Joe Rogan’s podcast is going to air exclusively on Spotify starting in 2021, the host announced today, in a deal reportedly worth over $100 million. One of the most successful podcasts in the world, it’s a high profile acquisition for Spotify and its podcasting division, reminiscent of when Howard Stern left terrestrial radio for Sirius in 2005. Rogan’s show will premiere on Spotify on September 1, and continue to be available there and through other traditional outlets through the end of the year, at which point it will exclusively be available through Spotify. That includes video, too—some clips will still be posted to YouTube, but the full shows will only be found through Spotify.
If you’re a listener to The Joe Rogan Experience, that means you’ll have to subscribe to Spotify to keep hearing it. If you’re a Spotify subscriber, that means your monthly fee will partially support a show that helps disseminate conspiracy theories, has hosted Sandy Hook truther and all-around conspiracist Alex Jones of Infowars on two episodes, and whose host has made transphobic remarks in the past.
If you only remember Joe Rogan as the Tony Danza-like guy from Newsradio, or the host who made people eat bugs on Fear Factor, and have no idea how he somehow has a sizable influence upon the national conversation decades later, don’t worry—we’re right there with you. If you went back to 1996 and asked us to pick one Newsradio cast member who’d have a podcast with millions and millions of listeners in 2020, first off we’d need you to explain what a “podcast” was, and then we would’ve picked Phil Hartman, Dave Foley, or Andy Dick, in that order. It’s a good thing we don’t gamble when it comes to entertainment mediums that don’t exist yet.
Here’s Rogan’s announcement about the deal from Instagram. Again, it starts in September, with his shows making their Spotify debut, and then the exclusivity window kicks in at the end of the year—in case you’re wondering when you need to sign up or cancel your subscription.
Announcement: the podcast is moving to @spotify! Starting on September 1 the podcast will be available on Spotify as well as all platforms, and then at the end of the year it will move exclusively to Spotify, including the video version. It will remain FREE, and it will be the exact same show. It’s just a licensing deal, so Spotify won’t have any creative control over the show. They want me to just continue doing it the way I’m doing it right now. We will still have clips up on YouTube but full versions of the show will only be on Spotify after the end of the year. I’m excited to have the support of the largest audio platform in the world and I hope you folks are there when we make the switch!
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