Spotify Renews Joe Rogan's Podcast Deal Amid Controversies, No Longer Exclusive

Spotify has agreed to a $250 million multiyear deal with controversial podcaster Joe Rogan.

The global streaming giant renewed its agreement with Rogan due to the program's longevity and the platform's podcast usage and revenue development. Joe Rogan gets a minimum guarantee and a portion of ad revenue under the extended arrangement, but his podcast will no longer be exclusive to Spotify, according to TechCrunch.

JRE: The King of Podcasting

Since its exclusive Spotify launch in 2020, Rogan's podcast "Joe Rogan Experience" has been Spotify's most-listened-to, despite public relations issues and artist objections.

"JRE remains podcasting's king, 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," Spotify stated in its blog.

In this photo illustration, "The Joe Rogan Experience" podcast is viewed on Spotify's mobile app on January 31, 2022 in New York City. S

Spotify's movement from exclusive content to podcasts is consistent with this development. After Alex Cooper's "Call Her Daddy" expanded outside Spotify, the choice was made. Spotify hopes these improvements will boost advertising income and solve its economic issues.

Since the podcast's exclusivity on Spotify, the consumption of podcasts has increased by 232%, resulting in an 80% income boost in 2023 compared to 2021, UPI reported. In 2023, the "Joe Rogan Experience" alone increased income by 45%. Numerous sponsors are supporting The Joe Rogan Experience due to its popularity.

Reflecting on his podcasting journey, Joe Rogan acknowledged the evolution of his skills, considering podcasting an art form. He highlighted early challenges in maintaining conversational flow and expressed the importance of genuine interest when selecting guests, steering away from popularity-driven choices.

"I always feel like, in starting this podcast, I stumbled into this fantastic accidental education just by being interested in talking to people and being fortunate enough that people want to listen," Rogan remarked, per Spotify's blog.

Joe Rogan added that he considers himself lucky to be associated with some of the funniest people, giving viewers a respite from daily life. He noted that his podcast's unscripted nature enables real-time interactions.

"It's just an actual organic conversation with people enjoying themselves, which is something we all can relate to and something we all love to do," the podcast host said.

Joe Rogan-Spotify Ties Remain Intact

Spotify remains devoted to the "Joe Rogan Experience" despite the podcast facing controversies. The platform removed 70 episodes of Joe Rogan's podcast that included the N-word in 2022, which Rogan called a political action. In protest over COVID-19 falsehoods on Spotify, Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, Crazy Horse, and Nils Lofgren quietly pulled their songs. Spotify lost billions when Neil Young left.

Famous guests on Joe Rogan's show include Alex Jones and Gavin McInnes, who are known conspiracy theorists.

Over 400 million people listen to podcasts worldwide. Due to their popularity, nearly 2 million independent podcasts generate tens of millions of episodes. According to Forbes, about 80% of Americans over 12 know about podcasts.