Earlier this year, reports surfaced that the contract between Spotify and Joe Rogan was set to expire in 2023. The company denied those reports. New details claim the contract expires next year.
According to a report from The Verge, the licensing deal between the digital audio company and The Joe Rogan Experience ends in 2024, and neither side has agreed to an extension.
The report featured a quote from Arete Research founder Richard Kramer, who said Spotify is in a difficult position with the often controversial host.
“It’s a situation where you are damned if you do, and you are damned if you don’t,” Kramer said. “If you do keep him, Spotify will be locked into paying Rogan as much or more than before, at a time when they need to contain costs. If you don’t keep him, then it’s really tough because your biggest property and source of sales within the ad business — walks.”
One could infer that Rogan has tested the waters of what his podcast reach would be outside of his Spotify partnership. Last week, Rogan published a podcast episode to X, formerly Twitter, that featured an interview with the platform’s owner, Elon Musk. As of publication, the video has garnered 33 million views according to X’s publicly available metrics.
It was widely reported in 2020 that Rogan and Spotify had agreed to a three-year deal valued at $200 million.
