(New York) The audio platform Spotify announced on Friday the renewal of its partnership with Joe Rogan’s podcast, at the top of global audiences, the Wall Street Journal putting the deal at $250 million.
Asked by AFP, the Swedish group indicated that “this amount [était] erroneous”, without giving another, and did not specify the exact duration of this new pact, contenting itself with speaking of “several years”.
The first exclusivity contract, signed in May 2020, was evaluated by the Wall Street Journal to 200 million dollars.
The Joe Rogan ExperienceJoe Rogan’s program, finished at the top of the most listened to podcasts in the world on Spotify in 2023, for the fourth year in a row.
Spotify also announced that after four years of exclusivity, this podcast would once again be available on other platforms, including Apple, Amazon and YouTube.
Coming to podcasting very early, in 2009, Joe Rogan has built, over the years, an unrivaled base of followers in this still young universe. He was already a ratings phenomenon even before joining Spotify.
The Joe Rogan Experience is an unbridled show, often more than three hours long, during which the host chats freely with a guest.
An atypical character, both comedian, former kickboxer and taekwondo champion, Joe Rogan also stands out for the variety of his guests, doctors, entrepreneurs, MMA (mixed martial arts) fighters, comedians and mathematicians.
He has regularly been accused of relaying conspiracy theories, particularly around COVID-19 and vaccines.
At the start of 2022, several artists requested that their songs be removed from the platform as a sign of protest, including American-Canadian artist Neil Young and American singer Joni Mitchell.
To try to put out the fire, Spotify added mentions and links guiding users to factual and scientifically sourced information.
A few days later, Joe Rogan was once again accused of using the word “nigger” several times on the air. The host made a public apology.
This series of controversies has in no way affected the podcast’s audience, which is more popular than ever.
The integration of Joe Rogan in 2020 was part of Spotify’s offensive in podcasting, intended to consolidate its place as the world’s leading audio content platform.
According to the group, since 2020, podcast consumption has more than tripled on Spotify (+232%).