Spotify Makes a Strong Statement on Joe Rogan, Who Nearly Cost Them $2 Billion in 2022: “We Look at Joe and It’s Hard to Find…”

Joe Rogan is the undisputed king of the podcasting realm. He has amassed a total of 2.2 billion views and a whopping 12.8 million subscribers on his podcast. The journey was not all smooth, though. There were times when he faced public outrage, too. In a recent interview, Spotify advertising chief Dawn Ostroff talked about Rogan, Meghan Markle, and the future of podcasts on Spotify.

She was all praise for Rogan and accepted that he was in a league of his own. There were no close competitors. She also disclosed how Spotify had to face the burn of the outrage against Joe Rogan during the COVID-19 misinformation and the ‘N-word’ controversies.

The Joe Rogan Experience first came out in 2009. By 2015, it was the most successful podcast. Following the consistent success, Spotify reached out to Rogan, and a deal was reached in 2020. It gave the exclusive rights to the show to Spotify. The deal was initially reported to be $100 Million but the real numbers that later emerged looked more like $200 Million.

Spotify knows Joe Rogan and his worth

Talking to Variety magazine, Spotify’s Chief of Content and advertising Dawn Ostroff addressed a range of questions. Talking about Rogan, she said, “We look at Joe and it’s hard to find anyone who comes close… There’s Joe Rogan, then there’s a really big cliff — and then everyone else.” Spotify has looked to completely take over the podcast market both in terms of quality and quantity. JRE currently sits on top of the podcast ranking list of Spotify.

The list has Meghan Markle’s “Archetypes“, “Batman Unburied” Kim Kardashian’s “The System: The case of Kevin Kieth” and “case 63“. Despite a number of news shows lined up, Spotify knows the difference between Rogan and the other podcasters.

Rogan cost Spotify $2 billion

Rogan and Spotify faced severe backlash earlier this year. The UFC color commentator was accused of spreading misinformation about COVID-19 after he expressed his views about what he thought about vaccination. His anti-vax comments were not received well, and singers and songwriters started taking their songs off the streaming platform. It resulted in a drop in Spotify’s share values, but the situation soon got better.

Read More: Revealed: The Crazy Amount Spotify Has Lost Over the Joe Rogan Saga

Spotify’s CEO, Daniel Ek, had said that personally he doesn’t agree with Rogan‘s views, but everybody was going to have different ideas and opinions about things and that should not tick others off. It is reported that Spotify lost $2 billion due to the controversy but stuck with Rogan.

Who is your favorite podcaster? is podcasting the future of infotainment? Lets us know your views.

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