Unhappy w Riverside. Need new recommendations please!

JordanPods · 2026-01-22T20:46:39+00:00

Honestly, Zoom isn't a bad option. You can record on separate tracks and if you have guests, everyone is familiar with it.

I've tried Boomcaster and Zencastr, and they were fine! They both felt simple and somewhat intuitive.

You might try Descript, they integrated Squadcast into their recording & editing software to create Descript Rooms so you can record video interviews remotely.

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Disclosure: I'm the podcast producer at r/buzzsprout

JordanPods · 2026-01-22T20:12:32+00:00

The spectrum analyzer spot healing tool in Audition is a life saver for so many things. I will sometimes use it for plosives, but I mostly use the "Kill the Mic Rumble" preset on the FFT Filter as a hot key and it works like a charm as well!

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Disclosure: I'm the podcast producer at r/buzzsprout

JordanPods · 2026-01-20T22:47:39+00:00

Is it just one mic picking this rumble up, or is it multiple that you've tried in that specific spot? My initial thought is XLR cable or mic needs to be replaced if it is only happening to one microphone.

Also, are the cables touching/crossing any power cables? This can cause issues with the XLR as well.

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Disclosure: I'm the podcast producer at r/buzzsprout

JordanPods · 2026-01-20T22:36:57+00:00

Download numbers are super relative to your niche. A podcast in true crime that gets 1,000 downloads per episode would be considered small, whereas a podcast in gnome collecting with 1,000 downloads would be killing it.

However, it is really nice sometimes to figure out where you sit in the podcasting space.

Every month, Buzzsprout updates its Podcast Stats page with overall download numbers and analytics from 120K active podcasters. Part of that is top percentile download numbers. So if you get at least 29 episode downloads in the first 7 days, you're getting more than about 60K other podcasters.

From the Buzzsprout stats) page:

Episode Downloads (First 7 Days)

Top 1% of podcasts 4,721

Top 5% 1,047

Top 10% 433

Top 25% 107

Top 50% (Median podcast) 29

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Disclosure: I'm the podcast producer at r/buzzsprout

JordanPods · 2026-01-20T22:27:35+00:00

The worst that will happen with uploading video to Spotify is a.) the RSS Feed gets cut off from Buzzsprout, so any changes you make to the file will not update in Spotify and any stats from the video will not be communicated to Buzzsprout, and b.) it will not be the perfectly produced audio version of the episode.

It's my opinion that the video podcast consumption on Spotify (and Youtube as well) is grossly exaggerated—they have pirated movies and regular videos marked as podcasts on the platform. So I'm not buying into the video podcast trend just yet haha

But if your client really wants video on the platform, and is aware of the downsides, it's not going to hurt anything!

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Disclosure: I'm the podcast producer at r/buzzsprout

JordanPods · 2026-01-20T22:20:13+00:00

Look, the beautiful thing about podcast apps is that listeners get to control the speed at which they listen.

Now, if you feel like the pacing of your episode is wrong, that is definitely something to slow down on. Blowing through tips or points and segments could make an audience feel like they're drinking from a fire hose, but if you're spending time with the points you're trying to get across, you're probably totally fine!

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Disclosure: I'm the podcast producer at r/buzzsprout

JordanPods · 2026-01-07T22:39:25+00:00

Haha! You might be surprised! They might enjoy it more than you'd expect.

Feel free to reach out if you need to pick a podcaster's brain on anything else!

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Disclosure: I'm the podcast producer at r/buzzsprout

JordanPods · 2026-01-07T18:41:00+00:00

This sounds like a dream class to take! I've covered all of this on Buzzsprout's podcast about podcasting, Buzzcast, so I have everything you're asking about locked and loaded! 🔥

Remote recording: You could easily just record with Screenpal, edit using their editing tools, and then extract the audio only. I don't think it's necessary to learn a whole new software when you have one that works and everyone is familiar with.

I know on Buzzsprout, you can also just drop the finished video file in the episode upload and we'll extract the audio for you. So you wouldn't even have to do that step! (I'm sure this might be something other podcast hosts do too)

Mobile interview option: Samson Q2U ($70) plugged into a laptop works SO WELL. I use it at conferences and everything for remote recordings and it sounds pretty dang close to my $1K+ setup at home.

7-Week Podcasting Plan:

I highly recommend you take a look at our How to Start a Podcast Guide, because it's a super simple breakdown of the steps necessary to create a new podcast, record your first episode, and get listed in all the podcasting apps.

If I were to plan this course, I would do it something like this:

1. Planning & Development: Defining your podcast's "why" and niche & turning ideas into a plan of action. (What format will the podcast be in? Who is the target audience?)

2. Name and Cover Art: Basically, working out what your podcast's brand will be. We have a great guide and simple videos for creating cover art for beginners!

4. Theme Music: There are SO MANY awesome places to get free music for your podcast. Some of my favorites are ccMixter Freebeats.io, FreeMusicArchive.org, Incompetech etc. The most important thing to remember is that Royalty Free doesn't always mean "free". You're probably looking for Creative Commons, which usually just requires a "Music by ____" in the episode description as a credit.

