What Is a Podcast Host?

It turns out a podcast host is two different things.

A Podcast Host Is Not Just a Human Talking

In the 20-odd years since podcasting has been around, there is one piece of confusing nomenclature that I am baffled no one has proposed a clear solution for it yet.

A podcast host is two different things.

First, it is the talent: the warm, welcoming person who invites you to the show, shares the information, asks the interview questions, or delivers the monologue. I am the host of the Podcasting for Business Q&A show. That is probably the first thing that comes to mind when you think about what a podcast host is.

But if you’re starting to actually plan and develop your own show, you will soon realize there is another type of host you need to be aware of.

The podcast host, in the technical or technological sense, is the service on the internet where you upload your audio. That service makes the connection to the different podcast players like Apple, Spotify, and Amazon, and communicates with those platforms via an RSS feed.

It’s where you put the audio, where you put the show notes, and where you put the artwork if you have it. If you have a sponsorship strategy, it’s also where you manage the different ads that play on the podcast.

So the host is basically the online home and main source of your podcast. It’s where you add the content and make any changes, and where all the other platforms go to pull new information from.

In that sense, it’s just as important as the human host, and for some reason it’s still called the same thing.

Watch: What Is a Podcast Host?

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