How to transcribe a podcast from a link
A practical guide to podcast page links, RSS feeds, direct audio URLs, Spotify and Apple Podcasts limits, and how to transcribe audio you have the right to process.
First, identify what the link actually contains
A podcast link can mean a web page, an RSS feed, a podcast-host sharing page or a direct audio file. Only the last one is an audio source by itself. Before looking for a transcription tool, check whether the URL ends in something like .mp3, .m4a or .wav, or whether it opens a player page. The format of the link determines whether a browser can process the audio at all.
Spotify and Apple Podcasts page links are not audio files
A Spotify or Apple Podcasts episode URL points to a platform page, not to a public media file that another web app can simply download. Loqena does not scrape those pages or bypass platform restrictions. Screen-recording the player is also a poor workflow: it can reduce quality and may violate the platform or rights holder's terms.
For your own show, use the host dashboard or RSS enclosure
If you own the podcast, the simplest source is the original export or the file in your hosting dashboard. A podcast RSS feed also lists each episode's media enclosure, usually as an enclosure URL inside an item. Use the enclosure audio URL, not the feed page itself. Keep the original file and upload a copy for transcription.
When the show belongs to someone else, start with permission
Do not download or extract another person's episode just because you can find it. Ask the creator or rights holder for permission, or use a transcript they publish themselves. A public player URL is not the same thing as a licence to copy the audio. This matters for agencies, researchers and anyone repurposing an interview.
Export or download a clean audio file
Use the best source available rather than a lossy recording of a player. Common inputs are MP3, M4A, WAV, OGG, WebM and MP4. If the episode is very long or larger than the upload limit, split it at a natural chapter boundary. Preserve the original and work from a copy so you do not lose the source.
Transcribe a first pass and check the details
Upload the audio to Loqena and generate a timestamped transcript. Review names, organizations, numbers, dates, product names and every quote you plan to publish against the recording. An AI transcript can look fluent while still being wrong, especially with accents, crosstalk, music and technical vocabulary.
Turn the transcript into show notes and subtitles
Use the transcript to write a specific episode summary, choose a few chapters, verify the best quotes and prepare SRT or VTT captions. Do not publish the raw AI text without review. A transcript is a map into the episode; the final show notes are the edited listener-facing result.
What Loqena supports today
Loqena currently accepts recorded or uploaded audio and video files. It does not accept a Spotify or Apple Podcasts page URL as a shortcut. If you have a direct public audio URL that your browser is allowed to fetch, download it first; otherwise export the episode from your host and upload the file. This limitation is deliberate: it avoids pretending that every player page is a downloadable audio file.
Privacy, cost and long recordings
Only process audio you are allowed to use. Loqena processes uploaded audio for the explicit AI request and does not write it to object storage. Free access is 30 minutes per day, capped at 180 minutes per month; the one-time 60 Minute Pack is $5 and does not renew. For a long episode, check the remaining minutes before starting and split the file if needed.