(Reuters) – Spotify Technology SA said on Tuesday comedian Joe Rogan’s podcast will be available on the music streaming platform starting Sept. 1 and will become an exclusive later this year.
Shares closed 8.4% higher at $174.91, as the deal is seen as part of the company’s aim to transform itself into the Netflix of audio.
Rogan’s podcast, “The Joe Rogan Experience,” is downloaded millions of times each month and is routinely featured among the top podcasts on Apple’s charts.
He has interviewed well-known politicians and businessmen on the show, including Tesla Inc Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk and U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders.
The company did not disclose financial details of the multi-year agreement. The podcast will be free for all of the platform’s users.
“We will still have clips up on YouTube but full versions of the show will only be on Spotify,” Rogan said in an Instagram post https://www.instagram.com/p/CAYSqQLFP_l/?igshid=145vpohh7ddan. His YouTube channel has over 8.4 million subscribers.
Rogan will maintain full creative control over the show, Spotify said.
The corresponding video episodes of podcasts will also be available on Spotify as in-app vodcasts, it added.
Spotify, which has more than a million podcasts on its platform and reaches nearly 300 million monthly users, last year acquired Gimlet Media, Anchor FM and Cutler Media, companies that either create podcasts or help others to do so.
(Reporting by Munsif Vengattil in Bengaluru; Editing by Aditya Soni and Sriraj Kalluvila)
