Pandora has a new set of data analytics tools for podcast creators that show who your listeners are, the types of content that keeps them coming back.
At-A-Glance Metrics
The analytics provide an at-a-glance visual overview of streaming metrics like
- The number of streams,
- Unique listeners,
- Total time spent listening, and
- Thumbs (whether people thumbed-up or thumbed-down your podcast).
You can get insight into the geographic distribution of your audience, and demographic charts of your listeners.
This is free for all registered Pandora for Podcasters users.
Steps To Submit Your Podcast To Pandora
Let’s see what it takes to get the analytics from Pandora. First, let’s review the submission guidelines Pandora has for submitting a podcast
Technical Guidelines
The RSS feed must–the URLs must conform to the RSS 2.0 specifications. All episodes, XML, and artwork should be hosted on publicly addressable servers with byterange requests enabled. All episodes contain a globally unique identifier. The server must support HTTP head requests.
Cover Art Guidelines
Cover art should be industry standard 3000 by 3000 pixels in JPG or PNG files.
Show artwork must be original; it can’t contain any of the following:
- Explicit language,
- Explicit images,
- Placeholder default host platform images,
- Pixelated or blurry images,
- Pandora logos.
Audio Guidelines
Audio: We are currently only accepting shows in the MP3 file format. We’ll be adding additional support for additional formats.
Audio must be coherent and leveled.
Content Guidelines
Content: The content must comply with Pandora’s community and content policy and advertising and ad content guidelines.
We reserve the right to take down any content, including content that violates these policies. We approach each situation on a case-by-case basis to ensure we stay true to our principles. avoid unnecessary censorship, provide a safe experience for our listeners.
Your material must be original to you, fully licensed, covered by fair use or in the public domain. We are not accepting programs that present music or sound effects with no commentary, or analysis
Submit RSS Feed
Okay, so there you go. There’s those guidelines. The link is at ampplaybook.com/podcasters-submission-guidelines.
Now let’s go and submit our feed and see what we get. You go to amp.pandora.com/podcasts and if you have a Pandora account already, you can log in using that account. Otherwise, you’ll need to create an account.
You are presented with your podcast RSS Feed URL to submit. Paste it in there. Click Next.
And podcast basics: If Pandora has already discovered your podcat, you’ll see your cover art and the title for the podcast is already populated. The summary is from the RSS feed.
Podcast Content Details
Podcast type playback order is a required setting. You can choose Episodicor Serial.
Freshness is either Evergreen or Timely. I’d like to have a better choice.
General Audience? Yeah, General Audience.
Is your show branded content? Defined branded content. If yours is a podcast produced by your company is that branded content? If you are producing a podcast to enhance your personal brand, is that branded content?
Do you have a brand sponsor?
Now Pandora wants acutal download numbers: Average downloads per episode and total US downloads during the past 12 months.
Podcast Ad Sales
Would you like Pandora to contact you about selling ads in your podcast?
They will not sell ads within your podcast without obtaining further permission and separate legal agreement.
Does the show currently have ads? If you have a third party ad sales, who is doing that? Do you include markers for the locations of the ads in your audio show file? What type of markers do you use?
Contact Details
Pandora asks for social feeds for Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
Podcast owner details: Pandora wants to know how to reach you in case they have to verify ownership.
There is a notice that Pandora is unable to accept content from the European Economic Area at this time. That’s because the privacy issues.
There is a rather awkward eContract they want you to sign.
Pandora says it will take four to six weeks for the team to review your submission.
My Beyond Social Media Show is active on Pandora and I do now have access to an Pandora for Podcasters Analytics dashboard, about a week after I submitted my podcast.
There is not, however, any data in the dashboard. I suspect that will change over time because Pandora did not begin collecting data until I submitted my podcast and it was reviewed.
Here’s what my show looks like on Pandora:
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