Why Apple Is Freaking People Out

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As you may know by now Apple had sent out an e-mail warning podcasters about including episode numbers in show title descriptions. It appears that’s causing more than a little confusion. It’s so out of character for Apple to make things difficult for customers.

AppleInsider.com originally pointed out the instructions Apple sent out are mostly sensible but some of the guidelines were causing confusion and may prove problematic. Apple started by saying “failure to follow the instructions could result in your show being rejected or removed.”

This all has to do with metadata rules. Of course the average or new podcaster has no idea what that means. It’s painful enough to go through the process of even getting a show approved by Apple, now this.

To add more confusion to Apple’s podcast demand comes what appears to be a reversal. After AppleInsider reached out to Apple for clarification of the new rules, the website reports “Apple has reconsidered its podcast episode naming policy, and in a follow-up email to content creators said, “Your Show Won’t Be Removed for Having Episode Numbers in Episode Titles.” So there you go.

Here’s a portion of that Apple e-mail thanks to 9to5 Mac:

We’ve received a lot of questions about metadata best practices on Apple Podcasts. We want to provide more details and clarification as you think about improving your show’s metadata.

Your show won’t be removed for having episode numbers in episode titles

Starting with iOS 11 in September 2017, we introduced modern RSS tags to improve podcast metadata. These tags include support for seasons, trailers, and episode numbers. The new tags help us present your show to your listeners on Apple Podcasts and present listening data to you in Podcast Analytics.

[caption id=“attachment_1643” align=“alignright” width=“300”] From Dave Jackson’s School of Podcasting[/caption]

When the e-mail originally went out, Podcast Business Journal Editorial Board member Dave Jackson from The School of Podcasting posted this video on the topic. His fix is specifically for Libsyn users. However with Apple’s apparent change of heart who knows if it’s really needed anymore.

If you are one of the few who IS clear on what’s going on please feel free to comment below.

Comments:

Paul Cheall - Mar 5, 2019

Excellent, thanks. I totally support Apple’s aims but their meta data numbering approach has seemed inconsistent with the way the Apple Podcasts app was working in reality. I just don’t understand why there needed to be such an upset about this. If Apple would take the simple step of making the episode number (as per the episode number tag) appear in the show listings then surely that is all everyone wants? But if the episode number isn’t appearing in the search output then it becomes unavailable to the producer as a convenient reference point to the *listener* (which is what it should all be about). I guess it’s not quite as simple as that so for now I’ll do whatever Apple wants. Credit to them for all they do - for free!!! :)

Yes, totally confusing - the two emails contradict one another. “It’s so out of character for Apple to make things difficult for customers.” - what about leaving reviews on iTunes? That is the model for how to make things complex for customers, surely!