At the end of the year, streaming service Spotify released a series of 2022 figures for its podcasts and music. The most popular podcast of 2022 was still Joe Rogan’s controversial figure, despite widespread protests by artists and celebrities on Spotify earlier this year over Comments on Rogan’s show about Covid-19 and the host’s use of racist remarks.
For Joe Rogan, many people must be familiar with him. We will introduce him in detail.
Key Background
The Joe Rogan Experience is a podcast hosted by comedian, presenter and UFC color commentator Joe Rogan.
Rogan started podcasting on YouTube in 2009. Joe Rogan’s podcast covers a lot of fields, and coupled with his superb communication skills, he has attracted a large number of fans, especially male audiences. According to Media Monitors, Logan’s audience is “71% male, split evenly between high school graduates and college graduates. About 57% of viewers make more than $50,000 a year, and 19 percent make more than $100,000 a year,” with an average age 24 years old.
By 2015, it had become one of the most popular podcasts in the world, with episodes regularly racking up millions of views and featuring guests such as business mogul Elon Musk, whistleblower Edward Snowden and Congressman Bernie Sanders.
Since December 2020, the podcast has been available exclusively on Spotify, with highlights uploaded to the main Joe Rogan Experience YouTube channel.
The Big Deal
Rogan signed a licensing deal with Spotify for exclusive rights to stream the podcast on the platform. Media outlets at the time were reporting the deal was worth $100 million, but The New York Times reported in February 2022 that the true value of the three-and-a-half-year deal was “at least” $200 million.
While Spotify does not publicly release subscriber numbers for The Joe Rogan Experience, a February 2022 Time article said the podcast averaged an estimated 11 million listeners per episode at the time.
In April 2022, Rogen’s ratings have been rising steadily since joining Spotify, so his current average number of episodes could be boosted as a result, The Hollywood Reporter said, citing sources.
Criticism and Removals
Rogan came under fire earlier this year for his show starring Dr Robert Malone and Dr Peter McCullough, who used the platform to spread misinformation and unsubstantiated claims about Covid-19 and vaccines. Several artists, including Neil Young and Joni Mitchell, have had their music removed from Spotify in protest of inappropriate comments made on the show.
Spotify CEO Daniel Eck said stopping Rogen’s show was not the answer, but Rogen chose to remove more than 100 episodes of the show from the streaming service. Spotify also added content warnings to shows discussing Covid-19.
Rogan’s controversies didn’t start with COVID, nor did they end with it. Earlier this year, Rogan used about two dozen N-words on his show, also referring to black people with demeaning stereotypes. Rogan also exhibits transphobia and homophobia on his podcast, as documented by the GLAAD Accountability Project and others. Rogan mocked transgender female athletes, made sexist remarks against U.S. Assistant Health Secretary Rachel Levin, expressed support for Florida’s “no talking about homosexuality” legislation, and spread the fallacy that gay teachers “raised” children in sexual ways.
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