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What is podcast media hosting?

There are two different types of hosting that you need to know about as a podcaster.

Web Hosting is the hosting account where your website and all files associated with your site are stored.

Media Hosting is the hosting account that stores and delivers your audio and video files to your subscribers.

READ >> Libsyn Podcast Media Hosting company acquires Web Hosting company, Pair Networks.

There is some confusion about web hosting vs media hosting and whether or not you can or should combine the two?

Can I use web hosting for my podcast media files?

“I’m already paying for Web Hosting… and I get unlimited storage and unlimited bandwidth? Right?… Right?”

Well not really.

You get unlimited storage for content related to the needs of your website. That doesn’t mean you can upload your archive of data from all your hard drives and use your Web Hosting Account as your online mass storage service. The terms of service of your web host clearly state you CAN NOT do this.

Similarly, You can’t upload a bunch of media files that are going to be syndicated to other sources unrelated to your website like iTunes and other podcast players. The terms of service in your web hosting account probably state that you CAN NOT do this either.

Also, a shared hosting account which is the type of hosting account most of us indie podcasters and bloggers start out with has finite resources devoted to it. What that means is that although you don’t get charged for using more storage and bandwidth, your site will be suspended if it uses too many resources and starts affecting other peoples sites.

A podcast that becomes really popular will cause a shared hosting account to be suspended pretty quick if you are hosting your media files there.

So if you are starting a new podcast it is a good idea to sign up for a media hosting service in order to serve your podcast to your listeners without any issues.

When you are first starting out you will most likely have low download numbers and therefore the bandwidth used will be minimal. So you could get away with using your web hosting account to deliver your audio or video to your podcast feed. However, as your show gets more popular the bandwidth demands increase. This is especially true when listeners start downloading your podcast back catalog. Once you have 50 episodes and someone discovers your show for the first time and loves the show, they may download not only the 50th show but ALL of your past shows. If enough people do this your web hosting company will suspend your account because the demands on your shared hosting plan are too high.

So where can you put your podcast media files?

  1. Web Hosting Account
  2. Archive.org
  3. Soundcoud
  4. Amazon S3
  5. Free podcast hosting services
  6. Professional Media Hosing company

Web Hosting:

We’ve already looked at this option. It can be done if your show has minimal downloads but it may be a tedious and unwelcome task to move all your files to a new host and change all the links to your media files in your podcast RSS Feed so that your audience can still get your content.

So I recommend that you not host your syndicated media files on your web hosting account.

Archive.org

Archive.org is a free media file hosting option that many podcasters use. And many people say that it works well for them.  The downside is the download speeds are slower and there may be downtime where the files are not available. For the podcaster with no budget at all, archive.org is a good option.

Hosted Services like TalkShoe, Podomatic or Blog Talk Radio

Everything done for you” services like these may seem like a good solution for a podcaster that doesn’t want to spend a lot of money. However, I don’t recommend using a service where you don’t own your RSS Feed. Because if you don’t own your feed then when you leave the service you are leaving your audience behind too. When looking at these services make sure at a bare minimum that you can permanently redirect your RSS Feed if you leave them.

What about Soundcloud?

Soundcloud is not optimized for podcast hosting and does not support the new Apple podcast categories. The Soundcloud stats are meaningless and are easily gamed and manipulated.

Soundcloud is primarily a music sharing and discovery service. They have added podcasting to the mix but their podcasting platform has been in beta for years now. The service isn’t user-friendly yet and requires extra work to find your media file download links compared to the other hosting companies.

So I don’t recommend Soundcloud as your primary media hosting service but you can use them in addition to your main media hosting service so people can find you there.

Amazon S3

Amazon Web Services is an affordable file hosting service that is very popular among internet marketers for membership sites and sales page videos or audio files. Although it is affordable per megabyte, it can add up quickly if your show becomes popular. Because it is a variable cost it is not the option that I recommend for podcast media hosting . Also, podcasting has become more complicated over time and Amazon S3 is not optimized for podcasting. As Rob from Libsyn likes to say – Amazon doesn’t host it’s podcasts on Amazon, they use Libsyn. So if Amazon isn’t using their own service for podcasts then that should tell you something.

