Barack and Michelle Obama’s time with Spotify Technology SA is coming to an end.
Barack and Michelle Obama’s time with Spotify Technology SA is coming to an end.
The former first family’s production company, Higher Ground, will not be signing a new deal with the audio platform, according to people familiar with the negotiations. Instead, the company is talking to other distributors about a deal worth tens of millions of dollars, one of the most lucrative in the podcasting business.
Higher Ground is in talks with a number of potential partners, including Amazon.com Inc’s Audible. and iHeartMedia Inc., said the people asked to remain anonymous because the conversations are private. The company wants to choose a new home within the next few weeks. It spoke to many major networks, including Spotify, but the Swedish streaming giant declined to make an offer, according to three sources familiar with the discussions.
Higher Ground is seeking a deal that would allow it to produce several shows and release them on multiple platforms at the same time. This might explain iHeart’s interest as it has not previously relied on an exclusive strategy for its podcast. This is one reason why some potential bidders, like Spotify, have given up – a widely released program will end up with their service anyway. Companies like Spotify and Amazon have pursued exclusive rights to promote their own services.
The Obamas are all ready to appear on an eight-episode show, which for some contractors isn’t committed enough to justify a deal comparable to those for shows like “SmartLess,” “” Call Her Daddy” and “My Favorite Murder. Those shows come on weekly or roughly, while Higher Ground’s shows feature the Obamas which are just limited series.
Higher Ground signed a deal with the music streaming giant in 2019 as the Obamas planned the media business after their presidency. Since then, the company has produced a number of podcasts, starting with “The Michelle Obama Podcast,” which featured the former first lady chatting with friends and family on the topic of relationships. Spotify says that show is one of its five most popular podcasts in 2020.
Higher Ground and Spotify are program partners under the current agreement, which means the future deal will be for the new show.
Higher Ground and Spotify have clashed over the course of their partnership. Both the “Michelle Obama Podcast” and “Renegades: Born in the USA,” a show featuring conversations between Barack Obama and musician Bruce Springsteen, debuted exclusively on the platform. They only work on other services a few months later. That exclusivity is why Spotify pays Higher Ground, but the production company found that being tied to one service limited the audience that came to their shows.
The two sides also disagreed over how much of the company’s output would include the former president and first lady. Spotify wants more shows featuring two of the most famous people in the world, while Higher Ground hopes to use their deal to provide a platform for a variety of voices. Higher Ground introduced Spotify to dozens of shows, but produced only five. The company released “The Big Hit Show,” one of the only shows without Obama, in January. Sources familiar with their current deal say more Spotify shows will be released in the fall.
Spotify has spent hundreds of millions of dollars partnering exclusively with some of the most popular podcasters, including Joe Rogan, Bill Simmons, and Alex Cooper of “Call Her Daddy.” The company did so in hopes of leveraging their star power to build the app’s reach, while also recoupling costs through ad sales. It has had less success making deals with mainstream celebrities and Oscar-nominated filmmakers with no podcasting experience.
Spotify’s investments have encouraged Amazon and SiriusXM to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on their own deals, and the Obamas are hoping to capitalize on what was once an icy market. However, with Spotify not participating in the bid, the list of potential homes for the Obamas has shrunk by at least one.
