Spotify is set to slash a further 200 jobs after Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s highly-publicized audio deal failed to rake in the expected sum of cash.
The Swedish streaming giant, which reportedly paid the Duchess of Sussex over $18 million for her “Archetypes” podcast launched last summer, is now having to let a significant number of staffers go due to the error in judgment.
This will mark the company’s second round of redundancies this year that follows hot on the heels of its huge investment into the podcast industry.
In January, it was announced that Spotify laid off some 6% of its 6,600-strong workforce.
As the streaming platform gears up to scale down its internal operations, redundancies are now officially reaching 2% of its entire workforce — a staggering number considering how recent the investment took place.
Markle’s “Archetypes” podcast launched in August 2022.SpotifyIn a blog post on the streaming platform, Spotify’s head of podcast business Sahar Elhabashi wrote, “We are expanding our partnership efforts with leading podcasters from across the globe with a tailored approach optimized for each show and creator.”
“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.”
The Sussexes reportedly signed a lucrative deal worth $25 million with Spotify in late 2020.AFP via Getty Images
The streaming giant also houses Joe Rogan’s controversial podcast “The Joe Rogan Experience.”PowerfulJRE /YouTubeThe cuts prove that the company is failing to see the results it had hoped for in the podcast arena — despite pumping billions of dollars into having Markle and Joe Rogan’s podcasts on its platform.
However, Markle’s “Archetypes” podcast has struggled to remain at the top since its debut in August 2022 as by November, the podcast slid down to number 22 in the charts.
For his part, Rogan’s podcast suffered a series of controversies ranging from Covid-19 vaccine misinformation to being accused of using racial slurs and making antisemitic comments.
In 2021, it was reported that Meghan and Harry received a cool $25 million from Spotify for singing on the dotted line for a lucrative audio deal.
More recently, Markle was honored at the 48th annual Gracie Awards where she picked up a gong for her podcast — though she was not physically there.
