$200M Deal for Joe Rogan Turning Too Costly? Spotify’s Podcast Biz Still Operates at a Loss as ‘JRE’ Tops 2023 Charts Yet Again

Joe Rogan and his Spotify deal is soon coming to an end. The exclusive Spotify deal is to end sometime in 2024. With that, Rogan may part ways with the platform unless they plan on renewing the deal. So, has the $200 million investment been worth it?

So does Rogan have a plan for everything? Perhaps it’s not him who needs a plan. With a massive fanbase and an ever-growing listener-ship, Joe Rogan could potentially transfer over to a different platform. For Spotify, perhaps the decision is a bit more sensitive.

Will Spotify continue it with Joe Rogan?

Statistics are out and Spotify has already issued statements about how they’ll be dealing with the podcasts on their platform. CEO Daniel Ek had previously spoken out about how they’ll be handling this whole podcast situation. The number 1 podcast is currently The Joe Rogan Experience, and after 2024, we won’t know if it’ll stay.

Spotify invested about a billion dollars to erect an empire of podcasts. Most of them have now crumbled, leading to losses of over $200 million over the last two years. “We’re going to be very diligent in how we invest in future [podcast] content deals,” Ek told analysts regarding their future moves. Will it be in their best interest to let Rogan go? The podcaster has become known for inviting controversial guests and bringing up controversial topics.

One of his episodes became infamous for discussing vaccines and landed Rogan and Spotify in a bit of a tough spot. Moreover, demographics for Joe Rogan’s podcast are rather unidimensional if data is to be believed.

Data showed that of Rogan’s regular listeners, 81% were men and more than half of them were in the age group of 18-34. Still, Rogan’s podcast has rarely seen any rank other than top three in the recent years. It’s clear that the sheer number of listeners Rogan brings in must be valuable.

How much competition does Rogan face?

On the platform alone, Rogan has some competitors. Currently, his podcast goes toe-to-toe with “Call Her Daddy” with Alex Cooper. Another interview based podcast with a demographic completely opposite to Rogan’s. Cooper’s listeners are mostly women as opposed to Rogan’s. So the two act like the Earth and the sky.

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Either way, it’s not that a certain kind of demographic is good or bad for the company. Numbers are sheerly numbers. For Rogan, the biggest and most important number may be $200 million which is how much it cost Spotify to have him. Now, will he part ways and do something by himself? Who knows? We’ll have to wait to find out.

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