Spotify on Thursday said it renewed its deal with Joe Rogan, who leads the audio company’s most popular podcast, “The Joe Rogan Experience.”
The podcast, which has 18 million followers on Spotify, has been the company’s top podcast since 2020. The terms of the multiyear licensing deal were not disclosed. The Wall Street Journal, citing unnamed sources, reported the deal had an estimated earnout of $250 million.
“The partnership with Spotify has been an amazing fit, and they’re incredible to work with,” Rogan said in a statement. “I’m extremely happy and excited to continue with them for years to come.”
Rogan first entered into an exclusive multiyear podcast deal with Spotify in 2020 in a deal said to be worth $100 million. The partnership was key to driving podcast audiences to Spotify, which at the time was mostly known as a streaming music service.
In 2024, the company extended its partnership for “The Joe Rogan Experience” to be distributed on other platforms, and that will continue in the latest deal. Rogan’s show was ranked as the top podcast last year on Spotify, YouTube and Apple Podcasts.
“Joe has built something incredibly enduring, and his show continues to resonate with a massive global audience because there’s simply nothing else like it,” said Jordan Newman, head of content partnerships at Spotify in a statement.
“The Joe Rogan Experience” has run into controversy, spurring a Spotify boycott in 2022 led by Neil Young over concerns that Rogan and his guests were spreading misinformation related to COVID-19 vaccines. Rogan also received criticism over using the N-word on past episodes of his show, which he later apologized for.
After the backlash, Spotify posted its content moderation rules and said it would add content advisory labels on COVID-related podcasts. Rogan also said he would do a better job of balancing different perspectives.
Young later returned to Spotify in 2024.
