Podcast problem -- "difficulty downloading episodes from your feed"

I've entered the URL " http://feeds.feedburner.com/MirrorOfIntimacy " and keep getting an error message "We had difficulty downloading episodes from your feed."
I read through other discussions, and changed the URL in Tumblr from https to http, but I'm still getting the error message. Any help?

The meta tags are irrelevant: only an image embedded in the audio file is read by iTunes. The feed contains all the information, and must be properly constructed. Yours is made in Tumblr, and I would expect it could create a podcast feed but it isn't doing so at the moment. I can onlly refer you to their Help files to find out how to construct an iTunes-compliant feed.
You may find my 'get you started' page helpful - it contains a sample basic feed, and though I'm certainly not suggesting you should hand-write the feed (a process littered with pitfalls) it will show you what a feed should look like.
http://rfwilmut.net//pc

Similar Messages

Unable to submit a podcast feed- "we had difficulty downloading episodes from your feed"

Hii,
i am trying to submit a xml feed to submit podcast ,
but i get a error massage we had difficulty downloading episodes from your feed
here is my feed output
<rss xmlns:itunes="http://www.itunes.com/dtds/podcast-1.0.dtd" version="2.0">
<channel>
<title>iTunes1</title>
<description>description</description>
<link>http://phmedia.mediaimages.net/mediacatapult/</link>
<language>EN</language>
<copyright>phmedia</copyright>
<itunes:summary>description</itunes:summary>
<itunes:owner>
<itunes:name>asdfsa sadfsd</itunes:name>
<itunes:email>[email protected]</itunes:email>
</itunes:owner>
<itunes:keywords>v1, v2, v3, v4</itunes:keywords>
<itunes:category text="Arts">
<itunes:category text="Design"/>
</itunes:category>
<itunes:image href="http://phmedia.mediaimages.net/iTunesPodcastCover/10423_10526.png"/>
<itunes:explicit>No</itunes:explicit>
<itunes:block>No</itunes:block>
<item>
<title>12061_13536.mp4</title>
<description>video desc 1</description>
<link>
http://phmedia.mediaimages.net:1935/vod/_definst_/mp4:0165/12061_13536.mp4/playl ist.m3u8
</link>
<enclosure url="http://phmedia.mediaimages.net:1935/vod/_definst_/mp4:0165/12061_13536.mp4/playl ist.m3u8" length="1070" type="video/mp4"/>
<guid>
http://phmedia.mediaimages.net:1935/vod/_definst_/mp4:0165/12061_13536.mp4/playl ist.m3u8
</guid>
<pubDate>Thu Feb 20 02:39:12 EST 2014</pubDate>
<itunes:summary>video desc 1</itunes:summary>
<itunes:duration>0:0:29</itunes:duration>
<itunes:keywords>v1, v2, v3, v4</itunes:keywords>
<itunes:image href="http://phmedia.mediaimages.net/images/12061_13536_2_1.png"/>
<itunes:explicit>No</itunes:explicit>
<itunes:block>No</itunes:block>
</item>
</channel>
</rss>

The missing opening tags problem was caused by your pasting the contents into the forum and is not present in the actual feed. However you have two serious and two minor faults.
Your media file URL is
http://phmedia.mediaimages.net:1935/vod/_definst_/mp4:0165/12061_13536.mp4/playl ist.m3u8
This isn't a media file, it's a m3u playlist at 4kB. You need to provide a direct link to your media file and the URL must end with an extension, e.g. mp4
Your 'itunes:image' is a png which appears to be a screenshot: it should be 1400 x 1400 px or the feed won't be accepted, and it must be less the 500kB. You should choose a logo which will work when reduced to the size on the Store page.
You are missing what should be the first line of your feed:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
Your 'pubdate' tag reads
<pubDate>Thu Feb 20 02:39:12 EST 2014</pubDate>
There should be a comma after the 'Thu' and the '2014' should be after 'Feb', not at the end.
Your 'itunes:duration' tag reads
<itunes:duration>0:0:29</itunes:duration>
It should read
<itunes:duration>0:00:29</itunes:duration>
These last three are not fatal but should be addressed.
Finally, your title is 'iTunes1' which is valid but not a good title. You should choose something which gives an idea of the content.

Unable to submit podcast - "We had difficulty downloading episodes from your feed"

Hi there,
I had tried submitting my podcast feed onto iTunes: http://thecity.sg/media-resour…..e/?podcast
However, I was unable to and the following prompt was given "We had difficulty downloading episodes from your feed".
Anyone able to explain or help out?

