When Harry of England and Meghan Markle decided to step back as active members of the British royal family, most of their privileges ended. Among them, having a free residence (or many) and a real salary. On their way to California and to be able to continue with their pace of life, they partnered with big brands that provided them with juicy income, from Netflix to Spotify. But in these three and a half years since they left, part of those contracts have fallen apart. One of the most striking was the one they had with the Spotify audio application, for which they achieved between 20 and 25 million dollars. The agreement was signed at the end of 2020 and was intended to be long-term. However, after an unsuccessful project and two and a half years of collaboration, everything ended overnight last June. No one gave any explanations, at least official ones. Until now.
Because it was these days when the company’s executive director, Daniel Ek, spoke about the issue. He did so in an interview with of the BBC where he has discussed issues such as music generated with artificial intelligence or the future of podcasts, about which he explained that his company tries to position itself as one of the first options globally. And the Duke and Duchess of Sussex were going to be the flag on that issue. But the company does not seem to be satisfied with the product they offered, an interview podcast called Archetypes, a play on words between the name of his eldest son, Archie, and his foundation, Archewell, in addition to the term archetypes.
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Ek, a 40-year-old Swede and co-founder of the company, has been “very diplomatic” in his response, as journalist Zoe Kleinman points out in the talk. Kleinman asks her about some of the “big names” she has had on Spotify, including “the Obamas, or the Duke and Duchess of Sussex; They have released 12 episodes in two and a half years. Is that worth £18 million?” (20.7 million euros or almost 22 million dollars), says the journalist. “We thought there needed to be innovation here. We thought we could come in and offer a great experience that would bring happiness to consumers and also allow new creators to explore new avenues,” he argues. “And the truth is that some have worked, and others have not. We are learning from the latter and we are moving forward, and we wish all those that we have not renewed to have the greatest success from now on.”
With his words, Ek suggests that there has not been the innovation they were looking for in that podcast and that “happiness” has not reached consumers either. In December 2020, together with their audio company, Archewell Audio, the couple made a small presentation of their project and a christmas special half an hour long with guests like Sir Elton John or José Andrés. The interviews began in August 2022, ended three months later and occupied a total of 12 episodes. While Prince Harry walked away from the project, Markle was the interviewer for a space that was advertised as a place to “research, dissect and subvert the labels that try to hold women back.” In the talks, the Duchess spoke with personalities such as the tennis player Serena Williams, the singer Mariah Carey, the actress Issa Rae, the then wife of the Prime Minister of Canada, Sophie Trudeau, the writer and author of Sex and the City Candace Bushnell or the comedian Judd Apatow. All 12 episodes are still available on Spotify and have achieved 67,000 views.
Daniel Ek is the first to give an official explanation in three and a half months, but not the first to speak out. Earlier this year, American journalist and presenter Bill Simmons, who holds the position of head of innovation and monetization at Spotify, was very critical of the couple on his show, called The Bill Simmons Podcast and that it has on its own platform. He said that he felt “embarrassed” to work at Spotify alongside the youngest son of King Charles III of England: “What does he do? It’s like, what is your talent? Why are we listening to you? You were born into a royal family and now you’re gone, you sell documentaries and shit, no one cares what you have to say about anything unless you’re talking about the royal family, and on top of that you complain about them.” At the end of June, shortly after the Dukes’ union with Spotify ended, Simmons went further. “Fucking scammers. That’s the podcast we should have launched with them,” he commented unabashedly. “One night I will get drunk and tell the story of the video call I made with Enrique on Zoom to help him and try to get an idea for a podcast with him. It is one of my best stories.”
Daniel Ek, during an event in Cannes (France), in an archive image.Antoine Antoniol (Getty Images)
Journalist Ashley Carman, who works for Bloomberg and who publishes a weekly newsletter about the music, podcast and audio industries in general, investigated the couple’s work environment and also concluded that they had not contributed too many creative ideas. “Enrique heard various ideas from others, but, above all, he was obsessed with his own, especially one about childhood trauma. The concept: Enrique would interview a series of controversial guests, such as [el presidente ruso] Vladimir Putin, [el fundador de Facebook] Mark Zuckerberg y [el expresidente de EE UU] Donald Trump, about their childhood days and how those experiences shaped them into the adults they are today.” Some bizarre and unrealizable ideas.
Added to all this is that Spotify, like so many other technology companies and specifically in the audio sector, is not going through its best moment. In January Daniel Ek acknowledged that they had been “too ambitious in investing before revenues grew” and laid off 6% of the workforce, around 600 people. The move cost between 35 and 45 million euros. In June, they said goodbye to another 200 employees. After betting on content with renowned celebrities but also at a high cost, the company has seen that this search for innovation and happiness has not produced the expected results.
2023-10-04 01:00:45
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