Substack Unveils New Podcast Features, Including Spotify Integration
Substack made an announcement on Thursday regarding several new features tailored for podcasters on its platform. The most significant addition is the integration with Spotify, enabling Substack podcasters to seamlessly sync and distribute both their free and paid episodes through Spotify’s streaming service. Additionally, Substack introduced custom audio transcripts and captions, along with enhancements to clip sharing and mobile video functionality.
This launch coincides with Substack revealing that its podcasters collectively generate over $100 million in annual revenue, marking a doubling of this figure over the past year. Furthermore, the platform has seen a more than twofold increase in active podcasters during the same period.
The integration with Spotify aims to enhance discoverability for Substack podcasts on the popular streaming platform, facilitating a broader reach for podcasters to engage with more listeners. Moreover, subscribers to Substack podcasters can now access paid episodes directly on Spotify through this integration. Substack anticipates that this collaboration with Spotify will empower podcasters to increase their earnings, as it encourages free listeners to upgrade to a subscription model.
Podcasters can easily set up the Spotify integration by navigating to their podcast settings, selecting the Spotify option from the dropdown menu, and opting for the “Sync to Spotify” feature to establish a new feed for all present and future episodes. Paid episodes are distinguished with a padlock symbol, and listeners must link their Substack account with Spotify to enjoy paid content directly on the streaming platform.
Creators can leverage their Spotify for Podcasters account to access insights such as stream data, unique listener metrics, playtime statistics, demographics, and more. Substack plans to integrate this data into a creator’s Substack podcast statistics page in the near future.
Regarding the new custom audio transcripts and captions, podcasters now have the flexibility to upload their own transcripts instead of relying solely on Substack’s automated transcripts. Furthermore, video podcasters can upload a separate audio track and a free preview for distribution via podcast RSS feeds, offering more customization options compared to the default settings derived from uploaded videos.
Additionally, both podcasters and their audience can now share podcast video links at specific timestamps or download clips for sharing on various social media platforms like Instagram, TikTok, and others.
Substack has also enhanced the mobile viewing experience for video podcasts, introducing an inline player for video posts on iOS and Android. This feature allows users to read and watch simultaneously, while also enabling them to resume videos from where they left off for future viewing.
