Podcasts and audiobooks
FoundryInk publishes audio as first-class work that plays right in the browser, and there are two kinds to know well: a Podcast Episode, an episodic show that can syndicate out to Apple Podcasts and Spotify, and an Audiobook, one narrated recording with chapters. They share the same Audio studio that Music uses (covered in Make music), so this page focuses on what is specific to each: how a show is actually structured, the settings that unlock the podcast directories, and the real limits of how far your audio reaches. The rest of this page gets your voice out into the world.
1Podcast, audiobook, or music: pick the kind
Three asset kinds share the same audio machinery, and the one you pick sets the framing. A Podcast Episode is one instalment of an episodic show, and it is the only audio kind that syndicates to podcast apps. An Audiobook is a single narrated recording of a book, with chapters and a narrator credit, and it does not syndicate. A Music Track is a song, with artist and album and a looping player, and it does not syndicate either. Same studio underneath, three different jobs.
- Podcast Episode. Episodic. Seasons and episode numbers, a transcript, and a real RSS feed for Apple and Spotify.
- Audiobook. One long narrated file with chapter markers, a narrator, and an optional link to the written book.
- Music Track. Artist, album, lyrics, a repeat toggle. Covered in Make music.
2A podcast is an episode, the show is your project
This is what creators most often get wrong, so learn it first: a Podcast Episode asset is one episode, not the whole show. The show is the project that holds the episodes. So you make one podcast project, and then you create a new Podcast Episode asset inside it for each instalment. There is no separate 'add an episode' screen: each episode is its own asset, published on its own, and the project they all belong to is the show that syndicates.
3Create an episode and add its audio
Inside your podcast project, choose New asset and pick Podcast Episode (An audio episode that plays in the browser, with chapters and a transcript. Free episodes can also syndicate to podcast apps). The create wizard keeps it short for audio: you set the basics and pricing, and there is no page-upload step. You add the recording afterward, in the episode's studio: Upload an audio file (MP3, M4A, AAC, WAV or OGG), and it plays in the browser once published.
4Set up the show
The show's identity is set on the project, in Settings, under a Podcast card. Fill in Author / host, an Owner email, a Category (the standard list the podcast apps use), and a Language. The show's title, description and artwork are simply the project's own title, description and cover, so set those on the project too. This is the information every podcast app shows next to your show, and, as the next section explains, it is also the gate that unlocks syndication.
5Episode details, chapters, and a transcript
Back on the episode, the studio's setup tab holds the per-episode pieces. Episode details carries a Season, an Episode number, and a Type (Full episode, Trailer, or Bonus), which is how apps order and label it (leave season and number blank for a serial show). Chapters lets you drop titled markers so listeners can jump around, and Add at playhead stamps the current time from the preview player. You can Replace artwork (the episode's cover), Add a transcript as a .vtt file, and open Audio metadata for genre, an Explicit content flag, composer and copyright.
6Price it, and set a preview
Each episode is priced on its own, the same way any asset is: free to listen online, unlocked by a subscriber tier, or a one-time purchase. Most podcasts are free (and, as the next section shows, free is what syndicates). If you do sell an episode, Set preview clip gives listeners a public teaser and a Free preview length, so they hear a taste and then reach a buy prompt (That's the free preview). To let a buyer keep the actual file, turn on the download format in the episode's pricing, separately from streaming.
7Get on Apple and Spotify
This is the part that makes a podcast a podcast. Once the show's Author / host, Owner email and Category are filled in, you can turn on the feed, and FoundryInk publishes a real RSS feed at a public address. The show settings and each episode's Distribution panel show that feed URL with a copy button, under Publish to podcast apps: Submit this address to Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or any podcast directory. You submit it once in each app's own portal (Apple Podcasts Connect, Spotify for Podcasters), and after that new episodes are pulled in automatically.
8Create an audiobook
An Audiobook is a different shape. Make one with New asset, then Audiobook (A narrated audiobook that plays in the browser, with chapters and a narrator credit. Can link to its written edition). The key difference from a podcast: an audiobook is one audio file for the whole book, not a file per chapter. You upload the audiobook as a single recording of the whole reading, then mark the chapters below it, titled markers at the start of each chapter (again, Add at playhead stamps the time). Add a Narrator (who reads it) and a Reading setting (Unabridged or Abridged).
9Link the written edition
If the book also exists as a written Book asset in your studio, connect them. The audiobook's Written edition picker links the Book it narrates, and the two cross-link on their public pages, so a reader on the audiobook sees a Read the book link and vice versa. Only your own studio's books appear in the picker, and the cross-link only shows publicly once that book is public.
10What the listener gets
Both kinds play in the same browser player, with no download unless you sell one. A listener gets skip back 15 seconds and skip forward 30 seconds, a speed control from 0.75 up to 2 times, the Chapters list to jump around, and, if you added one, a click-to-seek Transcript. An audiobook also shows Read by your narrator, the abridgement badge, and the link to the written edition.
11The Audio studio, and one export gate
You do not have to arrive with a finished file. All three audio kinds open the same multitrack Audio studio, where you import or record clips, arrange them, and treat the mix with EQ, compression and a limiter. That studio is taught in full in Make music, and everything there applies to a podcast or an audiobook too. The one thing to know here: bouncing the multitrack timeline down into your episode's audio (the Render step) is gated by your studio's export permission.
Questions creators actually ask
No, and this is the big one. A Podcast Episode asset is a single episode. The show is the project that holds them, so you create one podcast project and then a new Podcast Episode asset for each instalment. The show-level settings (host, category, the RSS feed) are set on the project; the audio, episode number and transcript are set on each episode.
Not automatically. FoundryInk generates and hosts a real RSS feed once your show settings are filled in, and shows you its URL. You submit that URL once, yourself, in Apple Podcasts Connect and Spotify for Podcasters. After that, both pull your new episodes in on their own. FoundryInk does not post to them for you.
The feed only carries free, published episodes. If an episode is a purchase, subscriber-only, or download-only, it is left out of the feed entirely, because an app would try to cache the audio as a free download. Also check that the show has its host, owner email and category set, since the feed will not turn on without them.
They work the same way (titled markers you stamp at a playhead), but an audiobook is one audio file for the whole book with markers on top, not a file per chapter. So there is no per-chapter audio and no per-chapter purchase: an audiobook is bought as a whole.
Yes. The audiobook's Written edition picker links a Book asset in your own studio, and the two cross-link on their public pages, so a reader can jump between the read and the listen. The link shows publicly once the book is public.
No. There is no saved playback position and no sleep timer in the audio player today, so a listener who closes it starts that file from the top next time. On long audiobooks, generous chapter markers are how listeners find their place again.
No. Shorts is a full-screen vertical video surface, and audio has nothing to show there but static artwork, so audio kinds are deliberately left out of Shorts. Your audio still appears in the normal Browse rails and on your studio and project pages like any published work.
Bouncing the multitrack timeline down into your asset's audio is gated by your studio's export permission, so without it the Render button is hidden. You can still publish: upload a finished audio file on the setup tab instead of rendering the timeline.
Hit record, then hit publish
A podcast is a project full of episodes with a feed the whole world can subscribe to; an audiobook is one narrated file with chapters and a link to the book it reads. Both play the moment a listener taps them, and a free podcast reaches every app there is. Set the show up once, submit the feed once, and then just keep publishing.
Where next?