Free Media Hosting Services

Anchor.fm

Anchor was originally a social network where you could share short form audio. It was like an audio version of Twitter. It was a neat idea but it never really took off. Anchor went through a couple transformations trying to reinvent itself into something that worked. If finally became a podcast hosting company that offered free podcast hosting with the ability to monetize through their in house advertising platform.

There was some controversy over the terms of service which stated that Anchor had a license to use and repurpose content.

Anchor was purchased by Spotify and is still offering free podcast hosting services to podcasters.

Anchor is an option for podcasters with no budget but I can’t recommend them due to the TOS issues.

LaunchPadDM

Podcast One recently launched its own podcast hosting service, LaunchPadDM which they say is 100% free and gives the podcaster complete control of their content and RSS Feed.

It is too early to say whether this is a good service for podcast hosting.

LaunchpadDM is not IAB Certified.

Best Podcast Media Hosting Services

This is the preferred method if you have a small monthly budget for your show. There are a few options to choose from and all of them are decent media hosting companies.

  1. Libsyn
  2. Blubrry
  3. Podbean
  4. Spreaker
  5. Transistor

Libsyn (Liberated Syndication)

Libsyn is the podcast media hosting company that I have experience with. I’ve used them for years now and I am very happy with their service. You pay for monthly storage, not bandwidth. And you won’t get any surprises at the end of the month because the bandwidth is truly unlimited. Libsyn supports podcast destinations and often gives customers early and exclusive access to new podcast destinations. Libsyn is the first and largest podcast hosting company.

Libsyn stats are IAB certified

Blubrry

Blubrry is another top media hosting company and like Libsyn it is owned and operated by podcasters for podcasters. It has some advantages but is on par with Libsyn when it comes to podcasting. Blubrry is also the company behind the very cool WordPress Plugin – Powerpress and the RSS Feed tool – Podcast Mirror.

Blubrry was the first podcast company to be IAB certified.

Podbean

Podbean is another professional podcast media hosting company. It appears that they are also a good option when it comes to media hosting, however, I have no experience with them and therefore can’t make a personal recommendation. Steve Dotto from Dotto Tech is a person that I respect in the podcasting and technology space and on the Maven Interviews podcast he mentioned that he uses Podbean and is very happy with them. So there you go.

Podbean claims to be IAB compliant but is not yet IAB certified.

Spreaker

Spreaker is a reputable podcast company that is known for its live podcasting tools. You can produce live podcast broadcasts using spreaker studio and they also have a mobile podcast recording app.

Spreaker claims to be IAB comopliant and is in the process of IAB certification.

Transister

Transister is a podcast media hosting company that is starting to gain some traction in the podcast space. They are a new startup that is documenting their progress in their own podcast called Build your SAAS.

Transister offers podcasters unlimited shows within various account tiers. This is the distinguishing feature that they offer. You don’t need a separate paid account when you start your second, third or more shows.

Transistor claims to be IAB compliant but is not IAB Certified 

Transistor performed well in Daniel J. Lewis’s podcast hosting study.

So do you really need to pay for a separate media hosting?

No, you don’t have to. As you can see there are many options to choose from. But it is a definite best practice option.

What to avoid:

The major mistake that can be made here is subscribing to a service that will hold your audience hostage if you move to a better service. Don’t let them own your feed. This generally eliminates the hosted services like Podomatic and Blog Talk Radio.

Also, don’t let them downgrade your audio quality. Some services will compress the media file which lowers the audio quality. And some services may change your file names to a long impossible to remember name full of numbers and characters. You probably don’t want that either.

Choose a service that is going to be around for a long time (forever is good). You don’t want to have to manually change all your episode links after 400 episodes are in the can… major pain in the butt.

And of course, you want to respect your audiences time so a service that has a slow download speed or has periodic downtime is not convenient for your listeners.

