Joe Rogan's YouTube success forced Spotify to up its exclusive podcast deal to $200 million

Joe Rogan’s big audience and revenue from YouTube helped him drive up the price of his Spotify deal. Spotify rushed out plans to build a video service largely to keep Rogan’s fans happy, sources said. YouTube is building more features to appeal to podcasters. Joe Rogan’s deal to carry his show exclusively on Spotify reached a record-breaking sum in large part because of his success on YouTube, according to people familiar with the matter.Before 2020, Rogan had built up a significant business by posting full podcast episodes on YouTube. As Spotify negotiated its deal for his show, Rogan’s team drove up the price because Spotify would have to compensate for the YouTube revenue and audience he was forgoing, these people said. Spotify ended up paying about $200 million, The New York Times reported.The Rogan deal reflects a new reality in the podcasting world: YouTube has unintentionally become a podcasting giant. A pair of industry surveys earlier this year found the video-streaming service was the most popular podcasting platform, and people inside Spotify said the company viewed YouTube as its biggest competitor. Spotify did not immediately return Insider’s request for comment on the deal. Because Rogan would also be giving up posting…
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