How to submit a podcast to the Windows Phone Store and Zune Marketplace
The Windows Phone Store (and the Zune Marketplace, which shares the same backend) has one of the largest curated podcasts libraries in existence. In fact, it’s second only to iTunes. But while the catalog is vast, you’ll occasionally come across a podcast which hasn’t been added yet for one reason or another.
For Windows Phone 7.x and Zune devices, this problem can be solved by manually subscribing to the podcast URL in the Zune software client and then automatically syncing the content to your device. Windows Phone 8, however, currently doesn’t allow you to add a custom subscription, so you have to download or subscribe to shows with a third-party program and then manually drop episodes into the podcast folder in the file system. While you could get the job done with a more feature-rich app, the built-in solution is often preferred by most users.
As a result, the best and most convenient strategy is to simply submit the podcast to the Windows Phone Store / Zune Marketplace, allowing you to take advantage of on-device podcast subscriptions in the United States. It also allows you to help out fellow users looking to subscribe to the same podcast.
The easiest way to submit a podcast for consideration is through the Zune software client. If you have a Windows Phone 7.x or Zune device, there’s a very good chance that you already have the software installed. But due to the number of incoming requests each day, the best solution is to simply send a message to Rob Greenlee, the man in charge of the podcast catalog. Doing so is much faster than going through the Zune desktop software, and it doesn’t require Windows Phone 8 device owners to download anything either.
Once the podcast has been added to the catalog, it will be indexed for search discovery and become available on your device within a day. From that point on, anyone with a Windows, Windows Phone, or Zune device will be able to subscribe to or stream episodes from that podcast.
