To offer paid subscriptions on Apple Podcasts, Apple requires every account owner to declare a Trader Status. This is a one-time declaration required by the EU Digital Services Act (DSA) and applies to anyone selling to listeners in the EU — even if you're based elsewhere.
- Trader — you offer subscriptions as a business or commercial activity.
- Non-trader — you're an individual or hobbyist, not acting commercially.
Most individual creators declare non-trader. Apple (not Disctopia) controls how this is worded and used.
Why you're seeing this
If Disctopia shows a "Declare your Apple Trader Status" banner in My Library, it means Apple rejected a premium (subscriber-only) episode delivery with:
"Owner has not declared trader status"
Until you make the declaration in Apple Podcasts Connect, Apple blocks your subscriber-only episodes from going live — the audio reaches Apple but can't be attached to the episode. Your free RSS episodes are unaffected.
⚠️ This is an Apple account setting, not a Disctopia one. Your Disctopia account type (Individual / Business) is separate and does not satisfy Apple's requirement.
How to declare it
- Go to Apple Podcasts Connect and sign in with your Apple account.
- Accept the Business agreement first. Open the Business tab and accept the agreement there. The Trader Status prompt will not appear until you've done this — this is the step most people miss.
- A Trader Status notification then appears on your account. Open it.
- Choose Trader or Non-trader and confirm. (Individual creators are usually non-trader.)
- Save.
💡 If you don't see the Trader Status notification, it's almost always because the Business agreement in step 2 hasn't been accepted yet.
After you declare
- Return to Disctopia → My Library.
- Open your subscriber-only episode and Save it again to re-deliver to Apple.
- The Trader Status banner clears once the delivery succeeds, and the episode goes live for subscribers.