Premium Content: How to Charge a Fee for a Podcast Episode

Podbean offers various ways for podcasters to monetize their content. One of these methods is premium content; you can charge for subscription-based content or for individual episodes (single track premium). With Podbean, premium options are totally customizable and you can charge what you want.

Here are the easy steps to charge for a single episode:

First, go to the “Premium” tab in your dashboard to activate premium (click on “Activate Now”). You will need to connect your account with Stripe for payout. Follow the easy steps for Stripe activation. Once activated, you’ll be directed to “Premium Settings” to set the basic settings.

To create single-episode premium content, simply go to “Publish” in your dashboard to publish the episode. You can choose “Free” or “Premium” (for paid content). Click on “Premium” and you will two options: premium plan or “Sell single episode”. Select “Sell single episode” and set the fee you wish to charge (minimum fee is 50 cents due to Stripe’s requirements).

When you publish the episode, it will include the link to “Buy Single Episode Now”. When users click there, they will get a pop up to input their credit card information for payment via Stripe. They will then be redirected to a screen to create a password (if they are already logged into a Podbean account, it will skip this step) and then will be directed to the information page where they can download/listen to the episode. Anytime they are logged in using the associated email and password (on site or in the Podbean app), they can view and listen to this content*.

Podbean makes it super simple to manage your premium content. We handle the technical needs, payment processing and service for a reasonable revenue share (no upfront fees or limits). If you have any problems, contact our Support team for help.

*Users cannot purchase content in the Podbean app due to Android and iPhone restrictions. They must do so on the website, but once they have purchased it, the content will be available in the app if they’re logged in with the account they used to make the purchase.

Note: If you wish for some paid content to be available to subscribers as well as for separate purchase, please post the file twice choosing each corresponding option. For best results, please name the audio files with different names.

Related article: Podcaster fees for premium content