Work through this before you submit anywhere. Every item is something a directory actually checks, and clearing them first is the difference between being listed this week and waiting out a review that was never going to pass.

Feed-level requirements

  • The feed URL is publicly reachable and returns 200 OK — no login, no redirect to a website, no 404
  • It returns XML, not an HTML page
  • The iTunes namespace is declared on the <rss> element (xmlns:itunes="http://www.itunes.com/dtds/podcast-1.0.dtd")
  • <title> — the show name, as you want it displayed
  • <description> — a real description, not placeholder text
  • <language> — a valid code such as en-us
  • <itunes:author> — the show or host name
  • <itunes:explicit> — explicitly set to true or false. Not optional.
  • <itunes:category> — one of Apple’s defined categories, spelled exactly as Apple spells it
  • <itunes:type> — episodic for a normal show, serial for one meant to be heard in order
  • A monitored email address in the feed — Spotify, Amazon and YouTube send ownership verification here. Apple verifies through your Apple Account and no longer uses the <itunes:owner> tag. This address is publicly visible to anyone with your feed URL, so use a role address rather than a personal one
  • <atom:link rel="self"> — best practice rather than a documented directory requirement; declares the feed’s own canonical address
  • No <itunes:block> left set from a draft or private state

Artwork requirements

  • Perfectly square. 1400 × 1401 is rejected. Not “close to square” — square.
  • Between 1400 × 1400 and 3000 × 3000 pixels. Use 3000 × 3000 unless you have a reason not to.
  • JPEG or PNG. Not WebP, not HEIC, not a PDF.
  • RGB colour space. CMYK files exported from print tools are a recurring cause of rejection.
  • At a direct, public URL. It must resolve to the image file itself — a Dropbox or Drive preview page will fail.
  • File size sensible. Keep it small enough to load quickly; there is no benefit to a 6MB cover.
  • Legible at 55 pixels. This is the one nobody checks and everybody should.

That last point is worth dwelling on. Your artwork will be displayed as a small thumbnail in a list far more often than it will be seen large. If the show title is unreadable at that size, the art is not doing its job no matter how good it looks in your design tool.

Episode-level requirements

For every episode in the feed:

  • <title> — descriptive on its own, without needing the show name for context

  • <enclosure> with all three attributes:

    • url — publicly downloadable audio
    • type — a correct audio MIME type, usually audio/mpeg
    • length — the file size in bytes, not 0

  • <guid> — unique within the feed and permanent. Never change it after publishing.

  • <pubDate> — valid RFC-822 format and not in the future

  • <description> — real show notes

  • <itunes:duration> — recommended; apps display it

  • Episode artwork if used — same rules as show artwork

  • At least one episode is actually published. A trailer counts. An empty feed will not be reviewed.

Submission

  • Apple Podcasts — via Apple Podcasts Connect, using an Apple Account owned by the show or business rather than a personal one
  • Spotify — via Spotify for Creators; complete the email verification step
  • YouTube — connect the feed to the channel that should own the podcast. Note YouTube converts episodes into static-image videos rather than serving your audio directly, and RSS ingestion is region-limited
  • Amazon Music / Audible — through Amazon’s podcast portal
  • Podcast Index — free, quick, and read by a growing number of independent apps

Full walkthroughs for each are in how to submit your podcast.

Post-launch verification

Once you are listed, actually look at the result. A surprising number of shows go live with something visibly wrong that nobody checked.

  • Open your show on each platform. Artwork sharp and not stretched? Description formatted correctly?
  • Play an episode from a real app, not your host’s dashboard preview. Confirm the audio streams and is the right file.
  • Search for your show by name. If you cannot find it, listeners cannot either — and a very generic title is a real distribution problem, not a search bug.
  • Check episode order. Wrong ordering usually means bad pubDate values.
  • Confirm a new episode propagates. Publish one and check it appears everywhere within a day.
  • Record your feed URL somewhere permanent. Everything depends on it.
  • Set a calendar reminder to re-validate the feed quarterly. Feeds break silently when hosts change things.

Where to go next