Spotify has never revealed how many listeners Joe Rogan has on his massively popular podcast – until now. “The Joe Rogan Experience” has a gigantic audience – triple the size of the next most-listened-to podcast on the streaming platform.
In February, the Wall Street Journal reported that Rogan had signed a new multiyear deal with Spotify worth an estimated $250 million. By re-signing with the streaming behemoth, Rogan reportedly received an upfront minimum guarantee and revenue-sharing based on sales of advertisements. The contract is a three-year deal, according to the New York Daily News.
In a press release announcing the new contract, Rogan stated:
Cool conversations are a kind of mental nourishment, and if you’re never around interesting people, and you don’t get to have conversations with people who are exceptional, I think it’s almost a kind of social starvation. I think that’s why so many people like to listen to podcasts — because you can be a fly on the wall and experience the inner workings of the mind of someone way different than anyone you would normally encounter in your life.
Also in the press release regarding Rogan’s new deal, Spotify proclaimed him to be “podcasting’s king,” adding that “The Joe Rogan Experience” is “consistently ranking as the most-listened-to podcast globally and our users have ranked the show as Spotify’s Wrapped top podcast each year since 2020.”
However, Spotify had previously never released any actual audience totals for the prolific podcaster.
In February, Spotify quietly rolled out a new feature that revealed how many followers each of the podcasts on the streaming service have.
Bloomberg was the first to report on the new feature, and revealed that “The Joe Rogan Experience” has 14.5 million followers. The gigantic total is nearly three times more than the next most popular program – “TED Talks Daily.” In third place is the “Call Her Daddy” podcast with 3.7 million followers.
Rogan’s new deal brings his entertainment show back to YouTube, where it previously had massive success. The podcast was yanked from YouTube after Rogan signed his 2020 exclusive deal with Spotify, which is said to be worth $100 million.
The top three YouTube episodes include: “Joe Rogan Experience” #1315 – Bob Lazar & Jeremy Corbell (58 million views), “The Joe Rogan Experience” #1368 – Edward Snowden (38 million views), and “The Joe Rogan Experience” #1470 – Elon Musk (33 million views).
Rogan has more than 16.4 followers on YouTube.
Earlier this month, musicians Neil Young and Joni Mitchell announced they were returning their music catalog to Spotify after a boycott aimed at Rogan.
Young, followed by Mitchell, took their music off Spotify for allowing “irresponsible people” who were “spreading lies that are costing people their lives” regarding COVID-19 vaccines. The shot was aimed at getting Rogan pulled from the platform for continually questioning the official coronavirus narrative.
Young walked back his protest and brought back his music to Spotify.
“My decision comes as music services Apple and Amazon have started serving the same disinformation podcast features I opposed at SPOTIFY,” Young said this month.
“I cannot just leave Apple and Amazon, like I did with Spotify, because my music would have very little streaming outlet to music lovers at all,” he continued. “So I have returned to Spotify, in sincere hopes that Spotify sound quality will improve and people will be able to hear and feel all the music as we made it.”
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Source: TheBlaze
