Sometimes people hope to earn some money by podcasting. That money comes mostly from advertisers, and before they buy an ad spot on your podcast they want to know if anyone is actually going to hear it.
To prove to these advertisers that people do indeed listen to your show you will need to provide metrics in the form of download numbers. The PRX Publishing Platform has its own downloads-tracking app (very aptly named Metrics) but most advertisers will ask for numbers from a neutral third party to corroborate our numbers.
Enter: Podtrac and Blubrry. They are both third-party podcast metric tracking apps, and they do more or less the same thing (although Podtrac is more widely used). They are free to use, so all you need to do is register. If the show is new you will need to add the RSS feed to Podtrac by clicking on “Add Show” and entering the RSS URL. Finally, take the enclosure prefix URL they give you and insert it in the appropriate field under Podcast Info in Publish.
Voila!