So what is the best option for media hosting?

Clearly, the best option is a professional media hosting company if you can at all afford it.

And Libsyn or Blubrry are the two services that get my recommendation.

More podcast hosting services:

PodcastHeroDirectory

Podcasts.com is a free podcast hosting platform that offers unlimited storage, unlimited downloads, podcast stats, and more.  

 Free Podcast Hosting / 373 views / Popular

PodcastHeroDirectory

Podcast Blastoff is a podcast hosting service that includes a website, statistics and unlimited bandwidth.  

 Paid Podcast Hosting / 389 views / Popular

PodcastHeroDirectory

Anchor is a FREE Podcast hosting company that was recently acquired by Spotify. Anchor has several unique features including built-in album art creation tools, mobile...

 Free Podcast Hosting / 409 views / Popular

PodcastHeroDirectory

Podcast Websites is a podcast media host that bundles Wordpress Web Hosting with Podcast Media Hosting.   Website Hosting Included Complete daily backups included Website...

 Paid Podcast Hosting / 410 views / Popular

PodcastHeroDirectory

Podcast.co is a podcast hosting company for professionals. They offer plans with unlimited storage and unlimited bandwidth. You pay extra to get additional users (team...

 Paid Podcast Hosting / 413 views / Popular

PodcastHeroDirectory

AudioBoom is a podcast media hosting company that offers advanced analytics, a podcast web player and a simple podcast website. AudioBoom can help you monetize...

 Paid Podcast Hosting / 421 views / Popular

PodcastHeroDirectory

Fireside is a podcast hosting company that offers unlimited storage and bandwidth for $19 per month. They offer podcast stats and good looking podcast website....

 Paid Podcast Hosting / 425 views / Popular

PodcastHeroDirectory

$5 to $40 per month. Libsyn stands for Liberated Syndication and is the oldest and largest podcast hosting company.   28.2% of Apple Podcast downloads...

 Paid Podcast Hosting / 450 views / Popular

$5.00

PodcastHeroDirectory

My Podcast World is a podcast hosting company that is powered by Amazon Web Services. My Podcast World has a tiered pricing structure starting at...

 Paid Podcast Hosting / 452 views / Popular

PodcastHeroDirectory

Soundcloud is a music hosting service that also supports podcasting. They are not a specialized podcast hosting service and therefore do NOT support the latest...

 Paid Podcast Hosting / 467 views / Popular

PodcastHeroDirectory

Captivate is a podcast hosting company founded by podcast industry veteran, Mark Asquith. Mark has been podcasting for years and is well regarded in the...

 Paid Podcast Hosting / 497 views / Popular

PodcastHeroDirectory

Megaphone is a podcast hosting company for shows with larger audience sizes. In order to qualify for Megaphone hosting your show needs a minimum 20...

 Paid Podcast Hosting / 525 views / Popular

PodcastHeroDirectory

Podigee is a podcast hosting platform that offers a tiered pricing structure starting at $17 per month and ranging to $129 per month. Podigee has...

 Paid Podcast Hosting / 534 views / Popular

PodcastHeroDirectory

Podserve.fm is a podcast hosting company from the creators of Podparadise.com. Podserve offers unlimited media storage and 2000GB of bandwidth per month. Analytics are included...

 Paid Podcast Hosting / 591 views / Popular

PodcastHeroDirectory

Podbean is a great choice for podcast media hosting. They offer competitive plans and also support video podcasting at a reasonable price.   Podbean does...

 Paid Podcast Hosting / 611 views / Popular

PodcastHeroDirectory

Zencast is a podcast hosting company that offers unlimited storage, unlimited episodes, unlimited bandwidth, an embeddable podcast player, a podcast website, and analytics. The higher-tiered...

 Paid Podcast Hosting / 617 views / Popular

PodcastHeroDirectory

Podcast Giant is a podcast hosting company that provides you a high-quality Wordpress site included with unlimited podcast media hosting.  

