Podcasters

You record guests in other places, each voice on its own track. Each episode you publish reaches Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

Your show, your email list and your supporter page are in your own Magpie account.

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Jo Ellison’s podcast Small Hours in Podcast: a completed remote recording with her guest Sam Okafor, a bridge inspector, and the published episodes, newest first, The night baker and Eleven hours on the night bus at the top.

This combination of four Magpie areas fits a podcaster.

Podcast
Podcast records each voice on its own track, and publishes the show's page and RSS feed.
Social Media
Social Media announces each new episode on the show's accounts, from one draft.
Newsletter
Newsletter emails your subscribers about each new episode, with a link to it.
Supporters
Supporters gives listeners a free tier and monthly paid tiers to support the show.

Your show has its own page, and a feed that Apple Podcasts and Spotify read.

Podcast gives your show a public page at your own address, and an RSS feed. You can submit the feed's address to Apple Podcasts, Spotify or another podcast app. Each episode you publish afterwards will be added to it.

You can publish an episode recorded in Magpie. You can also upload an MP3 of up to 500 MB, edited elsewhere. Magpie stores the audio your listeners play.

Guests join in a browser, and each voice is recorded on its own track.

Podcast also records you and your guests as you talk live. Guests join from an invite link in a browser, without signing up first. Each person's microphone is recorded on their own device. A weak connection does not by itself stop anyone's recording.

When a take ends, Magpie lines the tracks up. You can set each voice's timing and volume, and trim its start and end. The mix becomes the episode. You can also download every voice as a WAV file, to edit elsewhere.

The Recorder in Podcast for Jo Ellison’s show Small Hours, stopped after four takes of a new episode, 16 minutes 5 seconds in all, with each take’s waveform and length below.

You announce each episode on the show's social accounts from one draft.

Social Media can turn a published episode into a post that links to the show's page. You write it once. Bluesky, Mastodon and LinkedIn will receive it at the time you choose. For Instagram and X, Magpie will remind you to post from your phone.

A published episode can also become an MP4 video. It plays the episode's audio over the show's artwork, with images you place and time. You download it to post wherever you share video.

Small Hours’ Social Media overview: a clip about the regulars at the bakery window ready to post by hand on Instagram, and posts coming up for the mailbag, the next episode and supporters on Bluesky, Mastodon, LinkedIn, Instagram and X.

You email your listeners about each new episode.

Newsletter gives the show an email list. Listeners can subscribe without signing up first, and confirm by email. You can import a list from Substack, Mailchimp or a CSV file. The import keeps a record of how its people agreed.

You write each email in Markdown, with a link to the episode. You can send yourself a test, then send it now or at a time you choose. With web copies on, each sent email also has its own page.

Listeners can pay each month to support the show.

Supporters gives the show a page with a free tier and monthly paid tiers. Listeners join with a Magpie account. Paid tiers are charged by card, into your own Stripe account.

Each post can be for everyone, paying supporters or chosen tiers. A post can include a Screen Recorder video or a Forms poll. A poll can ask listeners which guest to invite next. Anyone outside a post's audience sees its title, cover and excerpt.

Small Hours’ public supporter page: its introduction, 272 supporters, and a free Listener tier and three monthly paid tiers in Canadian dollars, each with what it gives and how many people support it.

Five more areas cover your guests, the episode plan, your links and merch.

Meetings
Meetings gives you a page where guests book a time to record, without signing up first. Each booking will be confirmed with a calendar file. With Zoom or Google Calendar connected, the confirmation will include a call link.
Contacts
Contacts keeps each guest's email addresses and notes, and the meetings they booked. You can set a follow-up for when you plan to ask them back.
Kanban Boards
Kanban Boards puts each episode on a card, which you move from idea to published. The board can take suggestions from listeners signed in to Magpie.
Link-In-Bio List
Link-In-Bio List puts the podcast, the supporter page and the newsletter behind one link. It counts the clicks on each link.
Store
Store sells the show's merch and downloads. Buyers pay on Stripe's checkout page, into your own Stripe account.

An episode with a guest goes from their booking to your listeners.

Each step starts from what the one before it made.

  1. The guest books a time

    They choose a time on your meeting page. You will both get a confirmation with a calendar file. The meeting will be listed on the contact page with their email address.

  2. You record together

    You send them the session's invite link. They join in a browser, and each voice is recorded as its own track.

  3. The mix becomes the episode

    You adjust the voices, and the mix goes into an episode draft. You add its title and description, then publish it.

  4. Podcast apps get it

    Publishing will add the episode to the show's page and its RSS feed. Apple Podcasts, Spotify and other podcast apps read that feed.

  5. You announce it

    You start a social post from the episode. An email to your subscribers links to it as well.

Setting up takes five steps.

  1. Describe the show

    You give the podcast its title, description, category, explicit content value and square artwork. Help: Create and publish podcasts.

  2. Make the first episode

    You record it alone or with guests, or upload an MP3. Help: Record a podcast episode.

  3. Turn the podcast on

    Turning it on will publish its page and feed. You then submit the feed's address to Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Help: Create and publish podcasts.

  4. Connect the show's accounts

    You connect Bluesky, Mastodon and LinkedIn by signing in. X and Instagram are added by username. Help: Connect social accounts.