The problem lies with the URLs for your media files. Looking at the most recent episode, the URL is
http://thecity.sg/media-resource/?show&file_name=12Jan14_DanielChua_The%20Master %20Key.mp3
which redirects to
http://thecity.sg//wp-content/uploads/sermons/12Jan14_DanielChua_The%20Master%20 Key.mp3
when entered in a browser, and the file plays there as it should. When subscribing manually in iTunes it does work OK. However, because of the problems which are caused in XML by having an ampersand ('&') the feed has rendered the URL as
http://thecity.sg/media-resource/?show&file_name=12Jan14_DanielChua_The%20Master %20Key.mp3
replacing the ampersand with the code & as would be correct if it were in a description or other text tag. If you enter this changed URL in a browser you get a web page, and presumably this is what the Store is seeing.
This use of server-side scripting to handle your file access is asking for trouble and you would be better off using the actual URL of the file,
http://thecity.sg//wp-content/uploads/sermons/12Jan14_DanielChua_The%20Master%20 Key.mp3
While we're looking at this, your filename has spaces in it. Spaces are not allowed in a URL and the feed has correctly substituted the code %20 for each space, so it does work; but it's preferable not to do this. The usual practice is to substitute an underscore for each space as you have already done for part of the file name.

Trying to upload my podcast RSS to iTunes, but getting the "We had difficulty downloading episodes from your feed" error

Hello everyone. I know this is an often asked question, but I still can't get this to work.
Can you tell me why I'm getting the "We had difficulty downloading episodes from your feed" error when I submit
http://davidccook.com/podcasts/praying-for-your-elephant.xml
Thanks!

The Store checks only the latest episode of your feed when you submit your podcast. The media file URL for your latest episode, Day 21, is
http://adamstadtmiller.com/wp-content/uploads/podcast/P4YE21DAY121.mp3
and there is no file at this address. This is because you've mistyped it: the actual URL is
http://adamstadtmiller.com/wp-content/uploads/podcast/P4YE21DAY21.mp3

When i try to submit my first podcast episode, i get an error message "we had difficulty downloading episodes from your feed

Hello! i am trying to submit my podcast feed into itunes but get "we had difficulty downloading episodes from your feed". I'm using the soundcloud podcasting beta, and i've tried almost every thing. Also when i try to test my feed by subscribing to it first, everything works except the episode wont play. any help?
RSS Feed:http://feeds.soundcloud.com/users/soundcloud:users:141115987/sounds.rss

This is because you have the URL for the media files incorrect. The top episode's file is given as
http://feeds.soundcloud.com/users/soundcloud:users:141115987/sounds.rss/http://f eeds.soundcloud.com/stream/196914893-behindthereels-ep2-everything-bethesdawav.m p3
If you look at it you will see that it is plainly wrong - you have http in twice. The correct URL is
http://feeds.soundcloud.com/stream/196914893-behindthereels-ep2-everything-bethe sdawav.mp3
and the same process applies with the other episode.

ITunes Says Having Difficulty Downloading Episodes From Your Feed

I'm trying to submit my podcast feed to iTunes, I am able to subscribe to my feed by going to File > Subscribe to Podcast > and pasting http://www.servextra.com/category/scrshow/feed/ in the field. iTunes then recognizes all of the episodes in my feed and I'm able to play them all with no problem.
When I try to submit this same exact feed to the iTunes Podcast Directory, I get the error message iTunes Says Having Difficulty Downloading Episodes From Your Feed. Any ideas what I'm doing wrong to cause this?

I don't know why you are having this problem. The URL of your top episode's media file is
http://traffic.libsyn.com/toddliles/12_012_-_Easy_Budgeting_in_30_Minutes_-_10.1 7.2013.mp3
This redirects to
http://ec.libsyn.com/p/3/0/f/30f658d1205053c7/12_012_-_Easy_Budgeting_in_30_Minu tes_-_10.17.2013.mp3?d13a76d516d9dec20c3d276ce028ed5089ab1ce3dae902ea1d01c08530d 6cb5ec030&c_id=6289362
The Store can by flaky about redirects, and this one has the '?' which indicates a script of some sort is in use. However, Libsyn normally know what they are doing so I wouldn't have expected them to provide a URL which didn't work. Your best bet would be to approach their Support; or Robert Walch, who works for them, posts here sometimes and may see your question.
It is just possible that the Store is having one of its hissy fits and it may be an error at their end, but certainly Libsyn should be able to advise.

