Spotify was just starting to build its podcasting business when Ostroff joined, and it needed to find a splashy way to attract listeners.
Dawn Ostroff rose to the top of the TV industry in the 2000s by developing deliciously addictive shows such as America’s Next Top Model and Gossip Girl. A former local news reporter, she’s credited her success to knowing what young people like. “Being at the forefront of ‘what’s next’ has always driven me,” she told the news site of Florida International University, her alma mater, in 2020.
Spotify moved into podcasting to free itself from the unprofitable and competitive business of music streaming. The company’s deals with record labels require it to pay them more than 70 per cent of every dollar that comes in, which is why Wall Street has long doubted the business model. Podcasting offers Spotify exclusive material that forces other tech giants to carry its service—and creates a revenue stream the music labels can’t touch.
Spotify is “throwing a bunch of stuff at the wall,” says Nick Quah, a critic and founder of industry newsletter Hot Pod. “They have quite a bit to go in terms of constructing a mature, functioning, coherent machine. The question is whether they’ll be able to do that before investors lose patience.” Spotify’s stock jumped about 8 per cent the day it announced the Rogan deal in May 2020. Investors had been lukewarm on the company since it went public in April 2018, but Rogan changed perceptions. When selling itself to investors before its initial public offering, Spotify had compared itself to Netflix Inc., another streaming service that had moved consumers from analog to the internet.
The deal with the Obamas was the first in a series of agreements with some of the world’s biggest celebrities. While Holt had been a proponent of acquiring existing studios and exclusive rights, Ostroff championed arrangements with famous people who had little experience making podcasts.
At least the Obamas produced some shows. DuVernay never did, and the deal with the Russos was never officially signed. Archewell Audio, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s studio, plans to release its first series, Archetype, later this summer or in early fall; Markle will interview experts about stereotypes that have held back women. Kardashian’s first show, on criminal justice, is expected later this year, as is Peele’s, which is in the horror-thriller category.
At the same time Rogan was boosting Spotify’s share price, he emerged as a leading skeptic of COVID-19 vaccines. After listening to him peddle skepticism for more than a year, hundreds of doctors signed a letter in January 2022 rebuking him and Spotify for endangering lives. Rock star Neil Young, who had polio as a kid, threatened to pull his music from Spotify if the company didn’t cut ties.
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