Film director Ava DuVernay struck a podcast deal with Spotify last year, but cut ties this month before producing any content for the company.

Around the same time, Brené Brown put episodes of her Spotify-exclusive podcasts on hold. Notable critics including Neil Young and Joni Mitchell accused Spotify of spreading harmful misinformation and pulled their music from the platform. Robert Malone made claims about COVID-19 vaccines on The Joe Rogan Experience that they called 'false and societally harmful assertions.'īy subscribing, you are agreeing to Engadget's Terms and Privacy Policy. The backlash against Rogan and the company ramped up after hundreds of doctors, nurses, scientists and educators sent an open letter to Spotify in January urging the company to take more action against the spread of misinformation. Rogan removed some episodes containing that language from Spotify. Spotify has remained behind Rogan, even after his use of racist language on the show came under the spotlight.

Spotify CEO Daniel Ek reportedly told employees this month that big exclusive deals such as the Rogan one helped make the company as successful as it is. Episodes of The Joe Rogan Experience can garner tens of millions of listeners. Rogan's show is Spotify's most popular podcast in 93 countries, including the US. As the report notes, that's more than Spotify paid to buy major podcast production companies Gimlet Media and The Ringer - each of those deals was worth a little under $200 million. However, in the wake of a firestorm over claims that Rogan was enabling the spread of COVID-19 vaccine misinformation, a new report suggests Spotify is paying much more than that.Īccording to The New York Times, the three-and-a-half year deal is worth at least $200 million, with a possibility of additional payments. Initial reports pegged the value of the deal at around $100 million. As soon as Spotify struck a deal with Joe Rogan in 2020 to become the exclusive distributor of his podcast, The Joe Rogan Experience, it was evident that the company was paying him a pretty penny.

Joe rogan contract spotify