Spotify’s Bet on The Joe Rogan Experience Exposes Rift in Audio Strategy
Add podcasting to the long list of complaints musicians have about the streaming platform, which has pursued the medium in its quest to become profitable.
Rogan
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Spotify Chief Executive Officer Daniel Ek signed a more than $100 million deal with Joe Rogan in 2020, presumably because he didn’t want to have to worry so much about the music business. Spotify Technology SA has struggled to turn a profit after paying royalties to rights holders—even though the rates musicians take home from each stream are low enough to cause perennial anger. With podcasters, the company could sidestep all that, diversifying into an emerging media market. What better place to start than with Rogan, who hosts the most popular podcast in the world?
Wall Street got right on board. Spotify’s stock spiked almost 20% the week it announced the deal, which gave it exclusive access to his hit show, The Joe Rogan Experience. But if the economics of podcasting has the potential to be superior to that of the music business, the medium also comes with its own set of challenges, as the recent flap over Rogan’s show has demonstrated.