Spotify paid over $100 million to exclusively license the Joe Rogan Experience, a move that caused the platform’s market cap to almost instantly spike by $1bn. Rogan’s podcast has now appeared on the platform – with “dozens” of the more controversial shows absent.
At the time of the deal, Rogan was pleased by Spotify’s hands-off approach, saying, “they want me to just continue doing it the way I’m doing it right now,” and while there’s no suggestion that Spotify have changed their tune in that regard, someone has apparently been selective when transitioning the huge archive of shows.
With such value hanging on the investment, perhaps one party – it’s not clear if Rogan, Spotify, or someone else intervened – felt that interviews with conspiracy theorists, far-right figures, and, erm, Tommy Chong, might be a distraction as Spotify unveil their podcast centrepiece.
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