The Primecast measurement prefix

1What it does

The prefix is a lightweight 302 redirect that sits in front of each episode's audio file. When a podcast app requests an episode, the request first hits Primecast, which logs the download (and the listener's country, from their IP) and then forwards straight to your real audio file.

Because every real request passes through it, you get accurate download counts and a country breakdown — without connecting to your host's API or changing where your audio is stored. Your files stay exactly where they are; the redirect just adds a measured hop in front of them.

2The format

Put your show's prefix immediately in front of every episode's audio URL in your RSS feed — no space, nothing in between:

So an episode that currently points to https://cdn.example.com/ep1.mp3 becomes:

The <yourShowId> segment (ab12cd34 above) is unique to your show. Everything after the prefix is your original, unchanged audio URL.

3Where to paste it

You don't edit each episode by hand. Almost every podcast host has a single prefix field — sometimes labeled "analytics prefix", "tracking prefix", or "third-party prefix" — that automatically prepends your prefix to every episode's audio URL, current and future.

Look for it in your host's show or distribution settings, paste the full prefix (ending in the trailing slash), and save. Your feed does the rest.

Field names and menu locations vary by host, so check your host's help docs for their exact wording if you can't spot it. If your host has no prefix field, you can still add the prefix in front of each episode's audio URL manually.

4When numbers appear

Once the prefix is live, real numbers start flowing in as soon as apps and listeners request your episodes. Expect your first accurate figures to appear within about a day of the first download.

Downloads and country data show up in the Primecast app's read-only analytics for your show — nothing to configure on your phone, it just fills in.