  5. Start a newsletter

    You share its signup page, or import the list you already have. Help: Start and configure a newsletter.

Plans

A podcast follows the plan of whoever made it. The free plan has a set number of episodes, and 1 GB of file storage. Pro has more podcasts, and as many episodes as fit in 20 GB. Episode audio and videos count toward that storage.

On the free plan, a supporter page has up to 3 paid tiers. A meeting page has up to 2 Meeting Types. Pro has no limit on either.

Magpie's fee on supporter payments is 3%. Magpie adds no fee to sales in your shop. Stripe's processing fee is taken from each payment.

Questions about running a podcast on Magpie

Can I get my podcast into Apple Podcasts and Spotify?

Yes. Turning the podcast on will publish its RSS feed. You submit the feed's address to Apple Podcasts, Spotify or any other podcast app. Episodes you publish afterwards will be added to the same feed. The settings mark the category, explicit content value and artwork Apple Podcasts requires.

What does the feed tell podcast apps?

The feed gives the show's title, description, author, category, explicit content value and artwork. It also links to the show's page. For each episode, it gives the title, description, publication date, length and MP3 file. Magpie stores each MP3, and podcast apps download it from the address the feed gives.

Can I record with guests in other places?

Yes. You start a recording session with other people, and send each guest its invite link. They join in a browser, with the name the others will see, and test their microphone. You talk live, while each person's microphone is recorded as a separate track. You can make a guest a co-host, with the same controls as you.

Can my guests join without signing up first or installing anything?

Yes. A guest opens the invite link in a browser and joins. On a phone or tablet, they keep the recording page open and unlocked.

What if a guest's connection drops while we record?

The live call and the recording are separate. Each person's browser records their own microphone in short pieces, saved on the device. It retries an upload that fails. A guest whose page closes reopens the link and continues under their name. The time away is kept as silence, so their track stays in step.

Can I edit the recording?

You can move a voice earlier or later, correct drift and change its volume. You can also mute or solo a track, and trim silence from its start and end. The original tracks are not changed. For a full edit, every voice downloads as an aligned WAV file. An MP3 you edit elsewhere uploads as an episode.

Can I upload episodes I have already made?

Yes. You give the episode a title and a description, and upload an MP3 of up to 500 MB. It will be published when the upload finishes. Uploaded and recorded episodes are listed together, each with a player.

Can I record on my own, in several takes?

Yes. On your own, you record in takes. Pausing closes a take, and you can play one back or remove it. You can keep the draft and finish it later. Publishing will join the takes in order into one MP3, once the episode has a title.

Can I make a video of an episode for social media?

Yes. A published episode can become an MP4 of its audio over the show's artwork. You can add images, and place and time each one. You download the MP4 to post wherever you share video. It counts toward your file storage.

How do I tell people about a new episode?

You can start a social post from a published episode. It has the episode's title and a link to the show's page. You edit it, and schedule it for every account. A newsletter email reaches the listeners on your list. With web copies on, that email also has a page to share.

Can listeners support the show with a monthly payment?

Yes. A supporter page has a free tier and monthly paid tiers. Paid tiers are charged by card, through your own Stripe account. Magpie's fee is 3% of each payment, and Stripe's processing fee applies. Each payment is listed with its fees and net amount.

What can I give supporters?

You can write posts for paying supporters or chosen tiers. A post can have images, a Screen Recorder video or a Forms poll. A poll can ask listeners which guest to invite next. Everyone else sees each post's title, cover and excerpt, with the tiers that open it.

Can listeners suggest topics or guests?

Yes. A Kanban board can take suggestions. Anyone signed in to Magpie can suggest a card, and comment on or heart one. Suggestions wait in the board's Inbox column. Moving one to another column approves it.

How do guests book a time to record?

They book on your meeting page, without signing up first. A guest chooses a Meeting Type, such as a 60-minute recording. Then they pick a day and time, shown in their own time zone. They enter a name and email address. Only times your schedule and connected Google Calendar leave free are offered.

Can I keep track of guests I have had and want to ask back?

Yes. A guest's contact page has their email addresses and notes. It lists the meetings booked from those addresses, and the calls and messages you record. A follow-up has a date and a reason, and adds a To-do. Follow-ups are listed as Overdue, Today or Upcoming.

Does the podcast have its own web page?

Yes. Each podcast's page is at your own address, followed by /podcast and its name. It shows the artwork, the description and every episode with a player. It links to the feed and to your calendar. A link to it shared in a post shows the artwork and description.

Can I run more than one show?

Yes. Each podcast has its own title, artwork, settings, page and feed. You can add as many as your plan includes. With more than one podcast on, your address followed by /podcast lists them all.

How much space do episodes take?

A 40-minute MP3 is about 35 MB. Episode audio and episode videos count toward your file storage. Your images, screen recordings and the downloads you sell share it too. The free plan has 1 GB of file storage, and Pro has 20 GB.

Can I sell merch for the show?

Yes. Store sells physical products, downloads and gift cards. Buyers pay on Stripe's checkout page, into your own Stripe account. Magpie adds no fee to these sales. Each product has a buy link and a QR code to print.