Streaming service Spotify has reportedly formed a new deal with world-renowned podcaster Joe Rogan estimated to be worth up to $250 million. The multiyear partnership deal will apparently allow Rogan to reach a broader audience through expanded attention to distribution.
The deal is said to include an upfront minimum guarantee in addition to an agreement to share revenue based on sales generated from advertisements.
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. @joerogan – the Wrapped top podcaster four years in a row – has just announced a new multiyear partnership with Spotify. The Joe Rogan Experience debuted in 2009, has been a Spotify exclusive since 2020, and we’re just getting started. pic.twitter.com/mahgHAQy28
— Spotify (@Spotify) February 2, 2024
Spotify will sell ad space for the “Joe Rogan Experience” (JRE) across multiple podcasting platforms including YouTube, as opposed to the previous deal in which Spotify held exclusive uploading rights over JRE.
“Cool conversations are a kind of mental nourishment,” Rogan said about his show in a Spotify blog post announcement. Such content, in his mind, “encourages people to have similar conversations with their friends, and it just generally makes life more interesting.”
“JRE remains podcasting’s king,” Spotify wrote, “consistently ranking as the most-listened-to podcast globally and our users have ranked the show as Spotify’s Wrapped top podcast each year since 2020.”
They added that Joe put together a “green room” music playlist to celebrate the partnership update. “When we set up the Comedy Mothership, we installed a killer sound system in the green room and whenever someone introduces me to something cool it makes it on the list,” Joe explained, adding that it is partially inspired by comedian Dave Chappelle.
Spotify stock experienced a roughly 2 percent bump following the announcement.
This development is part of a broader trend in Spotify’s strategy: it is currently reworking its deals with a number of shows to now grant them the right to distribute their content more widely. The tech giant hopes to see greater returns through audience maximization and ad sales by revoking its previous exclusivity stipulations.
Spotify decided to spend $100 million to acquire JRE in 2020 as a way to rapidly scale its podcast portfolio. The first deal featured an agreement to pay Joe based on audience metrics, which is poised to earn him between $180 and $220 million when it ends this year.
In November of 2023, there were rumors that Rogan was set to break away from Spotify amid its various cost-cutting schemes and other disagreements. Many believed that Rogan and Spotify would part ways due to the Stockholm-based company suffering over $1 billion in losses on various celebrity podcast deals. There was also speculation that Rogan might join with Elon Musk’s X, as the platform had recently acquired Tucker Carlson’s show.
Shane Devine is a writer covering politics, economics, and culture for Valuetainment. Follow Shane on X (Twitter).
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