Deliver secure, patron-only podcast feeds with Acast

  • Updated

Patreon’s integration with Acast ensures that your exclusive, bonus content is only shared with the ones who want it most — your loyal listeners and patrons. 

If you have questions about Patreon’s existing feature for private RSS feeds that doesn’t use Acast, click here for information about how to Enable audio RSS feeds for my patrons

Why use Acast:

  • Deliver secure, patron-only podcast feeds
    With the Acast integration, patrons receive a highly secure and unique RSS feed, so that your exclusive content stays exclusive
  • Access advanced analytics
    Acast's analytics give you clear and detailed insights into how many listens your patron-only content is getting, and how listeners are engaging with it
  • Enable your patrons to listen wherever they want
    Your patrons can enjoy their exclusive Patreon content wherever they listen to their podcasts. If an app supports secure RSS feeds, it’s covered: Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Pocket Casts, Downcast, Podcast Addict, Acast, and dozens more
  • Easily convert listeners to patrons
    When you link to your Patreon membership directly from your public episode notes, your new patrons are seamlessly guided back into their listening experience once they've joined

In this article, we’ll cover the following:

How to set up Acast (with an existing Patreon RSS feed)

  1. To get started, visit your RSS settings. Click the “Setup your free Acast account” button. This will automatically take you to Acast and set up a free account for you.

    • If you have existing, patron-only episodes on Patreon, these will automatically be imported to Acast and will create your Show. A Show houses the episodes for your podcast

  1. Once your episodes have been imported, you can assign tiers to your episodes. You can do this in bulk by selecting which episodes you would like to assign to the tier, and then clicking into the select access tiers dropdown menu on the right:

Assigning_tiers.gif

  1. Once you’ve finished assigning your tiers, turn on the integration at the show level. Click back over to Shows and click on the show you created. Click the Integrations tab. Enable the switch for Patreon.
  2. Lastly, head back to Patreon and to your RSS Settings
  3. Now that your Acast account is set up, select Acast RSS audio feed and save changes. This option will enable your new Acast feed and seamlessly migrate existing patrons over to their individual Acast feeds. They’ll continue receiving their content with no interruption.
  4. At this point, we recommend sharing a post for patrons who aren’t already subscribed to your content, or for new patrons to notify them of the changes. We’ve compiled suggested messaging for you to use below:

    Subject:     Get patron-only episodes through your fave podcast app.

    Hi everyone, 

    I’m excited to share a new way for you to enjoy all of our bonus, patron-only episodes through a subscription in your podcast app, alongside the main show. If you already are subscribed to your patron-only content in a podcasting app, you don't need to do anything! You'll continue to receive new episodes through that feed in your app.

    If you aren't already subscribed, it’s really easy for you to subscribe to the patron-only feed. From the device where you want to listen, click here [INSERT PATREON SUBSCRIBE LINK] to sign in to your Patreon account, hit “Allow” to enable delivery of the content, then select your podcast app of choice to subscribe. This works with Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Pocket Casts, Downcast, Podcast Addict, Acast, and dozens more podcast apps.

    Thanks for your support!
  5. When you release new episodes, upload them directly on Acast. This will automatically push them to the feeds of your patrons on the tiers they’re assigned to. Please note that this will not automatically post the same episode on Patreon. Depending on your desired patron experience, you can simply deliver your episodes through the Acast feed, or you can make posts on Patreon with the audio files and episode details. Either way, patrons will receive the new Acast episodes in their RSS feed.

How to set up Acast (with no existing Patreon RSS feed)

  1. If you’ve never used the Patreon RSS feed or you’re new to Patreon, you can enable the Acast integration in your RSS settings by doing the following:

a. Check the box Enable RSS audio feed 

b. Under Acast RSS audio feed, click the button “Set up your free Acast account”. Clicking this link will automatically take you to Acast and set up a free account for you. The email address you use for your account setup does not need to match your Patreon account

  1. Once your account is set up, you’ll be presented with the option to either Create New Show if you’re planning on providing a brand new private feed for patrons, or Import Existing Show if you already have episodes elsewhere that you want to make available to your patrons.
Create_New_Show.png
  1. When creating a new show, you’ll be prompted to add all the usual details for a podcast, like a title and description. 

  2. If you are importing an existing show, you’ll need a valid RSS feed for the show, which you can get from your podcast hosting provider. If you have set your show up as a podcast using Patreon’s RSS feature and the feed is not imported, you can access your RSS feed URL from the patreon.com/edit/settings page by right-clicking on “test link” in the RSS section of the page, then selecting "Copy Link Address."

