Joe Rogan gets locked in Spotify’s walled garden

Future. Joe Rogan’s $100 million blockbuster deal to move The Joe Rogan Experience over to Spotify has come at the expense of his show’s reach and popularity. Rogan seems to be slipping from the zeitgeist, but that may not ultimately matter for top creators like Rogan, especially when the paychecks are so large and the ads are selling for a premium.

“Is this thing on?”
According to The Verge, Joe Rogan may have cashed out big with his move to Spotify, but apparently at the 2.47%expense of his influence and popularity.

• Prior to going Spotify-exclusive in December 2020, the typical Rogan guest could expect a 4,000 follower bump on Twitter the week after appearing on the show.
• After going exclusive, guests average only a 2,000 follower bump.
• On YouTube, Rogan was gaining an average of 265,000 subscribers per month before moving to Spotify.
• Now, he averages only 100,000.

Additionally, Rogan used to be a mainstay on Google Trends prior to going exclusive (most likely because people were searching for episodes), but that dipped significantly in 2021.

Where did Joe go?
Rogan’s dwindling power across platforms is probably because people aren’t seeing him on their feeds anymore. He’s only on Spotify — that’s the whole deal. His fans may have followed him there, but casual listeners, who just clicked on a top Google link or listened to him on YouTube, can no longer find him… and may not be going the extra step to move over to Spotify. Fewer people searching, less algorithms promoting Rogan.

For what it’s worth, Spotify is happy with Rogan’s performance so far. In February, the company said that Rogan has “stimulated new user additions, activated first time podcast listeners, and [has] driven favorable engagement trends, including podcast consumption.”