Podcast Tutorial: The Best Hosting Platforms for Your Podcast

Discover the best platforms for hosting, publishing and managing your podcasts, with Chico Felitti

Podcasting is a versatile and accessible medium that fits all narratives and formats. Its popularity has grown exponentially with the pandemic.

A Kantar IBOPE survey revealed that in 2020, 28 million people regularly listened to podcasts in Brazil, a 33% increase from 2019.

Another survey by the Brazilian Association of Podcasters (AbPod) and IBOPE Inteligência, revealed that 50 million Brazilians have listened to a podcast. This figure represents about 40% of the 120 million people in Brazil who have access to the internet.

In this tutorial, reporter, writer and podcaster Chico Felitti, the creator behind one of Brazil’s Top-15 podcasts: Além do Meme, gives you his tips on the best platforms for hosting and distributing your podcast. Don’t miss it!

Chico Felitti is the creator and host of the Além do Meme, podcast, exclusive to Spotify. It tells the stories of people made famous by the internet, including: Grávida de Taubaté, la Garota da Laje and Beth do Trote. And it’s one of the Top 15 podcasts in Brazil. He also created and narrated the Muitas Vidas podcast, which tells the stories of people who lost their lives to Covid 19 on Orelo. It won both the Comunique-se and the Petrobrás award for journalism.

He also wrote Ricardo & Vânia, a book that reconstructs the life of famous Brazilian street artist Fofão da Augusta, Mulher Maravilha, a biography of Elke Maravilha, and A Casa, the history of the João de Deus cult. Chico graduated from Columbia University, New York with a Master’s in Creative Writing. He now writes for media including Piauí magazine and US website: Buzzfeed News, when not teaching postgraduate writing classes at the Instituto de la Vera Cruz (Mexico). In 2020 he was a finalist at Brazil’s prestigious Prêmio Jabuti literary award.

The best hosting platforms for your podcast

Spotify
This is one of the main podcast platforms, and a must place to be. Almost 70% of the global podcast audience listens to Spotify, which optimizes content demand and search. It’s an ideal place to start out.

Apple Podcast

Apple Podcast was the main hub for downloading and listening to podcasts before Spotify. And although it’s now in second position, it’s still a major platform, representing around 25% of the market. You can also up your audio quality and use it to reach a wider audience including iPhone and MacBook users.

Orelo

Brazilian alternative, Orelo operates on the basis of a subscription, which it passes straight to the producers of the podcasts you listen to. While Spotify and Apple Podcasts give you scope and visibility, this great alternative allows you to monetize your content.

Self-Hosting

If you don’t want to publish your podcast on any of the above platforms, this option allows you to create your own subscription club by hosting your podcast on your own website or using tools like Apoia se or Patreon. This fabulous alternative only really works if you already have a name or your own community. In other words, it may actually restrict your ability to reach new listeners.

By choosing this strategy, you create a closer relationship with your community and can charge them to access your content.

You can also make some episodes available for free and then charge subscribers for selected exclusive content.

Love this guide? If you’d like to discover more about how to learn, identify and tell attention-grabbing real-life stories that capture listeners, don’t miss Chico’s online course: Nonfiction Script Writing for Narrative Podcasts.

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- Voice-Over Narration Tutorial: 5 Practical Exercises to Train Your Voice
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- How To Perfect Your At-home Sound Recording Booth
- Podcast Creation for Beginners, a course by David Mulé
- Nonfiction Script Writing for Narrative Podcasts, a course by Chico Felitti