Although there are a few hosting providers that advertise unlimited hosting space and unlimited file transfer, that isn’t really the case. Most general level hosting companies out there do not want you to upload mp3s on their servers. Please take a look at this conversation regarding this very issue between Cliff Ravenscraft, Podcast Consultant and a shared hosting provider. It makes it pretty clear. NOTE: Scroll down about 3/4 of the way down the page to find the conversation.
Cliff is having a conversation specifically addressing issues that podcasters will come up against if uploading their files to their own host, but what if you don’t want a podcast. What if you simply want to upload your audio or video to your host?
In all honesty, if you are doing this to simply to put it up on your site for your own sake and have no aspirations of growing your site in any way, then go for it.
If you do have dream of more people being exposed to what you produce, whether it be through the written word, audio or video, I would suggest choosing somewhere else to host your media, especially if you are passionate about what you do. If you are committed to your site be it as a hobby or as your business, if you are consistent, and are putting out great material at some point you will start to get more traction. People will share your work and your audience will grow.
If you have been offering occasional audio or video files that you happen to host on your own hosting company this extra traction may prove to be problematic.
At Libsyn this is what we do. We are prepared for you to get famous 😉 You upload your files to our system and you get unlimited bandwidth, which is to say that no matter whether one day you get 1 person downloading your media or 100,000 what you pay stays the same.
We are set up in such a way that we grow with you. You can start simply hosting your individual audio or video files, but if you decide to offer your audience more as time goes on, you have the option to publish a podcast, get your own mobile app, have your own Wizzard Player and have amazing stats. We even have plans that are designed for businesses and professional producers.
Our Plans
Here are some key things you need to know about how we work:
- Our plans are based on Monthly Storage: Monthly Storage is the amount you can upload in any 30 day window. For example A 250 MB account means you get a quota of 250 MB per 30 day period. So in any 30 day period you can upload up to 250 MB of files. Once a file is over 30 days old – it automatically moves into “Archive” – which just means it no longer counts against your upload quota.
The “Archived” file continues to download as before and the URL remains the same – nothing changes other than you have back that amount of space to upload new files into. There is NO change in download speed for the “Archived” files.
With libsyn there is never a need to pull down old files because of storage issues.
- There are no contracts
- You can easily change plans at any time
With so many internet businesses popping up everywhere, and so many people choosing to become solopreneurs, libsyn is a must to have as part of your professional tool-belt in order to grow, scale and reach the largest audience possible.
If you haven’t had a chance yet, check out our cost effective plans and pricing!