As Newsweek reports, the Joe Rogan podcast was an instant success when the show was made exclusively available from the Spotify streaming service (even then, some of Rogan’s older episodes that Spotify deemed too controversial failed to make the transition). Nevertheless, news that the show could now only be heard via Spotify attracted millions of new users to the service, and in the company’s words, the podcast “performed above expectations” (via Newsweek). Rogan’s $100 million contract, it seems, was money well spent.
A study by Edison Research of 8,000 podcast listeners found that the “Joe Rogan Experience” landed at the top of the most popular podcast list throughout Q3 2020 and Q2 2021, as Digital Music News reports. What does that translate to as far as per-episode listenership? About 11 million people, per Newsweek. According to Spotify, Rogan has “stimulated new user additions, activated first-time podcast listeners, and [has] driven favorable engagement trends, including vodcast consumption.” Rogan has pledged to balance out his future shows on subjects related to the COVID-19 pandemic, among other topics (per CNN).
