Report: Joe Rogan's Spotify Deal Worth Much More

Spotify's massive contract for Joe Rogan is reportedly worth upwards of $200 million, double what the deal was previously thought to be worth, the NY Times reported Thursday. Rogan's contract covers 3.5 years of exclusivity on his podcasts for the streaming giant.

The Times story tracks Spotify's quest to become a podcast behemoth, which has included the acquisition of several major podcasting companies, and has only been aided by "The Joe Rogan Experience," which the company said has been its biggest podcast in more than 90 countries. But the show has been riddled with problematic themes and accused of spreading misinformation, including on the COVID-19 vaccine.

Spotify came under fire in recent weeks for not moderating Rogan's podcast. Major artists Neil Young and Joni Mitchell left the audio service in protest while #DeleteSpotify trended on social media platforms, but CEO Daniel Ek said in a blog post that the company isn't interested in being a "content censor."

Spotify was already the king of music streaming. But to help propel the company into its next phase as an all-purpose audio juggernaut, and further challenge Apple and Google, it wanted a superstar podcaster, much as Howard Stern helped put satellite radio on the map in 2006, according to The Times. Spotify executives came to view Joe Rogan — a comedian and sports commentator whose no-holds-barred podcast, “The Joe Rogan Experience,” was already a monster hit on YouTube — as that transformative star.

In May 2020, after an intense courtship, Spotify announced a licensing agreement to host Mr. Rogan’s show exclusively. Although reported then to be worth more than $100 million, the true value of the deal that was negotiated at the time, which covered three and a half years, was at least $200 million, with the possibility of more, according to two people familiar with the details of the transaction who spoke anonymously because they were not authorized to discuss it.