All articles tagged with #podcast industry
Joe Rogan has renewed his multiyear licensing agreement with Spotify, securing an estimated $250 million payout over the term. The deal continues the partnership that began in 2020, maintaining the show's status as the most-followed podcast on the platform with 18 million subscribers. While the agreement allows for wider distribution across other platforms, Spotify retains control over ad sales and licensing.
Forbes’ 2026 ranking puts Joe Rogan at the top with $82M from The Joe Rogan Experience, followed by TBPN founders John Coogan and Jordi Hays at about $70M and Steven Bartlett at $45M. The Kelce brothers earned $35M from the New Heights podcast, ranking seventh. Other top earners include SmartLess ($37M), Alex Cooper ($32M), Mel Robbins ($35M), Amy Poehler ($24M), Dax Shepard ($25M), Charlamagne Tha God ($27M) and Tucker Carlson ($20M), highlighting how celebrity, political and true-crime podcasts are monetizing via licensing, cross‑platform deals and high-profile interviews.
Spotify is set to cut 200 more jobs after Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's audio deal failed to generate the expected revenue. This marks the second round of redundancies this year for the company, which had invested heavily in the podcast industry. The job cuts will affect 2% of Spotify's workforce. Meghan Markle's "Archetypes" podcast, for which she reportedly received over $18 million, struggled to remain at the top of the charts, while Joe Rogan's podcast faced controversies.