Rogan signed a licensing deal with Spotify to give exclusivity to the audio-hosting site by the end of 2020
The sports entertainer, martial artist, and comedian turned podcaster Joe Rogan signed a licensing deal with Spotify this week and will start providing full episodes of his interview show to Spotify on September 1 of this year.
Joe Rogan currently hosts one of the most popular podcasts in the world with 8.43 million subscribers on YouTube; his most recent interview with skateboard legend Tony Hawk (at the time I’m writing this) has already climbed to 1.4 million views within 24 hours.
Rogan announced this licensing deal on his Instagram two days ago assuring his viewers that the show is not going to change.
“Starting on September 1 the podcast will be available on Spotify as well as all platforms, and then at the end of the year it will move exclusively to Spotify, including the video version. It will remain FREE, and it will be the exact same show. It’s just a licensing deal, so Spotify won’t have any creative control over the show. They want me to just continue doing it the way I’m doing it right now.”
Rogan did not disclose any details of the business deal but said there will still be clips of his interviews on his YouTube channel. By the end of this year, the show will be exclusive to Spotify.
According to the Wall Street Journal, the deal is worth “more than $100 million.”
Rogan has built a massive online following through his talk show interviewing some high-profile people from United States Senator Bernie Sanders (whom Rogan endorsed for President earlier in the 2020 elections) to whistle-blower Edward Snowden to actor Robert Downey Jr. Each of his interviews run over an hour long and are always unedited – no cuts in the conversation, no commercial breaks, just people talking and having a good time. The show consistently ranks at the top of podcast charts such as Apple Podcasts alongside other news shows. Exclusivity with Spotify is sure to boost the audio site’s own statistics.
Spotify CEO Daniel Ek has stated publicly that the company will continue to invest in the podcasting sector of the market to further increase growth opportunities. Apparently, most of the company’s revenue from its music service is paid back to music labels for licensing.
