How to Create a Podcast RSS Feed

You have recorded or generated your episodes, exported the audio files, and now every guide tells you the same thing: submit your RSS feed. If you have never seen one, that instruction lands like a wall. This post explains what a podcast RSS feed is, where it comes from, the tags it needs, how to check it, and where to send it, in plain terms and without any code.

What a podcast RSS feed actually is

An RSS feed is a single web address that points to a plain XML file. That file is a running list of your show and its episodes: the podcast title, the cover art, the description, and one entry per episode with a link to the audio. Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and every other directory read that file on a schedule. When you publish a new episode, they see the new entry and pull it in automatically.

So the feed is not your website and it is not the audio itself. It is the machine-readable index that sits between your episode files and the apps your listeners use. You submit the feed URL once, and after that the directories keep checking it for you. Publish episode five, and it shows up in every app that already has your feed, without you touching those apps again.

Where your RSS feed comes from

Here is the part most first-time podcasters miss: you do not write the feed by hand, and your recording or audio tool does not produce it. The feed is created and served by your podcast host. A podcast host is a service built to store your audio files and generate the RSS feed that describes them. Common hosts include Buzzsprout, Podbean, Transistor, Spotify for Podcasters, and Captivate, among others. You upload each episode MP3 and fill in a title and show notes, and the host builds and updates the XML for you.

Choosing a host is mostly about storage limits, analytics, and price. Any host that gives you a public RSS URL will work with Apple and Spotify. Once you sign up and add your show details, the host hands you a feed address that usually ends in something like /feed.xml or /rss. That link is what the directories want.

The tags every podcast feed needs

You will not edit these tags by hand if you use a host, but it helps to know what the host is filling in, because a missing field is the most common reason a directory rejects a feed. At the show level, a valid feed needs:

• Title and description for the show.
• Cover art that meets the size rules (Apple wants a square image, at least 1400 by 1400 pixels and up to 3000 by 3000).
• Language and a category so the directory knows where to file you.
• An owner email and an explicit rating (clean or explicit).

Then, for each episode, the feed carries a title, a description, a publish date, and an enclosure tag. The enclosure is the important one: it is the direct link to your episode audio file plus its type and size. If the enclosure is wrong or points at a file the directory cannot download, the episode will not play. A good host sets all of this from the form you filled in, which is exactly why hosting exists.

How to validate your feed before you submit it

Before you send your feed anywhere, run it through a free podcast feed validator. Paste your feed URL into a tool like Podba.se Validator or Cast Feed Validator and read what it flags. These checks catch the problems that get a submission rejected: a cover image that is too small, a missing category, an episode enclosure that returns an error, or a character the XML does not like. Fixing these in your host takes a minute; discovering them after Apple rejects you takes days.

Also open the feed URL in a browser and confirm it loads without an error and shows your latest episode near the top. If the newest episode is missing, your host may not have finished processing the upload yet. Give it a few minutes and refresh.

Where to submit your feed

Once the feed validates, you submit the URL to each directory once:

• Apple Podcasts through Apple Podcasts Connect. You paste the feed, Apple verifies ownership by email, and the show goes into review.
• Spotify through Spotify for Podcasters, where you paste the same feed URL.
• Other apps such as Amazon Music, Overcast, and Pocket Casts either have their own short submit form or simply pull your show once it is live on Apple and Spotify.

For the step-by-step on the Apple side, see our guide on how to put your podcast on Apple Podcasts, and for the broader rollout across the two biggest apps, distributing your podcast on Spotify and Apple. You submit the feed one time per directory. Every future episode you add to your host flows out to all of them through the same feed.

Where AudioProducer.ai fits

AudioProducer.ai is where you make the audio, not where you host the feed. You bring a script or a manuscript, pick voices, and we generate a finished episode. You download the MP3, upload it to your podcast host, and the host builds and updates your RSS feed. We do not generate, host, or submit feeds, and we are not a podcast host. Think of it as two clean steps: make the episode with us, then publish and distribute it wherever you already work.

This is a natural fit if your source material already lives as text. If you write a newsletter or a blog, you can turn that writing into episodes first, see how to turn your blog into a podcast and converting blog posts to a podcast, then hand the exported files to your host. If you want a members-only show, an RSS feed can even be private, as covered in releasing an audiobook as a private podcast feed.

You can try the audio side free. New accounts get 1,200 words to generate at no cost and without a card on file, and paid plans start from $39.99 per month when you need more. Make an episode, download it, and your host will take care of the feed.