Substack Enables Podcasters to Sync and Distribute Episodes to Spotify

Substack Unveils Spotify Integration and Enhanced Podcast Features

On Thursday, Substack revealed a set of new features aimed at empowering podcasters on its platform. The most significant addition is a Spotify integration, enabling Substack podcasters to effortlessly sync and distribute their free and paid episodes to Spotify’s streaming service. Furthermore, Substack is introducing custom audio transcripts, captions, and improvements to clip sharing and mobile video playback.

Substack Podcasters Surpass $100 Million in Annual Revenue

Coinciding with the launch of these new features, Substack announced that its podcasters collectively earn more than $100 million in annual revenue, marking a doubling of this figure over the past year. The platform has also witnessed a two-fold increase in the number of active podcasters during the same period.

Spotify Integration: Expanding Reach and Potential Earnings

The Spotify integration promises to make Substack podcasts more discoverable, allowing podcasters to reach a broader audience. Existing subscribers will also be able to listen to paid episodes directly on Spotify. Substack believes this integration has the potential to boost podcasters’ earnings, as free listeners will be encouraged to upgrade to a subscription.

To set up the Spotify integration, podcasters can navigate to their podcast settings, open the Spotify dropdown, and click “Sync to Spotify” to create a new feed containing all current and future episodes. Paid episodes are marked with a padlock icon, and listeners must link their Substack account to Spotify to access them.

Insights and Analytics via Spotify for Podcasters

Creators can access their Spotify for Podcasters account to view data on streams, unique listeners, playtime, demographics, and more. Substack plans to integrate this data into creators’ Substack podcast stats pages in the future.

Custom Audio Transcripts, Captions, and Clip Sharing

Substack now allows podcasters to upload their own transcripts instead of relying on the platform’s automatically generated ones. Video podcasters can also upload a separate audio track and free preview for distribution to podcast RSS feeds. Additionally, podcasters and listeners can share links to specific timestamps in a podcast video or download clips for sharing on social media platforms like Instagram, TikTok, and X (formerly Twitter).

Enhanced Mobile Video Playback

Substack has made it more convenient to watch video podcasts on mobile devices. Video posts on iOS and Android now feature an inline player, allowing users to read and watch simultaneously while maintaining their progress in partially watched videos.

These new features are now available to all Substack users, empowering podcasters to expand their reach, engage their audience, and potentially increase their earnings.