• Why are my Transistor download numbers different to my third-party analytics?

  Why does Transistor show different download numbers to third-party analytics providers? Why are my Transistor download numbers different to my third-party analytics? Open Podcast Prefix, OP3, Claritas, CoHost, Gumball, Magellan AI, Podder, PodRoll, Podscribe, Podsights, Podtrac, Spotify Ad Analytics, Swap.fm.Featured

• What constitutes a podcast download, stream, listen?

  What is a podcast download? The Downloads metric encompasses all ways of consuming an episode. As a podcast hosting platform we measure in “Downloads”, which is the industry standard. A Download indicates that the audio file has been delivered to the listener’s device. The Sounds Profitable Podcast Industry Glossary defines a podcast Download as: *“A term governed by the IAB Podcast Measurement Technical Guidelines thPopular

• Are Transistor's stats IAB compliant?

  Yes, we are compliant with IAB guidelines. However we do not pay for the annual IAB certification. We eliminate duplicate downloads and any automated downloads from datacentres, known bots and podcast directory indexers. So the analytics that you see on Transistor. Our team has been working with podcast metrics since 2012. We're constantly revising our system to make it better.Few readers

• What is bot traffic? How does it affect podcasts?

  Bot traffic is any non-human traffic to a website. These are automated software programs that visit websites, download audio files, etc... Some of them are good (for example, assistants like Siri and Alexa need bots for their queries) and some of them are bad (spambots from Russia or China). In either case, podcast hosting platforms (like Transistor, Libsyn, etc...) are continually trying to identify and remove bot traffic. At Transistor, we're continuously re-analyzing analytics to removeFew readers

• What happens when I replace an episode's audio file?

  Replacing an episode's audio file keeps its analytics, publish date and listing in podcast apps unchanged.Few readers

• Why are my analytics in Transistor different than in podcast apps?

  Why are my numbers lower in Transistor? How do downloads compare to plays and streams?Few readers

• Where has the spike in my analytics come from?

  Analytics, Statistics, download numbers, spike in analytics, increased download numbersFew readers

• Can I see how many people pressed the play button?

  Podcasting is built on top of an open platform (RSS), so there's no way to see how many people pressed play. The only exception is when the podcast players themselves track those stats. For example, you can see how many people started listening (and stopped) inside of Apple Podcasts: https://podcastsconnect.apple.com/analytics/shows [Read more about podcast stats here](https://trFew readers

• Which podcast prefixes does Transistor support?

  Podcorn is closing down on November 1, 2026. Transistor has removed the Podcorn analytics prefix from user feeds before the closure. This may result in a temporary spike in Spotify downloads. You can use 3rd-party podcast tracking services with your Transistor podcast. These tools can offer additional analytics and monetization opportunities for your podcast. You can enable more than one to stack them together. To enable these prefixes on your RSS feed, go to your podcast Settings pageFew readers

• Can I print my podcast analytics?

  If you click "Print" in your web browser, it should do a reasonable job of creating a printer-friendly version: If you have additional questions please reach out to us: Email - support@transistor.fm Live Chat: https://transistor.fm/contact/Few readers

• What does the 'Other' category mean in analytics?

  What's the 'Other' category? When a listener presses play in a podcast app, we receive a request to deliver the episode audio file to the listener. That request contains information about which platform or app is being used. We can identify certain apps and podcast platforms by the 'User Agent' that is present in the download request. We convert the obscure User Agent info into to their more commonly known app names for use on our Analytics graphs e.g. Spotify, Apple Podcasts etc. We aFew readers

• How do I export all of my podcast analytics?

  Download your podcast's analytics as CSV files from the Analytics tab, or pull them with the Transistor API or MCP server.Few readers