The general idea in the article I think is right but there's some caveats. I don't think his audience will suffer as much as the author thinks. Joe Rogan is pretty unique in the podcasting space, Spotify is already popular and I think people in general tend to overestimate the degree of backlash for these things. (the blizzard boycott comes to mind).

Also we don't really know Rogan's plans. If he plans on keeping this going for another 10-15 years staying independent would make some sense. But if he wants to retire after his Spotify deal runs out this may not be unreasonable.