can you explain where you’re getting prompted to create an Apple Developer account?

      Reply
  7. Lizzie on November 3, 2017 at 1:26 am

    Do you have any video of that? I’d care to find out some additional information.

    Reply
  8. Pete on November 18, 2017 at 4:59 am

    Hi Omer,
    I recently got a new logo for my website and podcast. I uploaded it under the “artwork” in “edit show settings” under “settings”. But on iTunes it is still my old logo? Any suggestions? Thanks!

    Reply
    • Omer Khan on November 18, 2017 at 6:45 pm

      Pete – check your RSS file contains a link to the new image. If it does, then you might just have to wait a bit longer for iTunes to update.

      Reply
  9. Tyrone on December 30, 2017 at 5:40 pm

    Omer,

    I am having issues with my rss feed validating with the link you provided. I am unable to continue the steps ahead without this being validating even with attempting to register with stitcher. Do you have any recommendations that could help

    Reply
    • Omer Khan on December 30, 2017 at 5:52 pm

      What’s the error you get when you try to validate the feed?

      Reply
  10. Mike on March 23, 2018 at 12:20 pm

    Dude, I love you. I was having trouble with the “Category” part and this TOTALLY fixed that.

    Reply
  11. Kerri on April 17, 2018 at 1:40 pm

    Thank you! I could not find this info on the Stitcher site. Very helpful.

    Reply
    • Omer Khan on April 17, 2018 at 2:57 pm

      You’re welcome Kerri!

      Reply
  12. Mercedes on May 25, 2018 at 7:13 pm

    I cannot get my rss feed to validate? this is one of the errors coming up. I am not sure where I go to fix this on Libsyn:

    line 10, column 25: language must be an ISO-639 language code: United States [help]

    United States

    Reply
  13. Jeff on June 11, 2018 at 9:45 pm

    I published a new episode using libsyn 17 hours ago and hasn’t shown up on stitcher.. is this normal?

    Reply
  14. Lori on June 25, 2018 at 9:59 pm

    Can you submit tonsticjet while waiting for submission to Apple Pidcast?

    Reply
  15. A U on October 31, 2018 at 9:30 pm

    How do I take down my podcast from STicther? I have already nuked the rss feed but the show is still showing up in Stitcher.

    Reply
  16. Rea on January 29, 2019 at 5:57 am

    Hi,

    Question: Do you really need an Itunes and Stitcher account so that you can publish there when using a Libsyn hosting?

    Reply

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