Exciting news, folks! The Sussexes have made a big move and separated from Spotify, as confirmed by FilmmakerFocus. As part of their $20M deal with the streaming giant, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle had their own podcast called Archetypes, which was hosted by the Duchess herself. The show explored labels that held women back and featured amazing guests like Trevor Noah, Mariah Carey, Mindy Kaling, and Serena Williams. Unfortunately, talks of a second season have been put on hold, but there’s a chance that Archetypes could find a new home elsewhere.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are now on the hunt for better partnerships and homes for their content. In fact, the Duchess recently signed with WME, a talent agency that also represents Archewell, her content creation label with Prince Harry. The focus at WME is on building the couple’s film and TV production, brand partnerships, and overall businesses. Markle’s team at WME includes Endeavor CEO Ari Emanuel and brand rep Brad Slater.
When Archetypes launched last August, it shot straight to the top of Spotify’s charts and even won a People’s Choice Award. However, the news of the Sussexes’ departure from Spotify comes at a time when the streaming giant is laying off 200 employees, including audio engineers. This follows a larger staff reduction earlier this year, which saw 6% of their total workforce let go. Despite this, Spotify remains a popular platform for talent-driven shows like Joe Rogan Experience, Call Her Daddy, Anything Goes with Emma Chamberlain, Distractible with Markiplier, and Armchair Expert, all of which are currently in the top 25 charts.
Although Spotify saw losses of $470M U.S. off revenues of $12.8 billion in 2022, the platform still boasts an impressive 515M monthly users worldwide in 2023, a 22% increase from the previous year. This has led to a spike in Spotify’s stock, which is now valued at $152.18M, a 44% increase from a year ago.
The Wall Street Journal was the first to report the news of the Sussexes’ exit from Spotify. Stay tuned for more updates on their exciting new ventures!