4 ms·

I heard second hand that the folks working at Spotify were incredibly unhappy about this Joe Rogan deal, and one of the reasons for that was because leadership

by ljm 6y ago

I heard second hand that the folks working at Spotify were incredibly unhappy about this Joe Rogan deal, and one of the reasons for that was because leadership steamrolled over any concerns they had. And there were many. I don't really know who this guy is or why you'd spend 100 million on him to secure a deal. But he's walking away with that money and Spotify is left with the infighting. They fucked themselves over with that absurd investment.

imgabe 6y ago
Why do their concerns matter? I thought private businesses were free to choose to host or not host any content they want, without any regard to anything or anyone? If employees don't like it, they can quit. Presumably, Spotify put some executive in charge of doing the Rogan deal, the board approved it, and that should be that. Donna from Accounting doesn't get a say. If you’re stocking the shelves at the grocery store management doesn’t care that you think they should only sell Wheaties and not Frosted Flakes. It’s not your decision to make.
bgorman 6y ago
It is not an absurd investment, Spotify is a commodity technology and taking away Joe Rogan podcast from their biggest competitor (Apple) provides much needed differentiation. Joe Rogan's podcast was the number one podcast on Apple Podcasts. Now it isn't available at all.
- ljm 6y ago
  So you buy out Apple's number 1 podcast...and then Apple has another number 1 podcast. And you're sitting with a lame duck, as is evidenced by TFA. Is Spotify going to blow another 100 mil on that one and hope for the best? They messed up by betting large on a celebrity and ignoring the fact that Joe Rogan wasn't a cultural fit.
  - aleister_777 6y ago
    > They messed up by betting large on a celebrity and ignoring the fact that Joe Rogan wasn't a cultural fit. He's a cultural fit for x hundreds of millions. You may not fall into that demographic, but there's no discounting that other cultures exist outside of your own.
  - EVdotIO 6y ago
    I don't think you understand the number of monthly listeners he draws, it was around 200 million or so. If you compare it to Howard Stern's contract of 100 million a year, it's really not a huge stretch for Joe Rogan to negotiate that price for a multi year deal and exclusive rights to the back catalog. You can't suddenly snap your fingers and generate a huge audience, extensive content and marque brand into existence.
  - runj__ 6y ago
    They tricked a bunch of users over to their (awful) podcast playing experience, playing (free) podcasts is cheaper than paying for music for your subscribers. I don't think they've made their money back on it yet but any user that plays a podcast is just free (or unspent) money for them.
JPKab 6y ago
The only reason I have a Spotify account is for Joe Rogan's podcast. I'm a Youtube premium member, so all the music I need comes from Google, except for Joe Rogan. He's a pro weed, universal health care loving, self-described left of center guy big in the MMA and stand-up comedy circles. He now has the world's most popular podcast, but because he frequently has guests who are right wing, despite debating them about these things on the show, he is attacked for giving these folks a platform to spread their ideas. Due to his expertise in MMA and the fact that he's a formally trained fighter and martial artist, he was shaken by an event he witnessed: The fracturing of a woman's skull by Fallon Fox, a transgender woman who hid the fact that she had previously been a male, and had recently transitioned from the league. He commented on it. This put him in very hot water with the trans activist community, despite the fact that the vast majority of the American public has similar concerns. The reality is this deal made Spotify a lot of money and brought them listeners and advertising revenue. You don't know who he is, but you aren't the target audience, and your opinions and the opinions of the employees don't matter. Spotify exists to make investors money by creating value for the listeners. The employees shouldn't have any power over how it does that, because they own as much as the equity they've been given, and nothing more.
- ljm 6y ago
  > Spotify exists to make investors money by creating value for the listeners. Okay, sure. > [...the rest of the post...] I don't see how this connects. > your opinions and the opinions of the employees don't matter But your opinion does? It must matter to you, since you spent a few paragraphs on it.
  - trts 6y ago
    > But your opinion does? It must matter to you, since you spent a few paragraphs on it. Guessing that what ljm meant was that those opinions shouldn't be important in their personal choice about what to listen to or not listen to.
    - ljm 6y ago
      I was (admittedly poorly) pointing out that the person I was replying to made some effort to share his favourable opinion, which comprises a significant part of the post, while also saying the dissenting ones (mine, Spotify staff) don't matter. Their logic dictates that none of our opinions matter. That's fine by me; we're squabbling over nothing.

