Selling Podcast Access with Members Memberpress

Want to sell access to your show? With the Members and MemberPress plugins working together, listeners can pay to become Premium Listeners — and only they can view and play your restricted podcasts and episodes. Everyone else sees your custom message with a signup link instead of the player. This tutorial walks through the full setup, step by step: Members creates the Premium Listener role, MemberPress takes the payment and automatically gives paying members that role (and removes it if they cancel), and AiO Podcast Studio restricts your podcasts and episodes to that role.

(Note: the free Members plugin cannot accept payments by itself — payments require MemberPress, a premium plugin made by the same company. Prefer a fully free payment setup? See our Paid Memberships Pro tutorial instead.)

What you’ll need before starting:

• WordPress and AiO Podcast Studio Pro already installed — access restrictions are a Pro feature.
• The free Members plugin (installed in Step 1).
• A MemberPress license and its plugin ZIP file.
• A Stripe or PayPal account to receive payments.

Contents

• Step 1: Install the Plugins
• Step 2: Create the “Premium Listener” Role
• Step 3: Set Up Payments in MemberPress
• Step 4: Create the Paid Membership
• Step 5: Enable Restrictions in AiO Podcast Studio
• Step 6: Restrict Your Podcasts and Episodes
• Step 7: Test the Full Flow
• Good to Know

Step 1: Install the Plugins

1. In your WordPress dashboard, go to Plugins → Add New Plugin, search for Members, then install and activate “Members — Membership & User Role Editor Plugin” by MemberPress.
2. Download the MemberPress plugin ZIP from your memberpress.com account.
3. Go to Plugins → Add New Plugin → Upload Plugin, choose the ZIP file, click Install Now, then Activate.
4. You’ll now see Members and MemberPress menus on the left sidebar.

Step 2: Create the “Premium Listener” Role

1. Go to Members → Add New Role.
2. Name the role Premium Listener.
3. On the General tab, tick Grant next to read — that’s the only permission this role needs.
4. Click Add Role.

(The role doesn’t grant anything by itself — it works purely as an access pass that you’ll connect to a paid membership in Step 4 and to your episodes in Step 6.)

Step 3: Set Up Payments in MemberPress

1. Go to MemberPress → Settings → Payments.
2. Click Add Payment Method and connect Stripe (or PayPal), following the on-screen connection steps.
3. For testing, tick the Test Mode option on the payment method — you’ll switch to live payments after testing in Step 7.
4. Click Update Options to save.

Step 4: Create the Paid Membership

1. Go to MemberPress → Memberships → Add New.
2. Name it Premium Listener and set the price and billing type (one-time or monthly/yearly subscription).
3. Scroll down to Membership Options and open the Advanced tab.
4. Tick User Roles for this Membership.
5. In the box that appears, select Premium Listener.
6. Click Publish.

From now on, when someone pays, MemberPress automatically gives them the Premium Listener role. If their subscription expires or is cancelled, the role is removed automatically — and with it, their podcast access.

Step 5: Enable Restrictions in AiO Podcast Studio

1. Go to Podcasts → Settings and open the Restrictions tab.
2. Tick Enable Restrictions.
3. Write your Restricted Access Message — this is what non-paying visitors will see instead of the player. Include a link to your signup page, e.g., “This episode is for Premium Listeners only. Join now to get access.” (Each MemberPress membership has its own registration page — find the link under MemberPress → Memberships.)
4. Optional: tick Show Restricted Label and enter a label like Premium — it appears next to restricted titles in listings.
5. Click Save Changes.

Step 6: Restrict Your Podcasts and Episodes

1. Edit a podcast or episode.
2. Open the Access Restriction section.
3. Tick Restrict Podcast Access? (or Restrict Episode Access?).
4. Tick Premium Listener as the allowed role.
5. Update the post.

Repeat for every episode you want to sell — restricting a podcast does not automatically restrict its episodes. Tip: leave the trailer unrestricted as a free teaser.

Step 7: Test the Full Flow

1. Open your site in a private/incognito browser window — a restricted episode should show your message with the signup link, and no player.
2. Sign up and pay through the MemberPress registration page. With the payment method still in Test Mode, use Stripe’s test card 4242 4242 4242 4242.
3. While logged in as that new member, open the restricted episode — it should now play.
4. Cancel the test subscription under MemberPress → Subscriptions, then check the episode again — access should be gone.
5. When everything works, turn off Test Mode in the payment settings (Step 3) to start accepting live payments.

(Administrators always have access to restricted content, so never test with your own admin account.)

Good to Know

• Existing users don’t get the role retroactively → MemberPress applies the role to new signups only. Users who paid before you set up the role must be given it manually: go to Users → Edit and tick Premium Listener (with Members active, users can hold multiple roles).
• Ticked roles = allowed → On each episode, everyone without a ticked role — including logged-out visitors — is blocked. If no roles are ticked, any logged-in user has access.
• Multiple tiers → Create more roles in Members (e.g., Gold Listener) and more memberships in MemberPress, each assigning its own role. On top-tier episodes tick only Gold Listener; on mid-tier episodes tick both roles. A user with any one ticked role gets access.
• Use AiO Podcast Studio’s Access Restriction section → Not MemberPress “Rules” or Members “Content Permissions”. Only the plugin’s own restriction protects the player, episode grids, and shortcodes, and shows your custom message and label.

Reference: Restricting Podcast Access · MemberPress User Roles documentation