Meghan Markle’s FAILED Podcast Results In MASSIVE Layoffs at Spotify
Meghan Markle’s FAILED Podcast Results In MASSIVE Layoffs at Spotify
Spotify has announced plans to lay off 200 employees, and many believe that the decision is linked to the purported $25 million payout to Meghan Markle, in a podcast deal that reportedly fell short of delivering a payoff for the platform.
Spotify’s decision to grab Markle’s award-winning podcast, Archetypes, may not have been a shrewd business move, according to a report by the New York Post.
Spotify previously laid off around 400 of its 6,600 employees, back in January.
Spotify’s Head of Podcast Business, Sahar Elhabashi, addressed the latest round of layoffs via a statement on the company’s blog.
“We are expanding our partnership efforts with leading podcasters from across the globe with a tailored approach optimized for each show and creator,” Elhabashi wrote.
“This fundamental pivot from a more uniform proposition will allow us to support the creator community better,” Elhabashi continued. “However, doing so requires adapting … As a result, we have made the difficult but necessary decision to make a strategic realignment of our group and reduce our global podcast vertical and other functions by approximately 200 people, or 2% of Spotify’s workforce.”
Markle wasn’t the only personality who collected millions to bring their audience to Spotify. Wildly popular podcaster, Joe Rogan, reportedly signed a $200 million deal to bring his voice to the streaming giant, and has largely dodged controversy because he still attracts a massive audience.
Markle’s podcast was recently awarded a prestigious Gracie Award and the actress recruited plenty of A-listers for interviews. However, the podcast has failed to bring in the same number of listeners who initially tuned in for the podcast’s August 2022 debut. Archetypes struggled to stay on top and slid below the top 20 within three months.
Some believe that the revelations in Prince Harry’s recently released memoir have played a role in the royal couple’s declining popularity.
The layoffs indicate that the platform’s decision to dump billions into the podcast arena failed to produce predicted results. Markle has yet to confirm that she will return for another season of Archetypes.
The California duo made headlines last month when a New York City awards ceremony morphed into a media sideshow, after the royal couple’s spokesperson claimed that they had been involved in a “near catastrophic car chase” with photographers.
The New York Police Department put out a statement about the incident the next day, stating that officers “assisted the private security team protecting the Duke and Duchess of Sussex” after the duo exited the “Women of Vision Awards” in an SUV around 10 pm. An NYPD source later told The Post that the pursuit “definitely wasn’t two hours” and that there were “no collision reports or 911 calls.”
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