We all know who Joe Rogan is. That stand-up comic dude who is also a mixed martial art fanatic. Yes, the psychedelic adventurer is on the news again. But this time, it has much to do about his podcast. Rogan is the host of The Joe Rogan Experience podcast. His podcast has helped him make a name for himself. A source has revealed that his podcast gets an estimated 200 million downloads each month.
Moreover, this has turned him into the most popular podcaster in the US. That is when Spotify has signed a deal with Rogan. Spotify has signed a US$100 million (A$140 million) deal with Rogan in 2020. The deal included getting exclusive rights to his podcast. And guess what? The industry took notice of it. Before this deal came to be, podcasts were everywhere. And guess what?
The views of the populace rendered it to get “platform agnostic” status. However, this fact was central to their appeal for creators and audiences. Many took the deal as a gamble. But this gamble was based on the numbers. According to music journalist Ted Gioia, “Spotify values Rogan more than any musician in the history of the world”.
A musician would need to generate 23 billion streams on Spotify to earn what they're paying Joe Rogan for his podcast rights (assuming a typical $.00437 payout per stream). In other words, Spotify values Rogan more than any musician in the history of the world. Sound fair to you? pic.twitter.com/zvMdY3mIQA
— Ted Gioia (@tedgioia) May 20, 2020
What is the Reason Behind This?
She claims that any musician requires to generate up to 23 billion streams in Spotify to at least earn what they are paying Rogan. Yes, imagine, Joe Rogan Spotify gets more from his podcast rights than most musicians out there. Spotify has chosen to justify this spectacular outlay. Normally, there is a ton of advertising dollars that one can make in spoken-word audio.
Moreover, they have claimed that podcasting eats up what was once the radio’s domain. Other stellar podcast hosts of Spotify include Barack Obama and Bruce Springsteen as well as Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.
Also read: Top 5 Podcasts For A Good Storytelling Session
Let’s Get into the Obvious, That is “Why is Joe Rogan So Popular?”
You must be thinking what is so important about Joe Rogan that has made him famous right? Well, an analytical study of the podcast has revealed that up to 71% of the listeners are male. Moreover, it is evenly split between high school and post-secondary graduates. Furthermore, 57% of his audience reports earning over $50k per year.
Hence, 19% are making over $100k. That too with an average age of 24. Many sources have started placing gender at the heart of the appeal as well.
The Study Revealed That It Is Because Of How Rogan Understands In America. The Atlantic Has Said, “[Rogan] Understands Men In America Better Than Most People Do. The Rest Of The Country Should Start Paying Attention.”
Before all this came to be, the concept of exclusivity in the podcasting niche was uncommon. In 2001, US hacker Dave Winer had made the RSS feed public. What used to take place is that each podcast episode would drop online to a subscriber in time. So, Winer made the conscious decision of making RSS free and universal.
Moreover, he did it to protect a self-ruling ethos for podcasting. Currently, he is doing the same to the recently created blogs he loved.
Why did Spotify choose Joe Rogan over Neil Young?
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) February 3, 2022
Despite public perception, Spotify isn’t a music company. It’s a tech company looking to maximize profits, writes Travis M. Andrews. https://t.co/y5v10RsOmy
With that being established, the deal that Spotify signed with Joe Rogan could turn Spotify into a podcasting platform of choice. Although the platform is mostly known to many as an audio empire. Or, it could also see Rogan lose many of his fans who don’t want to move with him to another platform. A study has been conducted based on this. The study has shown that Rogan gained fans. Moreover, after making the exclusive podcasting deal a huge rise in his fans was noticed.
The source has claimed that it is the rawness of his podcasting style that chairs the fans. Each episode can be two to three hours long. That too with minimal editing.
He has also said that he thinks and feels in the moment. So, he ends up harnessing the compelling yet emotionally evocative power of his voice. What he tries to do is to arrest the way a radio host speaks.
Also read: 7 Best Podcast Apps for iPhone You Should Try
Then why is there an Issue?
If everything is going right, then what is it that is going wrong? If anyone has been listening to Joe Rogan’s Spotify, then they know how Rogan makes fatal claims. Let us give you one ironic example. There was a time when Rogan circulated a fake ad made by Gruen. He did it to represent Australia’s pandemic propaganda.
What about it seems problematic? Well, the ad normally made fun of people who generally relied on Rogan’s advice rather than medical professionals. Moreover, he added a correction to it. Although he made a small correction. These corrections have since become a part of the meme world. Although this one seems a bit on the lighter side. There are some major issues that he created.
Joe Rogan has peddled blatant conspiracy theories as well as ring information on his podcast. Moreover, he chose to disgrace radio host Alex Jones. What did he do? He spread a lie that the Sandy Hook massacre did not happen.
This had created an internal conflict at Spotify. Moreover, such a matter made him get caught in a whirlwind.
One report by Media Matters has claimed that Rogan tends to share wrong information as well as bigotry. Moreover, the author chose to draw particular attention to Rogan’s “right-wing misinformation and bigotry”, “anti-trans rhetoric” and “COVID-19 misinformation”.
A collection of medical professionals since then has started campaigning against such misinformation on the platform. Some of the artists who joined it are Neil Young and Joni Mitchell. To give this campaign a fitting reply, Spotify had released some mandatory “Platform rules”. These are some statements that focus on avoiding offending the freedom of creators such as Rogan.
Ending Note
Most importantly, how the audience reacts to it remains the major focus. Joe Rogan still claims that he is just a comedian. He just has long-form conversations. But how the listeners will take it is important. Do they take him as a journalist? Or as an entertainer? In reality, Rogan’s words have more value to many people than the average comedian just having a chat.
Also read: Websites and Apps to Analyze Your Spotify Listening Taste