  3. At this point, you will have a completed show that is not yet connected to Patreon, and does not yet have any episodes. Click into Integrations from your Acast dashboard and enable the “Patreon” toggle to connect to Patreon
    • NOTE: The integration will be enabled by default if you import an existing Patreon RSS feed as part of setting up your Acast account.
Turn_on_integration.gif
  1. Lastly, turn on the integration at the show level. To do this, click back over to Shows and click on the show you created. Click the Integrations tab. Enable the toggle for Patreon
Acast_Show_Integration.gif
  1. Next, you can choose whether you want Acast to include a link for listeners to pledge to your Patreon, for example, if a patron is telling a friend about the patron-only content you offer. This is controlled by the Include membership link in show notes switch. You can specify what the Link Text should say, and whether you want the link to go to your overall tiers page, or directly to the checkout page for a specific tier

    Configure_your_patreon_link.png

  2. When you release new episodes, upload them on Acast. This will automatically push them to the feeds of your patrons on the tiers they’re assigned to. Note though that this will not automatically post the same episode on Patreon. Depending on how you want your patron experience to be, you can deliver your episodes through the Acast feed, or choose to make posts on Patreon with the audio files and episode details. Either way, patrons will receive the new Acast episodes in their RSS feed

Adding episodes to Patreon tiers

Now that you’ve connected your Acast account to Patreon, you can create and assign new and existing episodes to your Patreon tiers.

Creating a new episode

  1. Click on New Episode
Create_new_episode.gif
  1. Fill out details about your episode (title, description, audio files, etc.)

  2. Choose which tiers can access this episode.
Choosing_Patreon_Tier.gif
  1. Click Publish now
You can also edit the tier assignments of an existing episode by clicking on it from the show page, then clicking the Settings tab, then adding or removing tiers

Need to bulk assign episodes to a tier? In the episode list, select which episodes you would like to assign to a tier, and choose the Access Tier dropdown menu on the right.


FAQ

Q: Do I have to pay to use Acast?
A: Great news — Acast is free for you as a Patreon creator and you can sign up from your RSS Settings. If you’re interested in delivering both your public and private shows through the same feed, you can sign up for one of Acast’s paid plans here.

Q: Is this the same as the current RSS solution on Patreon?
A: No, going forward the content will be hosted on Acast which will provide you a unique RSS feed. Your patrons will not need to manually add the feed, but instead OAuth directly on the platform where they’d like to listen to your show.

Q: Which players is this integration available for?
A:  It’s available for Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Overcast, Pocket Casts, Radio Public, Castbox, Downcast, Acast, and dozens of others. Spotify does not support custom RSS. 

Q: What happens to my patrons when I switch my feed to Acast?
A: All patrons with active accounts will have their feeds automatically redirected with zero interruption, and will be able to access their RSS feeds as usual in whichever podcast app they were using before.
  • For existing patrons. They’ll continue to receive their patron-only content in the same way they always have, there’s no need for them to resubscribe.
  • For new patrons. Any new patrons will receive the new feed through the same spots on Patreon: their pledge confirmation page, their confirmation email, and the My Membership tab. All the areas on Patreon where your old Patreon RSS was available will be updated to feature your new Acast feed
Q: My patrons are having difficulty accessing my feed, what should I do?
A: If your patrons experience any issues accessing your Acast feed, providing them with your Patreon Subscribe URL will get them back on track. 

You can also copy and paste the following messaging into a post for your patrons:


Hi everyone,

If any of you are having difficulty accessing episodes, please try these steps:
  • If you are currently subscribed to a Patreon RSS feed for my show, please unsubscribe from that feed in your podcast app.
  • Then go to this link [INSERT PATREON SUBSCRIBE LINK]
  • You may be prompted to sign in with your Patreon login and to authorize Acast.
  • You'll then be presented with the option to select your preferred podcast player or to copy your private RSS feed.
Thank you,

Q: Should I keep making posts on Patreon with my new episodes?
A: It’s up to you. Adding new episodes on Acast will automatically push them to the feeds of your patrons on the tiers they’re assigned to, but it will not automatically post the same episode on Patreon. Depending on your desired patron experience, you can simply deliver your episodes through the Acast feed, or you can make posts on Patreon with the audio files and episode details. Either way, patrons will receive the new Acast episodes in their RSS feed.

Q: How does using Acast help protect my patron-only content from unauthorized sharing?
A: Using the Acast integration helps protect your content in two ways. First, because your patrons use Acast’s subscription process that sends the listener directly to the page in their podcast app to add their feed, it reduces the chances that the patron shares their RSS feed with others. 

Additionally, Acast automatically monitors for extremely high numbers of downloads from individual RSS feeds that indicate widespread sharing. In that situation, the patron will be asked to reset their RSS feed and resubscribe, thus reducing unauthorized sharing.

Q: How can I disable Acast RSS audio feeds after turning them on?
You can turn off Acast RSS audio feeds from your creator page settings. Here, you can switch to the Patreon RSS feed by selecting "Enable Patreon RSS audio feed." You can also completely turn off RSS feeds by de-selecting the button next to "Enable RSS audio feed. Make sure to click Save changes at the top of the settings page to confirm the change!

Acast help center articles

You can access more articles from the Acast Help Center and more specific Patreon/Acast help articles. 

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