Joe Rogan is changing the game after it was announced earlier this month that his wildly popular “Joe Rogan Experience” podcast would be moving exclusively to Spotify in 2021. The comedian and UFC commentator will begin the transition in September.
Since signing the deal, Rogan has remained silent.
However, he is now commenting on his new home in a deal that he is still struggling to accept.
“(I feel) weirdly richer,” Rogan said in an interview with the New York Times. “Like it doesn’t register. (It) seems fake.
“I would imagine on a show like Seth Meyers, there’s a bunch of other opinions involved. Right or wrong, in podcasting you’re getting that very pure, individual perspective. On my show, it’s my opinion and the guest’s opinion. That’s it. On network, it’s a focus-group collective idea of what people are going to like or not like. You don’t get anything wild. You don’t get anything that will get you fired.
“What Twitter is and what YouTube is are way bigger than a social media company. There is a real good argument that they should be like public utilities. … What has made society better today than it was hundreds of years ago is not just our prosperity. It’s the evolution of ideas. Anything that wants to limit discussion is dangerous to the evolution of ideas.”
Exact financial details for Rogan’s deal have not been disclosed, but some reports suggest he could earn up to $100 million over the course of the three-year deal.
It is going to be interesting to see what doors Rogan opens for other podcasters as Spotify begins to establish itself as a podcasting platform. With the biggest podcast in the world on their platform, Spotify is off to a hot start.
