Spotify Might Benefit From That Joe Rogan Deal More Than You’d Think

Podcaster Joe Rogan was already getting rich from his widely popular program, “The Joe Rogan Experience,” before inking a new agreement with Spotify worth as much as a quarter of a billion dollars.

And not only will he be getting paid directly by Spotify, but his contract is no longer exclusive … meaning he can also make money from other platforms.

What was Spotify thinking?

On its surface, this deal seems to overwhelmingly benefit Rogan. To be clear, he does come out of it with some major perks.

But if you dig a little deeper, it starts to become clear why Spotify would agree to the terms. It all stems from the fact that the company is in the process of adapting its broader content strategy.

As evidenced by Rogan’s previous deal (and Spotify’s effort to buy up smaller podcasting apps to turn their programming into Spotify-only content), the platform has prioritized exclusivity for some time now. But it didn’t really pan out the way Spotify bosses hoped.

In fact, certain programs lost up to 75% of their respective audiences when they were revamped as exclusive Spotify shows.

Decision time

Rogan stands out as a gem in the Spotify lineup, attaining the status as its most popular podcast each year since it became an exclusive in 2020. But for every hit, there were plenty of misses.

For example, Harry and Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, reportedly earned a cool $20 million+ for producing just a dozen moderately successful podcast episodes.

So Spotify is doubling down on the most profitable aspect of its content: advertising.

“Forcing companies that want to buy ads on the Joe Rogan show to do so through Spotify must be more profitable than forcing his listeners to use their app,” reasoned industry insider Amanda McLoughlin.

Chris Agee February 7th, 2024

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