Get a list of iTunes podcasts available?

Question

How can I get the RSS feed URL for the iTunes podcasts available? I want a feed which would list down all the podcasts present on iTunes. Is that possible?

Thanks.

Answer 1

As with many things Apple creates, a very limited set of functionality is exposed to third party developers. Currently, generating RSS feeds of podcasts in the iTunes Music Store does not appear to be supported. You can generate a limited set of RSS feeds for information in the iTunes store, but podcasts are not included.

You can generate these feeds using Apple's iTunes Music Store RSS Generator.

Furthermore, this really isn't the type of thing RSS is designed to do. The list of podcasts in iTunes is enormous, and wrapping each podcast in XML tags would create an even more enormous file. RSS is best used when you need to present a list of the most recent updates to something. Encoding the entire iTumes podcast catalog in RSS doesn't fit that catagory. You'll also notice that Apple's feed generator only allows you to create feeds of the few most recent or top songs, not the entire catalog.

Answer 2

There are a few options available these days:

• iTunes RSS Feed Generator A list of the top 100 podcasts in RSS format, no authentication required.

• iTunes Search API Apple has an API for all iTunes content including podcasts. JSON format, no authentication required, rate-limited to 20 calls per minute.

• Enterprise Partner Feed Lets you download the entire iTunes database direct from Apple so you can perform unlimited searches from your own server. They provide an importer script to handle updating your database each day. You'll need to apply for a login to access the files.