Never Revealed Before: Spotify Reveals The “Podcasting King” And Why People Are Doing An About Face On Boycotts

By Victor Smiroff | Thursday, 28 March 2024 01:50 PM
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Never Revealed Before: Spotify Reveals The “Podcasting King” And Why People Are Doing An About Face On Boycotts

Spotify has finally disclosed the size of the audience of "The Joe Rogan Experience," the most popular podcast on the streaming platform.

The audience size is triple that of the next most-listened-to podcast on the platform.

In February, the Wall Street Journal reported that Rogan had inked a new multiyear agreement with Spotify, estimated to be worth $250 million. The contract, which is a three-year deal as reported by the New York Daily News, includes an upfront minimum guarantee and revenue-sharing based on advertisement sales.

In a press release announcing the new contract, Rogan stated, "I am thrilled to continue my partnership with Spotify. I am grateful for their support and look forward to what the future holds."

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Spotify, in the same press release, hailed Rogan as "podcasting’s king," and noted that "The Joe Rogan Experience" consistently ranks as the most-listened-to podcast globally. The platform's users have ranked the show as Spotify’s top podcast each year since 2020.

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However, until recently, Spotify had not disclosed any actual audience numbers for Rogan's podcast. In February, the streaming service quietly introduced a new feature that revealed the follower count of each podcast. Bloomberg was the first to report on this feature, revealing that "The Joe Rogan Experience" boasts 14.5 million followers. This figure is nearly triple that of the next most popular program, "TED Talks Daily." The third most-followed podcast is "Call Her Daddy," with 3.7 million followers.

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Rogan's new contract also marks the return of his entertainment show to YouTube, where it previously enjoyed significant success. The podcast was removed from YouTube following Rogan's exclusive 2020 deal with Spotify, reportedly worth $100 million. The top three YouTube episodes of "The Joe Rogan Experience" include #1315 – Bob Lazar & Jeremy Corbell (58 million views), #1368 – Edward Snowden (38 million views), and #1470 – Elon Musk (33 million views). Rogan has over 16.4 million followers on YouTube.

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Earlier this month, musicians Neil Young and Joni Mitchell announced they were reinstating their music catalog on Spotify after a boycott targeting Rogan. Young and Mitchell had removed their music from Spotify, accusing the platform of allowing "irresponsible people" to spread misinformation about COVID-19 vaccines. The move was aimed at getting Rogan removed from the platform for continually questioning the official coronavirus narrative.

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Young reversed his protest and returned his music to Spotify. "My decision comes as music services Apple and Amazon have started serving the same disinformation podcast features I opposed at Spotify," Young said this month. He added, "So I have returned to Spotify, in sincere hopes that Spotify sound quality will improve and people will be able to hear and feel all the music as we made it."

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