141: How you can do even better than the recent Joe Rogan / Spotify deal

Let’s Talk A Bit About Joe Rogan…

• Joe is an American comedian, podcaster, actor, television host, and mixed martial arts commentator
• Joe is 53 years old (one month younger than yours truly)
• The Joe Rogan Experience is a talk-show / interview format (like most of the podcastosphere it seems)
• He’s been publishing his podcast (and YouTube versions) for over 10.5 years
• He typically publishes 3 or more episodes per week > average episode length is just over 2 hours 30 minutes
• As of October 2020 his show “The Joe Rogan Experience” has published just over 1700 episodes
• That’s 4,360 hours of content > if you listened non-stop, 24/7 it would take you 182 days to listen to all of it (at normal speed)
• As of April 2019 > 190 million downloads per month
• He’s increased his publications year over year, but 2020 it appears that he’ll actually publish less than he has been in previous years

Not bad for a guy who started out entirely independent (like you and me)

The Most Recent Hype – Spotify

The podcast-o-sphere is all abuzz with the news that Joe just signed a multi-year deal with Spotify estimated to be worth $100M. That’s one of the largest licensing agreements in podcast history.

But there are some not-so-good things in the deal that many of us Indie podcasters wouldn’t be too keen about…

• His show can ONLY be found on Spotify
• Paying members have no-ads
• Non-paying members have ads (Spotify generated, presumably)

In SPITE Of All That, It’s Easy To Say…

Wow, it must be nice to be Joe Rogan!

But think that through…

• The dude has paid his dues
• He has done the work required
• He has earned every cent (though there is a way I think he could be making more AND keeping full control of where his show is distributed – watch for an upcoming episode about that)
• Though we can argue about the lasting value he provides his audience, he’s clearly hit on a format and personality mix that is entertaining to his demographic

Why You Should NOT Compare Yourself To Joe

• You haven’t been at it as long
• You haven’t published as frequently
• You haven’t build the audience he has
• You haven’t had the same opportunities
• You are likely podcasting for a different reason than Joe (serving an audience, providing help, building a clientele, selling books/courses, etc.)
• You have differing gifts, personality, abilities, etc. that make your show and approach intrinsically different than his
• There is a LOT more to successful podcasting than a big deal like Joe signed
• People helped
• Specific needs met
• Pain relieved
• World-view and mindsets challenged
• Changed lives

What SHOULD You Do?

• Get clear on YOUR purpose (What are you podcasting FOR?)
• Get clear on your audience (Who are you trying to serve)
• Figure out where they are (online and in real life)
• Figure out how to get your message to them (creative, diligent, tireless work)
• Be willing to pay the price

Listen to this episode to get all the deets about these things and more!