![]() In May 2020, Spotify wooed him with an offer he couldn’t refuse.Īfter the deal was made official, Rogan had a message on his show for fans who might fear more corporate control: “It will be the exact same show. Rogan’s show was one of the biggest success stories in podcasting, but for years it was not available on Spotify. Left-leaning watchdog group Media Matters for America has documented more than 20 instances of what it characterizes as COVID-19 misinformation, bigotry and anti-trans language on Rogan’s show - in 2021 alone. But he also has some libertarian views and expressed skepticism about vaccines, suggesting that “healthy” young people, for example, do not need to get vaccinated for COVID-19, contrary to what scientists and health officials were urging. He supported Bernie Sanders for president and stumps for universal health care. Rogan is no standard, one-sided media talking head. Or they could be inflammatory, as when Rogan hosted conspiracy theorist Alex Jones - who has spread bogus theories that the 2012 killing of 20 children and six educators at an elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut, was a hoax - despite Jones being barred from Spotify for violating its prohibition on hate speech two years prior. The results could be wildly entertaining, as when Rogan smoked marijuana with Elon Musk, the billionaire founder of Tesla, in 2018. Since the show’s debut in 2009, Rogan, a mixed martial arts enthusiast and comedian, had made himself into a podcasting heavyweight, landing an eclectic range of guests and engaging them in freewheeling, uncensored conversations. There was one podcast that executives felt could accelerate Spotify’s growth at the pace the company wanted: “The Joe Rogan Experience.” Ultimately, the goal was to provide a pathway for different kinds of content to make its way onto the platform, as the company made clear when it announced that “audio - not just music - would be the future of Spotify.” Courting Joe Rogan This week, Spotify expanded its portfolio of podcast tools by acquiring two more companies, Podsights and Chartable. And with the company’s later acquisitions of startups such as Megaphone and Whooshkaa, Spotify could provide better tools for both the many podcasters who work with Spotify and the marketers who purchase ads on the platform. With podcasts, Spotify could be more in charge of its own destiny, and could pocket more of the advertising and subscription fees it relies on. (Earlier this month, he was named CEO of Peloton.) Ted Sarandos, co-CEO of Netflix, is also on the board. Barry McCarthy, a former top executive at Netflix, was Spotify’s chief financial officer until early 2020 and is now on its board. ![]() The strategy had seemed to be working for Netflix, which produced its first original show in 2012 as a way to differentiate itself from other streaming services. “The overarching issue is how do you make your customer proposition distinct.” “All music streaming services are offering the same plain vanilla ice cream at the same price,” said Will Page, Spotify’s former top economist, who was not involved in the Rogan deal but is a frequent commentator on the digital media business. With Spotify Originals, the company would also create buzzy new programs in partnership with creators such as DuVernay’s Array and Higher Ground, the production company of former President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama.ĭeveloping a portfolio of podcasts unique to Spotify - as Netflix had built a walled garden for video - was a key aim, according to several employees involved in the strategy discussions. Spotify would buy audio studios, such as Gimlet, and acquire exclusive rights to existing shows. To make Spotify a player in podcasting, Ek and his deputies, including Dawn Ostroff, a former television and magazine publishing executive, and Courtney Holt, formerly of Maker Studios, an online video network, set out on a multipart strategy. By 2018, the year Spotify listed its shares on the New York Stock Exchange, it was forming plans to pursue Rogan, hoping to supercharge its market position in nonmusic audio and to chip away at the dominance of Apple and Google’s YouTube. The company dipped its toe into video around 2015, but little came of it. For Spotify, the move into podcasting is the culmination of years of strategy to find a business that is more profitable than hosting music, for which it must pay about two-thirds of every dollar to rights holders.
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