18 June 2023 , 07:37
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The real reason Meghan Markle 's podcast with Spotify has been axed has been revealed.
Prince Harry and Meghan Meghan's Archewell Audio signed an exclusive $25million deal with Spotify as they attempted to be financially independent after breaking from the royal family in 2020.
The mega-bucks multi-year golden handcuffs agreement was one of the largest signed in history for a newly formed podcast show.
At the time Industry sources said the deal to bring Meghan and Harry on board was “a perfect fit” with the business model to grow Spotify's global audience of 320 million monthly active users.
But their prestigious deal has come to an early end and Meghan's podcast Archetypes won't get a second season.
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So why have they really cut ties with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex?
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry were signed to Spotify for $25m but produced just 13 hours of content last year (Getty)
Meghan released 12 episodes of Archetypes and one holiday special (Spotify)It appears to be a change in strategy for the company away from big money exclusive deals with celebrities that don't perform and hit listener targets.
Back in 2020 Spotify announced an estimated £200 million worth of exclusive deals with major names in the entertainment world.
Michelle Obama debuted "The Michelle Obama Podcast" on Spotify after singing a deal worth $25m and Kim Kardashian also signed an exclusive deal.
But three years later, Spotify appears to have changed tact and is axing expensive celebrity signings that don't bring in listeners after spending more than $1billion on exclusive content.
They ended their deal with the Obamas last year and the Sussexes are the latest casualty as the music streaming giant attempts to cut costs.
Spotify are axing celebrity signings that don't perform for the audio streaming giant (AFP via Getty Images)Spotify chief executive Daniel Ek told the BBC that the company had been "overpaying and overinvesting".
He said: "We're going to be very diligent in how we invest in future content deals.
"And the ones that aren't performing, obviously, we won't renew.
"And the ones that are performing, we will obviously look at those on a case-by-case basis on the relative value."
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Spotify still has controversial entertainer Joe Rogan on their books who signed a $200m deal in 2020.
But the hard-working star posts several multi-hour episodes each week with an average audience of 11 million listeners.
In sharp contrast Meghan offered just 13 hours of content last year - 12 episodes of her Archetypes podcast and a holiday special.
So it appears when push comes to shove Spotify needs to justify its bottom line.
Meghan now plans to "develop more content for the Archetypes audience on another platform", her spokesperson told the Wall Street Journal.
Meghan will continue to produce content on another platform (Archetypes)It comes after a top Spotify executive called the royal couple "f***ing grifters".
Bill Simmons, Head of Podcast Innovation and Monetisation at Spotify hit out at the pair in an episode of his own podcast released on Friday.
"The f***ing grifters. That's the podcast we should have launched with them," he said.
"I've got to get drunk one night and tell the story of the Zoom I had with Harry to try and help him with a podcast idea. It's one of my best stories."
Simmons sold his sports and pop culture website and podcast network The Ringer and to Spotify in 2020 for $200 million.
He has previously been critical of the couple and last January, he said it was "embarrassing" to be employed by the same company as Prince Harry.
It appears taking over the fickle world of entertainment and content production is trickier than it looks.