by ljm 6y ago

imgabe 6y ago

Why do their concerns matter? I thought private businesses were free to choose to host or not host any content they want, without any regard to anything or anyone? If employees don't like it, they can quit. Presumably, Spotify put some executive in charge of doing the Rogan deal, the board approved it, and that should be that. Donna from Accounting doesn't get a say. If you’re stocking the shelves at the grocery store management doesn’t care that you think they should only sell Wheaties and not Frosted Flakes. It’s not your decision to make.

bgorman 6y ago

It is not an absurd investment, Spotify is a commodity technology and taking away Joe Rogan podcast from their biggest competitor (Apple) provides much needed differentiation. Joe Rogan's podcast was the number one podcast on Apple Podcasts. Now it isn't available at all.

ljm 6y ago
So you buy out Apple's number 1 podcast...and then Apple has another number 1 podcast. And you're sitting with a lame duck, as is evidenced by TFA. Is Spotify going to blow another 100 mil on that one and hope for the best? They messed up by betting large on a celebrity and ignoring the fact that Joe Rogan wasn't a cultural fit.
- aleister_777 6y ago
  > They messed up by betting large on a celebrity and ignoring the fact that Joe Rogan wasn't a cultural fit. He's a cultural fit for x hundreds of millions. You may not fall into that demographic, but there's no discounting that other cultures exist outside of your own.
- EVdotIO 6y ago
  I don't think you understand the number of monthly listeners he draws, it was around 200 million or so. If you compare it to Howard Stern's contract of 100 million a year, it's really not a huge stretch for Joe Rogan to negotiate that price for a multi year deal and exclusive rights to the back catalog. You can't suddenly snap your fingers and generate a huge audience, extensive content and marque brand into existence.
- runj__ 6y ago
  They tricked a bunch of users over to their (awful) podcast playing experience, playing (free) podcasts is cheaper than paying for music for your subscribers. I don't think they've made their money back on it yet but any user that plays a podcast is just free (or unspent) money for them.

JPKab 6y ago

The only reason I have a Spotify account is for Joe Rogan's podcast. I'm a Youtube premium member, so all the music I need comes from Google, except for Joe Rogan. He's a pro weed, universal health care loving, self-described left of center guy big in the MMA and stand-up comedy circles. He now has the world's most popular podcast, but because he frequently has guests who are right wing, despite debating them about these things on the show, he is attacked for giving these folks a platform to spread their ideas. Due to his expertise in MMA and the fact that he's a formally trained fighter and martial artist, he was shaken by an event he witnessed: The fracturing of a woman's skull by Fallon Fox, a transgender woman who hid the fact that she had previously been a male, and had recently transitioned from the league. He commented on it. This put him in very hot water with the trans activist community, despite the fact that the vast majority of the American public has similar concerns. The reality is this deal made Spotify a lot of money and brought them listeners and advertising revenue. You don't know who he is, but you aren't the target audience, and your opinions and the opinions of the employees don't matter. Spotify exists to make investors money by creating value for the listeners. The employees shouldn't have any power over how it does that, because they own as much as the equity they've been given, and nothing more.

ljm 6y ago
> Spotify exists to make investors money by creating value for the listeners. Okay, sure. > [...the rest of the post...] I don't see how this connects. > your opinions and the opinions of the employees don't matter But your opinion does? It must matter to you, since you spent a few paragraphs on it.
- trts 6y ago
  > But your opinion does? It must matter to you, since you spent a few paragraphs on it. Guessing that what ljm meant was that those opinions shouldn't be important in their personal choice about what to listen to or not listen to.
  - ljm 6y ago
    I was (admittedly poorly) pointing out that the person I was replying to made some effort to share his favourable opinion, which comprises a significant part of the post, while also saying the dissenting ones (mine, Spotify staff) don't matter. Their logic dictates that none of our opinions matter. That's fine by me; we're squabbling over nothing.