Restricted content access allows publishers to distribute certain clips and playlists to authorized members only, using a secure URL. This may also be known as "private feeds" or "secure feeds" in other podcast systems.
Restricted content access is available as an optional add-on in Omny Studio that gives you the ability to provide your "restricted members" with exclusive content, an ad-free version of a public feed and/or additional restricted content in a public feed.
This video explains four popular ways that you can use this feature to securely distribute your audio content:
"Restricted" visibility
By default, Omny Studio has three visibility options:
Public: The clip or playlist is accessed with an omny.fm link (will appear in the show listing and will be indexed by search engines), can be embedded, can be downloaded directly, and will appear in RSS feeds if clip is added to a playlist.
Unlisted: The clip or playlist is not publicly viewable (and should not be indexed by search engines), can be embedded, can be downloaded directly, and will appear in RSS feeds if an unlisted clip is added to a playlist.
Private: The clip and playlist is not publicly visible or accessible.
When restricted content access is activated for an account, a fourth visibilty option is made available:
Restricted: Only authorized members with a valid access token URL will be able to access restricted clips and playlists.
The "Restricted" publishing visibility on clips and playlists allows you to hide the content to the public but allow access for your authorized members.
Restricted clips can also be added to public and unlisted playlists, and will only be visible to listeners who access the playlist through the access URLs corresponding to their member ID as described below.
Restricted members
Restricted members can be created in the Omny Studio UI or using the Management API. Each member is assigned a unique ID and member key to grant access to restricted content or ad-free access.
You can create restricted members individually using the "Create new member" button in Program Settings > Restricted content access, or you can batch create several using the dropdown option "Create multiple members".
Due to privacy reasons, Omny Studio does not store any personally identifiable information about restricted members. You can generate a new restricted member for each listener that you would like to grant access and correlate them using the member ID.
You can export a list of members using the "Export members list (CSV)" dropdown option. You can then enrich your own spreadsheet of members with additional information like name and email address.
Sharing a restricted RSS feed with a member
1) To share a restricted RSS feed, you can first head to the member management screen under Program settings > Restricted content access and click 'View access URLs'
2) This will open the URLs for which you can share with the member to give them access. Here you can select from all of the playlists in the program. Remember, members are granted ad-free access to public feeds by default if you're using dynamic ad insertion. Lean how to disable ad-free access for members here.
3) From here, you can either share the member RSS URL directly, share the subscribe page URL or click the 'generate an email' link to automatically create an email with the member's subscribe page URL filled out.
n.b. the easiest option for the listener is with the subscribe page URL as it includes deep-links to the apps which support access to a restricted RSS feeds. This means the listener can open their own personal feed by clicking or tapping one of the links below:
Please note that users must have the selected app installed on their device for the deep-link to work.
Security
Omny Studio's restricted content access system is designed to be secure and uses randomized tokens, signing keys and cryptographic hashing to ensure authorized members can only access the content that has been shared with them.
In the event of a leak, member keys and programmatic signing keys can be revoked and reset so all previously shared secure URLs with access tokens become invalid and the restricted content remains secure.
To revoke a member's access, you can either reset their token, pause their access or delete the member under Program settings > Restricted content access:
Ad-free access toggle
By default, members will be granted ad-free access to any playlist within a program they access with their special URL.
However, you can keep ad-insertion on for your members by opening your playlist, and going to Details > Advanced settings, then changing this setting:
Integrating restricted content with an existing membership database
Learn how you can programmatically generate access tokens to grant your authorized subscribers and users access to restricted content.