Spotify Newsletter #170

Your Weekly Dose of Spotify News

Jul 14

Hello! Thanks for tuning in for the latest issue of the Spotify Newsletter. I hope everyone is having a delightful summer.

The good folks over at MIDiA posted a new poll where they asked readers to predict the future of Joe Rogan’s Spotify contract.

Neil Young chimed in and asked that Rogan be blasted into space. Too bad I can’t stream ‘After the Gold Rush’ on Spotify. Keep up the fight, Neil!

Anyway …. back in 2020 Rogan signed to Spotify for reportedly over $200 million. Big bucks. But big ROI for Spotify as Rogan helped the Swedish streamer lead their charge into audio.

Rogan is popular. Extremely popular. He’s also controversial for some folks - even though the easily-offended have always had the freedom to just … not listen. But Rogan is too alluring a personality for the media hell-raisers to ignore, so they’ll continue to draw swords when the time and topic is right.

MIDiA notes that his podcast ‘consistently tops Spotify’s charts and is estimated to garner over 11 million listeners per episode.’

We’re getting close to a pivotal moment for Spotify World as Rogan’s contract is reportedly up at the end of 2023.

Will he stay? Will he go?

MIDiA reviews the poll outcome and spotlights a variety of options facing both Rogan and Spotify. They also offer their own prediction.

Personally: I think he stays. Spotify has handled the various conniptions drummed up in the media pretty darn well. They formed the Safety Advisory Council, for goodness sakes, and even removed many of Rogan’s episodes - which I don’t agree with, but I’m not in charge.

I don’t see Spotify wanting to hang the ‘We Relocated!’ sign over Rogan’s show. The audience is too big, the eyeballs and ears too valuable. A lesser company would have booted him already to stave off cancel culture pressure and assorted nonsense.

Kudos to them for seeking a balance.

Rogan might figure even with the occasional hoopla he has it pretty darn good. Yes, he could jump to another platform, but Spotify provides a nice place to hang your podcast hat — along with enough money to buy many hats.

They sign an extension. The usual suspects freak out for a day, maybe two. Twitter overheats with the smart, level-headed commentary you expect to find on social media.

Then it’s forgotten and we’re all on to the Next Big (but not really that big) Thing.

Rogan and Spotify continue down the yellow brick road.

★In the SPOTlight★

⭐️ Listeners Can Now Blend With Their Favorite Creators on Spotify

We’re expanding the Blend family to give listeners the ability to connect with their favorite creators through their own personalized playlists.

⭐️ Calm is bringing sleep, meditation and relaxation shows to Spotify

Calm is making a play for some of your time spent listening to songs and podcasts. The popular meditation app is teaming up with Spotify to offer content via the streaming service. Select Calm meditations will be available alongside existing podcasts on Spotify — no additional app required. The partnership is part of Spotify Open Access, an initiative started in 2021 that allows companies to offer their paid content on Spotify at different subscriber tiers.

⭐️ Spotify’s Mikaela Lancaster Talks ‘Significant Impact of Streaming to the Music Economy’

The borderless streaming business provided a glimmer of joy for Australia’s music community in 2022, a time when travel was spotty and full-scale international touring was more hopeful than a reality. That’s one of the takeaways from Spotify’s Loud & Clear report.

⭐️ Spotify invites mayhem

Dr. Teeth, Animal and the rest of The Muppets' ever-cool house band invade the hallowed offices of Spotify to promote their new single.

⭐️ Spotify launches ad analytics platform

Spotify Ad Analytics centralises first-party measurement solutions, Spotify Brand Lift, and online attribution and conversion lift reporting (powered by Spotify pixel) in one dashboard, providing metrics including recall, awareness, consideration, and conversion.