 Paid Podcast Hosting / 638 views / Popular

PodcastHeroDirectory

Simplecast is a podcast media company with a variety of plans which include unlimited storage and bandwidth, a beautiful web player and analytics. You pay...

 Paid Podcast Hosting / 643 views / Popular

PodcastHeroDirectory

Squarespace offers podcasting hosting as part of their website hosting plan. They are not specialized in podcast hosting so they are not always up to...

 Paid Podcast Hosting / 644 views / Popular

PodcastHeroDirectory

Castos is a podcast hosting company that allows you to host multiple shows in one account. Every episode is automatically transcribed so you don't need...

 Paid Podcast Hosting / 660 views / Popular

PodcastHeroDirectory

ShoutEngine is a podcast hosting service that offers unlimited storage without slowing down old episodes. They offer a standard plan with unlimited storage and 60GB...

 Paid Podcast Hosting / 674 views / Popular

PodcastHeroDirectory

Backtracks is a podcast hosting company that uses advanced analytics to provide more information about audiences than ever before. Unlimited Bandwidth Unlimited Storage Embeddable Podcast...

 Paid Podcast Hosting / 690 views / Popular

PodcastHeroDirectory

Omny Studio is an enterprise podcast hosting company. They focus on corporate podcasts and networks and offer unlimited storage and bandwidth, statistics, monetization, team collaboration...

 Paid Podcast Hosting / 708 views / Popular

PodcastHeroDirectory

Spreaker is a podcast media hosting company that offers a range of options ranging from free to $100 per month (or more). Spreaker has a...

 Paid Podcast Hosting / 753 views / Popular

PodcastHeroDirectory

Acast is a podcast hosting service that offers a free starter plan with basic stats and a basic website. They also have tiered paid plans...

 Paid Podcast Hosting / 760 views / Popular

PodcastHeroDirectory

Buzzsprout is a podcast media hosting company that makes podcasting easy. They offer a free plan that includes 2 hours of audio every month but...

 Paid Podcast Hosting / 804 views / Popular

PodcastHeroDirectory

Podomatic is a podcast hosting provider that offers a limited free plan with 15GB of bandwidth per month and 500MB of storage. They also offer...

 Paid Podcast Hosting / 823 views / Popular

PodcastHeroDirectory

Pinecast is a podcast hosting service that offers a limited free plan (10 episodes per feed) with a 48MB episode size cap. They offer a...

 Paid Podcast Hosting / 868 views / Popular

PodcastHeroDirectory

Whooshka is a podcast media hosting company that offers a generous free plan with tiered pay plans as your show grows. Whooshka has an easy...

 Paid Podcast Hosting / 936 views / Popular

PodcastHeroDirectory

Pippa podcast hosting company was acquired by Acast and has been integrated into Acast's service offering. Go to the Acast podcast hosting listing.

 Paid Podcast Hosting / 969 views / Popular

PodcastHeroDirectory

RedCircle is a new podcast hosting company that focusses on helping small shows grow their audience. RedCircle recently raised seed financing of $1.5 Million and...

 Free Podcast Hosting / 1034 views / Popular

PodcastHeroDirectory

Blubrry is a podcast media hosting company that is truly for podcasters by podcasters. Blubrry founder, Todd Cochrane is a Hall of Fame Podcaster and...

 Paid Podcast Hosting / 1088 views / Popular Featured

PodcastHeroDirectory

Transistor is a startup podcast media hosting company which is a great up and comer in the space. Founded by Jon Buda and Justin Jackson,...

 Paid Podcast Hosting / 1178 views / Popular Featured

PodcastHeroDirectory

Podiant is a podcast hosting company that includes...    Multiple podcasts per account  Unlimited bandwidth and storage  Simple-to-understand analytics  A flexible website that reflects your...

 Paid Podcast Hosting / 1253 views / Popular


Andrew McGivern
Andrew McGivern

Andrew McGivern is a podcaster, blogger and mobile tech guy. Father of three awesome little ones. Interested in Social Media Marketing, New Media and Podcasting, Technology, Natural Health and Green Energy.

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