Submit error: we had difficulty downloading episodes from your feed

I have created a new feed for Lifestream.org at https://www.lifestream.org/podcast.xml and it works subscribing in iTunes, but fails upon submission to Apple with "We had difficulty downloading episodes from your feed."
The site is on Drupal 7, with Views iTunes RSS provding the feed.
Please advise.

I can't see any reason why this should be. The feed validates OK (there are a few minor niggles but nothing which would cause this problem) and the episode file I checked played perfectly well. None of the usual culprits (wrong sort of media type, https in the media file URL, 'itunes:block' tag set to yes) is the case here.
We've seen cases where files which worked everywhere else wouldn't work in the iTunes Store; I've not seen any explanation for this - my guess (and I emphasize that it is a guess) is that some servers don't handle requests from the iTunes Store properly, but I don't know enough about server technology to say whether this is possible or what would cause it. You could try asking your server provider whether they have any information on this.
You could try hosting a few episode media files on another server and see whether that deals with it. Or it might even be a temporary glitch at Apple's end - you could leave it a day or two and try again.
Other than that I'm afraid I can't suggest anything.

"Difficulty downloading episodes from your feed" error

There seem to be a lot fo threads like this, but none of the problems are quite the same. I've got a self-hosted wordpress site, and a soundcloud account.
I applied for the podcasting beta from soundcloud, and the RSS they provide is here. If I add that feed to itunes, it says "The feed has no episodes."
So I said fine, I'll host the .mp3s on archive.org, so I did that, and got the wordpress plugin "Seriously Simple Podcasting," set it up including links to the mp3 files hosted on archive put at the top, the RSS feed for that is here. When I punch that in to itunes, it gives me the "we had difficulty downloading episodes from your feed" error. So I tried to use feedburner, (feed here) either to syndicate the seriously simple podcasting feed, or to syndicate the feed from my wordpress site directly (without the plugin). I've also tried plugging that last feed directly into itunes w/o feedburner, in all cases, I get the "difficulty downloading episodes..." error.
Very confused. I'm guessing there's something wrong with the way that the services (the SSP wordpress plugin or feedburner) is trying to make enclosures out of the mp3 hosted at archive, but I have no idea how to fix that. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

DO NOT use the souncloud RSS feed - if you ever decide to leave them you will loose all your audience.
They do not provide the tools needs to change your feed to a new host.
You can't add in the iTunes new feed tag nor can you add in a redirect.
What ever your do - do NOT use the soundcloud RSS feed.
Regards,
Rob W

Error: "We had difficulty downloading episodes from your feed." I don't see what I've done wrong?

When I try to submit my podcast I receive the error "We had difficulty downloading episodes from your feed." I don't understand what's wrong. My feed is "http://sleuthcast.tumblr.com/rss".

Your episode media file is hosted on Dropbox, and you've evidently placed it in the area intended for your own storage, judging by the error page which it leads to.
Dropbox does do webspace hosting, though this isn't what you are using: but you would be advised not to use Dropboc - it really isn't suitable for podcast media files. There have been numerous problems with it reported on these forums.
You should host your media files on an ordinary website server. You need to check before committing to one that it can handle 'byte range requests' - this is the method used by iPhone for accessing these files (by requesting part of it at a time rather than the whole thing) and it's mandatory for being in the Store. If the service you are considering using doesn't confirm they can handle this (and I might add the Dropbox doesn't) you will need to go somewhere else.

"We had difficulty downloading episodes from your feed."

I get an error when I attempt to submit a podcast to the iTunes podcast directory. The error is "We had difficulty downloading episodes from your feed." I think I have everything on my rss feed correct, but I may not. Can anyone check out my feed and let me know what may be wrong?
My feed address is: http://feeds.feedburner.com/TheCultureOfMyPeople
Thanks in advance!

Hi pwnagin,
Welcome to the Apple Support Communities!
It sounds like you are knowledgeable when it comes to podcasts but are running into this alert when trying to submit to iTunes. Take a look at the following article; it has some great info in it about creating feeds and metadata, testing feeds, and submitting the feed. You may have gone through all of this already. If so, please let me know if you are still having trouble.
Apple - iTunes - Podcasts - Making a Podcast
https://www.apple.com/itunes/podcasts/specs.html
Have a great day,
-Joe

How to fix the 'We had difficulty downloading episodes from your feed'

I'm getting the error 'we had difficulty downloading episodes from your feed' error but I can subscribe directly to the rss feed via File>Subscribe to Podcast.
The rss feed is: http://feeds.feedburner.com/mentaltoughnesstrainer/YGwe
I've used feedvalidator and it says everything is good except for some minor suggestions. How do I fix this?
could please anyone help me.?
I was trying on my whole day...

