Why is this sad? To me it illustrates that there is a lot of value in Spotify as a delivery mechanism and that the existing channels are not working.
If anything it should inspire creative new solutions to the issue.
If anything it should inspire creative new solutions to the issue.
And for the record, this has nothing to do with compensation for content creators. I want everyone to get paid. I personally am probably in the top 0.1% of podcast consumers and spend roughly $50 per month directly supporting podcasts. There are numerous other revenue models for successful podcasts. Joe Rogan wasn't exactly poor before this exclusivity deal.
Also, most "real" podcast app have better playback options. I want to be able to see chapters, and skip silence, but forcing to use Spotify for an open format is bad for everyone. Podcasts are great because they are open, and give you choices in playback apps.
Spotify is clearly paying him enough that none of this matters. It’s the correct trade to make if he thinks JRE has passed peak growth and it’s time to focus on monetization.
Spotify is pouring money into attracting exclusive talent in order become more sticky to consumers and to build a moat against alternatives. They want to erode other platforms (including the open web) so that they become the unichannel.
This is not a sign of existing channels not working. This is taking land from natives and taxing it. It's being done by a powerful player that doesn't want freedom of choice, so long as the only option is their own.
This is not good for anyone but Spotify and Joe Rogan's net worth.
Seems like Spotify might be adding video later in the year but until that happens, we don't know what we will be getting.
I think it illustrates that Spotify has a lot of money and needs to pay more publishers to use its platform.