Over the past couple of years, Spotify has demonstrating a long-term commitment to the podcasting format by shelling out money hand over fist. The music streaming service has made a number of high profile acquisitions, including production company Gimlet and editing tool Anchor, but today’s news may well be the biggest of all.
The company has signed The Joe Rogan Experience to an exclusive multi-year licensing deal. Rogan is arguably the biggest and most influential voice in the medium. The show, which has dominating Apple’s podcasting charts and YouTube views, will hit Spotify September 1, and become a platform exclusive in the following months.
In an audio message attached the the release, Rogan noted that, “It will be the exact same show. I will not be an employee of Spotify.” It’s a key point, not just in order to ease the minds of a rabid fanbase, but because the left has often been critical of Rogan’s show and message. The program has often featured right-wing voices, including members of the so-called Intellectual Dark Web, Proud Boy founder Gavin McInnes and de-platformed conspiracy trafficker, Alex Jones.
Other high profile guests include Elon Musk, who recently made another appearance on the program and Senator Bernie Sanders. Sanders’ campaign came under criticism from the DNC establishment after promoting Rogan’s offhanded nomination for president. At the time, the Human Rights Campaign said Sanders “must reconsider” the endorsement, stating that Rogan has “attacked transgender people, gay men, women, people of color and countless marginalized groups at every opportunity.”
While the show has long been hosted on a variety of audio and video platforms, Spotify could well come under fire from similar groups from similar groups. Rogan has described himself as not belonging to any political party and holding largely libertarian views.
