4 Different Ways to Produce Audio Podcasts

Audio podcasting continues to be a popular way for people to get information and learn new things. Podcasting is also a way that businesses can showcase expertise for your customers and prospects.

The growth of podcasting has been boosted by the fact that smartphones now offer free podcast listening apps - Apple Podcasts for iOS and Google Podcasts for Android, making it easy for people to access and listen to a wide variety of shows and episodes. There are also many other podcast hosting platforms where anyone can search and listen including Stitcher, Spotify, iTunes, TuneIn, and Soundcloud.

Producing an audio podcast doesn’t have to be hard. If the sound quality and message or conversation is clear, they shouldn’t require a lot of fancy editing. Capturing your audio is the first step, and these five tools can help, from the bare bones apps to the more feature-rich ones.

Smartphone Voice Memo

Your smartphone’s voice memo recording feature is a simple way to capture audio. The key to using a no-frills app is to use earbuds with a good quality microphone. Test out several of them by recording short clips and listening to them with either earbuds or a quality headset. Earbuds usually range in price from $15 to $50.

If you want to edit your audio clip, these apps have limited features. The iPhone voice memo app, for example, has a basic editing feature that lets you cut off audio from the beginning or end of the clip as well as a wand button that helps clean up background noise. That’s it. You can then send the audio clip to yourself via email, download to your computer, then use it in any number of ways including uploading it directly to an audio hosting platform.

Anchor

Anchor is a mobile and web-based app for recording, editing, and distributing your podcast that was acquired by Spotify. You can record your audio directly to the app or through the Anchor.fm website or upload audio files you’ve already recorded - such as your voice memos. You can upload multiple audio clips and Anchor’s podcasting tools can stitch them together to create segments. Once you name your podcast, you can let Anchor automatically submit your podcast to Apple Podcasts, Google Play Music, Overcast and Pocket Casts.

You can also invite up to 10 people to participate in a recorded conversation that can be either a segment or the format for your entire podcast. Anchor also automatically transcribes up to 3 minute clips and provides a tool to turn your audio into a video that you can share on YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and other channels that allow you to post videos.

Spreaker

Spreaker’s podcasting production suite of tools is called Spreaker Studio and is available on mobile devices, the web, and as a desktop app. You can use your smartphone to record with the mobile app or use an external mic and headset plugged into your computer using the web or desktop-based app. The production tools let you record, edit, and add sound effects and music.

Spreaker also has a feature called Live Podcast that lets you broadcast your podcast live and use a chat feature to hear from your audience in real time. The tools connect to Skype to allow you to speak with guests.

There are four main pricing levels for Spreaker, Free and $7, $20, or $50 per month with the premium levels providing the ability to charge subscription fees to generate revenue, more advanced statistics, and customizable audio players.

Soundtrap by Spotify

Soundtrap is a digital audio workstation (DAW) that works with all web browsers as well as a more robust desktop app. The full app lets you create music recordings and podcasts. The site includes editing tools, an automatic transcription feature, ability to invite guests to join you,

As a podcaster, you’d choose Soundtrap’s Storyteller package. The free version of Soundtrap includes the ability to create unlimited projects, access over 150,000 sound effects from freesounds.org and to receive Sountrap Originals sound packs every other week. Premium fees are $7.99, $11.99, and $13,99. At the higher priced levels, you get the ability to publish your podcast to Spotify.

These are only a few of the many ways you can record audio for a podcast and produce a professional-sounding show. If you are not in the business of podcasting, producing one as simple and cost-effectively as possible provides you with a fresh way of reaching your customer s and attracting new ones.