Controversial podcast host Joe Rogan signs new multi-year deal with Spotify

Spotify has penned a new multi-year partnership deal with controversial podcast host Joe Rogan, whose enormously popular show will soon also be available on competing platforms, including YouTube and Apple Podcasts.

Spotify announced the renewed partnership in a post on the company’s corporate blog on Friday.

Under a prior multimillion-dollar deal, The Joe Rogan Experience had been a Spotify exclusive since 2020.

The Wall Street Journal, which first reported the new deal, estimated that the new contract was worth as much as 250 million dollars (£198 million) over its multi-year term, citing unnamed people familiar with the matter.

The pact involves an upfront minimum guarantee, in addition to a revenue-sharing agreement based on ad sales, the newspaper reported.

In an email to The Associated Press on Saturday, Spotify declined to comment on the deal’s financial details, including the estimated value.

Over the years, Rogan has developed a huge audience who listen to his long, wide-ranging interviews with a variety of guests, including comedians, athletes, scientists and conspiracy theorists.

“There’s no script of what we’re going to talk about, and it all just sort of happens in real time,” said Rogan on Spotify’s blog post.

“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. These conversations have changed the way I think about life immeasurably and continue to do so.”

The show is consistently Spotify’s most popular podcast but also a frequent cause of controversy for the company.

Most notably, Spotify came under huge pressure in 2022 to drop Rogan over his anti-coronavirus vaccine comments and use of racial slurs, with some musicians, including Neil Young, pulling their music from the platform in protest.

In February 2022, Spotify chief executive Daniel Ek denounced the host’s racist language but said: “I do not believe that silencing Joe is the answer.”

Spotify’s shares closed up 3.51 dollars, or nearly 2%, at 222.47 dollars per share on Friday.