Meghan and Harry dubbed 'bad investments' as Spotify suffer £34 million hit

Summary:

• Spotify suffers a £34 million hit after cutting back its podcasting division, including terminating its deal with Meghan and Harry.
• Debates arise over whether the couple's popularity was worth the investment for Spotify.
• Some argue that Spotify's business decisions and overestimation of podcast returns contribute to the financial losses.

Spotify has taken a £34 million hit after making heavy cutbacks in their podcasting division, including terminating their contract with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. The Dutchess worked with the streaming giant to release her podcast Archetypes and last month the couple were cut loose from a monster £16 million deal with one Spotify boss lamenting their costly mistake and labeling the pair 'effing grifted'.

Social commentator, big supporter of Harry and Meghan Joanna Jaajou. The political commentator Bush Reshake and former congressional staff are joining us from the US Lee Cohen. Lee, look, a £34 million hit for Spotify, not all of that is down to Harry and Meghan, but a big portion is. So what do you make of how they're going to be viewed stateside now? Well, Dan, this is a case of last year's Tinseltown darlings are today's Hollywood flops. The last years of the beloved queen should have been filled with nothing but warmth and gratitude and the king's new reign should be filled with anticipation and hope. Some of us will never forgive the Sussexes for instead making two reigns tense and turbulence. But for all its glitter, Hollywood is a business that cares only about the bottom line.

What have you done for me lately and Harry and Meghan have come up short. They've come up short on production of content, a good perception of value. They don't seem to provide the necessary ROI to be good investments. Joanna Jaajou, you disagree? If there are changes from Spotify's point of view, then that's bad negotiation from their point of view. Like you said, Dan, it's not just Harry and Meghan that have impacted this. It's also other people that have been really successful productions for them, like Joe Rogan's podcast, which has been globally quite popular, just as Harry and Meghan have been globally quite popular as well. So if there hasn't been enough return on investment from Spotify, then it's because maybe they were so desperate to sign the couple up that they didn't negotiate hard enough.

It's got nothing to do with Meghan and Harry's popularity. If anything, Meghan's actual production's podcast actually showed how popular she is when she beat Joe Rogan to the top spot. So it's got nothing to do with that. Architects was the name of the podcast. I think you have been slightly misrepresented, though, in terms of the success of Joe Rogan. I mean, Meghan's podcast had a very quick rise. Rogan delivers week after week after week. It's been a huge success story for Spotify. Let's be honest, though, Dan, Joe Rogan's podcast has been going for many years, and he is a very experienced podcast host. But when it comes to Meghan, it was her launch and she beat him to the top spot. And that has to say something. And I think a lot of people, you know, live in this little bubble where they think that, you know, there's a massive group, yes, within the United Kingdom that really dislike Meghan, but she also has a massive global reach. And we have to keep that in mind. Okay, let me bring Bush Reshake on this.

But Bush, who are you siding with? Are you siding with Joe? Anna, are you siding with Lee? I'm going to side with Lee on this one. I feel like people do have a sense of fatigue when it comes to Harry and Meghan, unfortunately. Look, Harry was, Annie is still part of the Royal Family. He's the one that holds the cards. But then he cut those ties off and now Lee's absolutely right. What content and what relevance are they bringing to the table? Besides the fact that Meghan is one of the, you know, a few like American actions on TV, besides that she hasn't really brought anything to the table. And Spotify knows when they've got good deals.

As far as their concern, they're not seeing this as the best investment they could have. Otherwise, they would have negotiated harder for it. They know that people are getting bored of this story. They're not bringing much to the table anymore. So why are we going to give them the slot? Joanna? I will just bring Joanna back. Oh, Joanna, can you respond? Can I just finish, Dan? Can I just finish? But realistically, if we actually have a look at this, like you said at the top of the program, this isn't just down to Meghan and Harry. No.

So something is happening within Spotify's production podcast department that hasn't been right. So it's a bad business deal, yes, for them in terms of podcasts in general. Maybe they overestimated how much, you know, return they would get from podcasts in general, but it has nothing to do with Meghan and Harry specifically. If you're going to have the conversation and be, you know, genuine, please shake it. Talk about the past. Please shake his head. Lee, why are you shaking your head? Dan, the chief executive of United Talent Agency said it turns out Meghan was not a great audio talent or necessarily any kind of talent. So I'm sorry, but what she just said is completely wrong because it is completely on Meghan and Harry. Bushra? Absolutely. I think people get the first opportunity to prove themselves. And I think if Spotify thought that this was going to be a brilliant deal, they would have done everything that they could to give them another series on the podcast. But clearly, they just don't think that that's the case. Although, Joanna, I understand what you're saying, but these guys have been in the business for a long time and they know what sells and what brings them their returns. They're not going to say no, we'll say no, we don't want it, just on the basis that let's say perhaps they find them grifters because a lot of people do see them as grifters right now unless they bring some brilliant content to the table.

Yes, Joanna, final word. Can I actually also say that when you look at Spotify overall as a business, they've been making come cutbacks even when it comes to staff. So there is a business issue deeper that's happening with Spotify and you can't just pretend as if just because they've let two of them. I'm not denying that. I'm not denying that Spotify overspent in the podcast market. But I do think they significantly overspent on Harry and Meghan in a way that they didn't on Joe Rogan, who has proven he's a hard worker. He'll deliver the goods week after week after week and that's what you need in this business.

But Joanna, as you Bush for a shakely co and fascinating debate, who do you agree with on this Naomi on Twitter writes up 14 million pounds, 12 episodes, one million pound an episode. We know why they are striking. Can you imagine people paying that much with no experience? Sean writes they were bad investments even before they were married. No wonder Spotify and Netflix hype their subscription prices up because they have lost out with these two. And Angela writes Spotify were greedy enough to throw money at two people lacking in any real talent. They have only themselves to blame.

Spotify faces significant financial losses due to cutbacks in their podcasting division and ending their contract with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. The couple's popularity may not be the sole factor, but the costly mistake has raised questions about their value as investments. Public opinions on the matter remain divided.