Why Spotify made Joe Rogan the world’s highest-paid podcaster: comedian and UFC commentator is already stirring up controversy
- Rogan, who has interviewed the likes of Elon Musk and Robert Downey Jnr on his podcast, could make up to US$100 million in new deal with Spotify
- In the past week, he has been accused of making transphobic comments and spreading misinformation about the Oregon wildfires
Joe Rogan’s wildly popular podcast, “The Joe Rogan Experience”, is now available on Spotify – and it’s already facing controversy in its first few weeks on the music streaming platform.
In the past week, Rogan has been accused of making transphobic comments and spreading misinformation about the wildfires in the US state of Oregon on his podcast.
Spotify announced in May that Rogan’s podcast would be available on the platform starting September 1 and that it would become exclusive to Spotify later in 2020.
The multi-year licensing agreement could be worth upwards of US$100 million based on the podcast’s performance metrics and other factors, a source told The Wall Street Journal when the deal was announced.
“The Joe Rogan Experience” is downloaded almost 200 million times per month and brought in US$30 million last year, making the comedian and UFC commentator the highest-paid podcaster of 2019, according to Forbes.
Rogan’s podcast guests have included Tesla CEO Elon Musk, Senator Bernie Sanders, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, actor Robert Downey Jnr, and right-wing conspiracy theorist Alex Jones.