This is a bug in the iTunes submission system where it gives a false negative. Libsyn servers are 100% compliant with iTunes.
Please submit again - it usually will go through the second time. If not wait 10 minutes and submit again.
Apple is aware of this issue - but it has been around for a while.

I keep getting a "We had difficulty downloading episodes from your feed" error.

I've been trying to post a podcast, but I keep getting a "We had difficulty downloading episodes from your feed" Error message. The RSS feed I created is http://feeds.feedburner.com/blogspot/mjBrW. Any help would be appreciated.

Your feed is now OK and can be subscribed to in iTunes, so that's a start. However your media file itself is not accessible. The URL for it in the feed is
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/InTheFace/~5/B6E3DAcZCXU/InTheFaceEpisode1BadGran dpa.mp3
This redirects to
http://a1.podbean.com/646726/InTheFaceEpisode1BadGrandpa.mp3?AWSAccessKeyId=AKIA JLA6NPUL6BLALQ2A&Expires=1385103002&Signature=l4iImb8F5UB%2FZzo9gAmzyXwM%2FBc%3D
And this brings up
<Error>
<Code>AccessDenied</Code>
<Message>Request has expired</Message>
<RequestId>D2B711C098C2AF2E</RequestId>
<Expires>2013-11-22T06:50:02Z</Expires>
<HostId> /vxmBjlZGuT2p5gdqXe51JV90o9Ep08YLQWJVW10bn17PUBcRyX85n/FL0K0qqnc</HostId>
<ServerTime>2013-11-22T07:33:36Z</ServerTime>
</Error>
Basically the file is requiring authorization to access, so you have to turn that off.
As to https, the iTunes Store cannot access media files with this prefix, and many podcast creation services will not create the enclosure tag if it's in use.

The infamous "We had difficulty downloading episodes from your feed" error

Hi all,
I'm trying to submit a podcast to iTS, but it's failing with the infamous "We had difficulty downloading episodes from your feed" error.
The feed validates (here and here); all the tags that are suppossed to be there are there; the enclosures are there and readable; the server accepts byte-range requests.
Could someone smarter than I have a glance over and see if they can spot anything?
A sample feed can be seen here.
Many thanks.

I would ask one simple question - Why are you not just releasing your episodes as .mp3 format?
The recommended encoding for audio podcasts is:
.MP3 - format
64 kbpb - Bit Rate
44.1 khz - sample rate
mono or joint stereo
This gives good audio quality at the size of 0.5 mb per minute. It is used by most of the big shows in iTunes and it compatible with all players and aggregators.
Trying to trick the system to use a non-standard format is likely going to cause you issues - it is best to go with the settings above if you want the least amount of issues for you and your potenital listeners.
Rob W

Getting "We had difficulty downloading episodes from your feed" error.

My RSS feed is here: http://www.icpl.org/podcast/one-of-a-kind/rss/
I'm attempting to submit our podcast to itunes but getting an error reading "We had difficulty downloading episodes from your feed"
Anyone see any issues in the rss feed?
Thanks!

Your media file URLs are not acceptable. For one thing it's a forced download - the file should play in Safari when you enter the URL in the address bar, not download, and also the URL does not end with a media file extension e.g. .mp3.
You need to provide a direct link to the file, which should be hosted on a website server capable of handling 'byte range requests', and the URL must include the extension.

How to fix the 'We had difficulty downloading episodes from your feed' error

I'm getting the error 'we had difficulty downloading episodes from your feed' error but I can subscribe directly to the rss feed via File>Subscribe to Podcast.
The rss feed is: http://ithinkyouthink.libsyn.com/rss
I've used feedvalidator and it says everything is good except for some minor suggestions. How do I fix this? I'm waiting on Libsyn to contact me directly, but I figured I'd try this to see if anyone could help.

This is a bug in the iTunes submission system where it gives a false negative. Libsyn servers are 100% compliant with iTunes.
Please submit again - it usually will go through the second time. If not wait 10 minutes and submit again.
Apple is aware of this issue - but it has been around for a while.

Podcast problem -- "difficulty downloading episodes from your feed"

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