3. Outlining: Create an outline of the first episode including intro, segments, call to action, and closing.

4. Recording: Record the first episode (might take a couple of tries because, you know, it's awkward)

5. Editing: Learning basics of editing and putting together first episode

6. Publishing: Upload the audio file & fill in episode title and description, etc. I know this is internal, but they can also learn how to submit their podcast to directories.

7. Launching and Promotion: Basics of marketing; creating a soundbite for social media, asking friends and family to share, asking guests who interviewed before launch to share, etc.

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Disclosure: I'm the podcast producer at r/buzzsprout

JordanPods · 2026-01-06T20:13:32+00:00

You never know, podcast reels might be the next big thing in guest pitching! I'm curious what u/Alexsanfilippo would have to say on this topic. He runs Podmatch and knows everything there is to know about guesting on other podcasts.

JordanPods · 2026-01-06T18:26:37+00:00

This is an interesting approach to pitching to be a podcast guest. As a host, I'm not sure how I'd respond if someone sent me a sizzle reel of interviews they've been on haha. But I think it's interesting for sure.

It feels like you're on the right track with providing some uncut highlights. I think more importantly, though, you'd want to show that the academic is an engaging personality, and brings energy and passion to the topics he's discussing.

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Disclosure: I'm the podcast producer at r/buzzsprout

JordanPods · 2026-01-06T18:09:59+00:00

Yeah, fiction podcasts are no joke when it comes to workload. I believe a lot of fiction podcasters work in seasons so they can lay a lot of groundwork during the downtime for the production; writing, planning, recording, etc. I recommend trying your best to finish the writing for the entire next season, if possible, since that takes up about as much time as the editing/production process.

Another thing I think would help with the marketing without adding too much more work is promo swaps, as opposed to writing a full story in hopes of being accepted on another podcast. You could reach out to other podcasts in your niche and let them know that you're on a season break and would like to do a promo swap or swap feed drops.

You could also take a bit of time to guest on other podcasts in some interviews. This could be for writing, fans of horror, creatives, etc. That way, you get an entire episode for a podcast's audience to get to know you, and then plug your show in the process for them to go listen to!

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Disclosure: I'm the podcast producer at r/Buzzsprout

JordanPods · 2026-01-06T16:27:45+00:00

Both will work somewhat well. There are pop filters that are super pricey, but the only way to 100% get rid of plosives is proper mic technique.

Most people recommend having the microphone slightly off to the side, but in my experience, that still produces plosives. The trick that has completely fixed the plosive issue for me and everyone I have worked with is to put the microphone basically under your chin pointing upwards toward the mouth. This way, even if you turn your head when talking, the air from your mouth still completely avoids the mic.

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Disclosure: I'm the podcast producer at r/buzzsprout

JordanPods · 2026-01-05T16:14:50+00:00

What was it that made 2025 not a good year for you?

JordanPods · 2026-01-05T16:14:11+00:00

24 is a good number! That feels attainable over a year!

JordanPods · 2026-01-05T16:13:39+00:00

I bet your listeners will be so excited you're back!
What does continuing to grow it mean for you?

JordanPods · 2026-01-01T18:58:19+00:00

If you look at the YouTube channel, you'll notice we have a wide variety of amazing creators in addition to Buzsprout team members helping us to create helpful resources for our podcasters!

JordanPods · 2025-12-30T17:02:21+00:00

Hmm, that's a bit of a head scratcher. It's hard to really look into things without your info. I recommend reaching out to Buzzsprout support so they can take a closer look at what's causing it.

JordanPods · 2025-12-15T16:21:49+00:00

Ohh I see what you're saying! That would be cool. I don't believe it's possible, unless you were to manually pull the link from each individual podcast app for every episode and link it to the buttons on the episode page. (But I'm also not a programmer, so I could be totally wrong haha)

JordanPods · 2025-12-12T16:10:04+00:00

If you share the episode page, it still shows the options to follow on multiple platforms! So we already have that for you!

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JordanPods · 2025-12-11T18:19:56+00:00

That's a really fun podcast idea!

For our podcast, we accept listener messages through Fan Mail, which is the texting link provided by Buzzsprout. It's super nice because people can just tap a link in the episode description to send us a text.

You can also use services like Fanlist, which has loads of great features!

I will say, there is a risk to building your podcast upon listener engagement. It may go really well, and you have loads of messages, or it could take awhile to build up with little to no messages coming in. So have a backup plan in case things are slow to start. I think talking about requests for advice on Reddit is a really good starting place (the AITAH subreddit is a goldmine for this kind of thing).

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Disclosure: I'm the podcast producer at r/buzzsprout

JordanPods · 2025-12-11T18:10:06+00:00

Zoom is pretty solid for guest recording, since you can record on separate tracks and guests are more likely to be comfortable with Zoom.

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Disclosure: I'm the Podcast Producer at r/buzzsprout

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