and Megan Markle’s Archwell released a statement of concern over Covid-19 misinformation on Spotify, without mentioning Rogan. The pair have a deal with the company worth a reported $25 million to make podcasts.
Rogan himself has a reported $100 million deal to license his podcast to the streamer. That makes Spotify more responsibly for the content he airs than if it was widely distributed, according to some. Last month, 270 medical professionals wrote an open letter to the streaming giant asking it to take action against Rogan’s podcast, accusing the company of broadcasting misinformation
Wall Street is mostly concerned with the business backlash. The dustup pummeled Spotify shares – erasing $2 billion in value at one point. It’s gained back ground early this week on bullish reports by analysts who believe the controversy will blow over. Spotify said that at the end of the fourth quarter it had had 3.6 million podcasts on its platform and saw a double-digit increase in the number of MAUs that engaged with podcast content relative to Q3. It said podcast share of overall consumption hours reached another all-time high.