Podcast sponsorship deals: disclosure and contract terms

A sponsored read is cheap to say and expensive to get wrong. Two things decide whether a podcast sponsorship deal holds up: a disclosure the listener can hear, and written terms that protect your hours. Set your own cost floor first, then settle both before anyone records.

What to take away

Start with your own numbers, not a rate card

A borrowed national benchmark tells you what someone else's audience is worth. It says nothing about yours.

Divide your monthly operating cost by episodes published. That is your cost per episode, and the cost-per-episode method behind it is the same one you use to price any podcast service.

If you cannot state your download range, pull it from your hosting dashboard before you quote anyone. Apple Podcasts, Spotify for Podcasters and YouTube each report differently, so pick one source and stay with it. What each dashboard counts is worth knowing before you choose.

Keep the monthly cost honest by keeping honest books. The IRS says you may choose any recordkeeping system suited to your business that clearly shows your income and expenses.

Hours per placement: the second sum

Do the same sum in hours for each placement. If an episode normally takes six hours to edit and a host-read mid-roll adds one hour of scripting, recording and re-recording, that read carries a sixth of the episode's production time on top of the audience you are selling.

Quote with both numbers in front of you: the cost per episode and the hours the placement adds. The table shows where the hours come from.

Charge for the edit, not just the read. A sponsor who wants a custom segment is buying studio time.

The disclosure line is part of the deliverable

The disclosure costs a few seconds of script and decides whether the deal is clean. The FTC's Endorsements, Influencers, and Reviews guidance requires a clear disclosure of any material connection between endorser and marketer. On audio, that means spoken, not buried in show notes.

The legal basis is the FTC Act. The FTC brings cases involving endorsements under Section 5 of the FTC Act, which generally prohibits deceptive advertising. The Guides themselves do not have the force of law, but practices inconsistent with them may result in enforcement actions.

The FTC's endorsement guides FAQ is specific about timing. Disclosures work best at the beginning of the segment and when specific products are endorsed. For a paid endorsement in the middle of a longer piece, the best place is right before or at the beginning of the actual endorsement.

For a mid-roll, that means the disclosure opens the read, not the episode. Write it into the script, because a host who improvises it under time pressure will soften it. A line as plain as "This episode is sponsored by [brand], and they paid for this segment" leaves no doubt about the connection.

The FTC says disclosures should be straightforward about the financial connection and should not use unclear expressions such as "we've partnered with vendors".

Placement, wording and who is responsible are set out in full in the host-read disclosure rules article, titled "FTC disclosure in US host-read podcast ads".

Who owns a sponsored episode

Name one person who owns the sponsorship workflow. When a read is rejected or a sponsor asks for a change after publish, that person decides, not the group chat.

Track two numbers monthly: qualified sponsors accepted, and declined with a reason. If neither moves, the process changed nothing.

Agree what you will report before the campaign starts: downloads of each sponsored episode from the one dashboard you named, over a window stated in days, for example the first 30 days after release.

Add the episodes and placements in which the read actually ran, and any promo-code or link results the sponsor tracks on its side. Report the same fields in the same order every time.

Terms that protect your hours

Cover the basics in the agreement: placement, length, number of episodes, territory, term, exclusivity, approval rights, revision rounds, metrics you will report, file delivery, and cancellation. A message thread is not an agreement.

Two clauses bite hardest. Perpetual unrestricted use, granted by accident when the list is skipped. And category exclusivity, which can lock you out of a better-paying sponsor for a year.

Write both narrowly. A usage clause can read: "Sponsor may use the recorded read only within the episodes listed in this agreement, for the term, and not in other advertising without written consent."

An exclusivity clause can read: "Host will not run a read for a direct competitor in [named category] during the term of this agreement," with the category named, not described.

Tie exclusivity to the campaign's own term rather than a calendar year, and if the sponsor wants it longer, price the extra months as a separate line.

Cap revisions in the same way. Two rounds of script changes before recording and one re-record after it is a limit you can defend. Any further round is billed as studio time at the hourly figure you used for your cost per episode.

Put invoice timing in the same document: when you invoice, when payment is due, and what happens to the remaining episodes if it is late.

A workable default is to invoice as each sponsored episode publishes, make payment due within 30 days, and pause, not cancel, the remaining reads while an invoice is overdue.

Set the renewal price at signing. A rate that only goes up when you remember to ask is a rate that goes down in real terms.

The wider decisions on rates, payouts and rights sit in the sponsorship and rights guide, titled "Podcast sponsorship, one decision at a time".

Common questions

How do I set a rate with no sponsorship history?

Start from your cost per episode and your download range. Quote a rate that clears your cost with margin, label it an introductory rate, and set a review date in the agreement. Raise it when you can show the sponsor a completed campaign and its numbers.

Does my podcast music licence cover a sponsor's audio?

Usually not. Your theme clearance and the sponsor's supplied audio are separate rights. Confirm in writing who holds the rights for podcast distribution, and check with the rights holder or a media attorney before publishing.

When should I turn a sponsor down?

When the product claim is untrue, when exclusivity blocks a better fit, or when the rate sits below your cost per episode. Price alone should never close a deal.