Video is becoming an increasingly important part of a podcast’s content strategy. By uploading video podcast episodes onto Spotify, publishers can deepen the way that millions of Spotify users enjoy their content with video episodes that can be accessed by users as either video (foreground) or audio (background) content.
How to start distributing and monetizing video episodes on Spotify
Step 1: Create an episode and upload your content
In order to enable video publishing and monetization, all you have to do is publish one episode.
Navigate to the podcast screen and click “create an episode”. Once you’ve clicked that button, you will be taken to a screen to upload your content. If you can upload either an audio or a video file at this stage. Press next.
Step 2: Update the episode’s metadata
Processing times for video can vary but generally take 2 minutes of processing time for every minute of content. While your content is processing on Megaphone, you can update your episode’s metadata in the “create” section of the “create an episode” flow. At this stage, you will be able to edit:
Episode title and subtitle
Episode URL
Episode description and image
Audio logo
Episode type and rating
Season distinction
Once you have completed updating the episode’s metadata, you can click “next” to draft or schedule the publishing of the episode. Please note that you will not be able to publish immediately until the content processing is complete.
Step 3: Fill in your publishing preferences
If your video is not done processing on Megaphone, you will be able to determine how you’d like to publish your episode and fill out the details of your episode draft or scheduled publishing, such as timezone, publish date/time, and start/end time. If processing on Megaphone is complete, then you will be able to publish immediately.
Hit “Done” when you have finished updating your publishing preferences.
Step 3: Insert ad locations
Once the video has been published, you will be able to insert ad locations by selecting the “ad locations” tab on the individual episode. Once you’ve entered the ad location page, you will be able to insert ad locations using the wave depiction of the episode.
You will be able to insert pre-, mid-, and post-roll ads. You will also be able to determine their order position. Once you’ve inserted your ads, you will be able to save your ad location. You will always be able to edit your ad locations whenever you’d like afterwards.
Step 4. Submit your show for the Spotify Partner Program and Graphite payments
Select “monetization” in the left navigation and click the “submit” button for the podcast you’d like to enroll for both video and Spotify Partner Program access. If the selected show was previously submitted to the “Spotify Audience Network,” you do not need to complete this step.
In order to receive payments from Spotify, you will need to join Graphite, a supplier platform that will help facilitate your payments. You will receive an email from them directly with instructions on how to onboard onto their platform.
US publishers will be asked to submit a W-9 tax form and non-US publishers will be asked to submit a W-8 tax form. If you’re already a Graphite user, an extension will be added to your profile so you can input the appropriate banking and tax information.
What does the end user experience look like?
Spotify users will be able to click on a video episode and see the uploaded video content on Spotify. If the content is later backgrounded, the content will continue to play but will transition to audio-only. Ads that are inserted in video content will be audio ads only at this stage; if the content is in-focus, the user will see the show page art while hearing the audio ad. Video content will be available on mobile, desktop, and tablet devices.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q. What are the specs I need to use to upload video content on Spotify?
Container | Video | Audio |
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Q. Are there any changes to the publishing flow when I upload video?
There are a few small differences between publishing video and audio episodes on Megaphone:
Thumbnails: Video content is accompanied by a 16:9 thumbnail on Spotify. During the publishing process, you can now add a custom thumbnail to appear on Spotify.
Content tagging: When publishing a video, you’ll now see two additional questions regarding whether the content is only suitable for audiences 18+ and if the content contains any baked-in promotions/sponsorships. Both fields are required to publish a video.
Q. If I upload a video episode on Spotify, will that episode also be distributed to other podcast players?
Yes, but only the audio version. The audio version of the video episode uploaded will be distributed across other podcast players. For any video episode content that is uploaded and distributed to Spotify, we will extract the audio component and distribute to all other hosting platforms. This step is fully automated by Megaphone and you will not need to complete any other steps to distribute the episode to other listening platforms.
Q. Can I monetize my Spotify video content with my direct sales? With SPAN?
Yes. Similar to your audio-only content, you will be able to monetize your Spotify video content with both your own direct sales efforts and/or the Spotify Audience Network. Please note that you will not be able to specifically target video content in your campaigns unless you explicitly select the episodes or podcasts that you have identified as video episodes/podcasts.
Q. How do I disable video podcast distribution on Spotify?
Please reach out to your Megaphone representative to disable access to streaming and all streaming-based tools, including video podcast distribution on Spotify.
Q. Am I required to publish only video content?
No. Enabling video allows publishers the flexibility to upload audio episodes, video episodes, or a mix of both within a given show. Publishers will benefit from streaming analytics, promotional tools, and more, no matter which format they choose to upload.
Q. Can I opt out of video publishing access?
Yes, participants may opt out at any time. Please reach out to your Megaphone representative.
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