Less than a week after SiriusXM acquired SmartLess media and podcasts from Amazon for a reported $100 million multiyear deal, Spotify has trumped them with a bigger deal of their own, to hold onto The Joe Rogan Experience.
Rogan, and his podcast, have been exclusive to Spotify since 2020, with the contract due to expire this year. I had speculated that SiriusXM had made a play for what is generally regarded as being the highest rating US podcast, with around 11 million listeners per episode. This new multiyear deal, rumoured to be worth as much as $250 million, now allows Rogan, alongside additional revenue options, to share the podcast to additional platforms.
What does this mean for Australian listeners and podcast followers?
While Rogan is currently No 1 on the Spotify Australian podcast charts and globally for the platform in 2023, as Spotify continues to resist being a part of Triton Podcast Rankers here and in the US, I can find no sense of just how many Australians are tuning in and downloading each month. If the podcast becomes accessible via additional sales representation with LiSTNR or iHeart for example, we might just start to see those statistics.
We are a small fish in a global podcast fishbowl, but lead the world in digital audio listening per capita. With greater transparency on those numbers, alongside this deal, it may entice new marketing and sponsorship collaborations.
Recently Spotify cut 1500 staff, 17.5% of total staff to get back to its startup roots according to CNN, https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.cnn.com/cnn/2023/12/04/tech/spotify-layoffs-third-round/index.html .
If it is about cost cutting, why were these staff recruited in the first place? Spotify didn’t fall to pieces with reduced staff numbers.
If it is about cost cutting, how is it that Spotify were prepared to pay US$250 million for one person?
Lesson: You must have unique talents that command a premium. Don’t be a sausage machine-skilled person.
Thank you
Anthony, from critical Strathfield South, in 5he land of the Wangal and Darug Peoples of the Eora Nation.