Jemele Hill and her podcast network are leaving Spotify
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JoelB
All Praise To TMH
It works for any article behind a paywall. It hasn’t been shutdown yet, so I continue to use it.that shyt worked smooth as hell
That’s the only one I know of
Another prominent podcaster is leaving Spotify Technology SA, as the company reverses many of its biggest investments in original audio and loses yet another Black voice.
Jemele Hill, an award-winning journalist and former sportscaster, is ending her relationship with the Swedish streaming service, which exclusively distributes the Jemele Hill Is Unbothered podcast and her Unbothered Network of shows, according to people familiar with the conversations. Hill and Spotify are negotiating the terms of her separation, which will result in the end of her show and network — at least at Spotify, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the negotiation is ongoing.
Spotify declined to comment.
Under pressure to rein in costs and deliver profits, Spotify has reconsidered its expensive podcasting strategy. Under the leadership of then-Chief Content Officer Dawn Ostroff, the company spent more than $1 billion to acquire studios and secure exclusive licenses to shows. Ostroff also went on to sign several Black celebrities to exclusive deals, including the Obamas’ production company, Higher Ground, as well as filmmaker Ava DuVernay and rapper Joe Budden.
Jemele Hill Is Unbothered launched exclusively on Spotify in 2019, one of the first deals in the audio streaming platform’s initial push into the industry. That year, it acquired three audio companies — Gimlet Media, Parcast and Anchor — that formed the backbone of its initial programming strategy as it diversified beyond music.
Spotify announced plans to build a podcast network for Black women around Hill in 2021, the year after protests against racism swept the US. But it took more than a year for Spotify to announce additional shows, and the network launched only two other titles.
More than four years after Spotify’s first flurry of deals, the leaders of Gimlet, Parcast and Anchor have left — as have all those Black stars and Ostroff herself. Budden attributed his exit to pay disputes, according to a podcast episode he published. Higher Ground, meanwhile, didn’t renew its deal last year because the exclusive nature of the arrangement hamstrung the reach of its shows. The team also struggled to get new programs greenlit.
DuVernay left her agreement during an uproar last year over Joe Rogan, Spotify’s biggest exclusive podcaster, after he shared alleged Covid misinformation and a clip surfaced online of him using the N-word.
During that Rogan dust-up, Hill issued a statement saying she’d like to see Spotify pay $100 million to a Black person, which was the reported size of Rogan’s deal at the time. The New York Times later reported that it cost Spotify more than $200 million.
Spotify did eventually announce a Creator Equity Fund with the goal of dispensing $100 million to creators from historically marginalized groups. However, Bloomberg reported in March that the company spent less than 10% of the money as it rounded out its first year of existence.
Another fund at Spotify experienced similar dysfunction. In February, unionized employees at Parcast sent a letter to management saying the company had approved just $5,000 for diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility work, out of a promised $100,000.
Hill started her career as a newspaper reporter before joining ESPN and becoming an on-air talent. She left ESPN in 2018 and began contributing to the Atlantic magazine.
There are others but that one has worked for a good while.It works for any article behind a paywall. It hasn’t been shutdown yet, so I continue to use it.
That’s the only one I know of
Piff Perkins
Veteran
During that Rogan dust-up, Hill issued a statement saying she’d like to see Spotify pay $100 million to a Black person, which was the reported size of Rogan’s deal at the time. The New York Times later reported that it cost Spotify more than $200 million.
This is what kills me. I think Rogan is pure brain poison but there's no denying he is one of the most popular voices in the country with an insane amount of listeners/supporters. Him getting 100mil makes complete sense solely based off listeners. And while I do think the dude is a fukking idiot, I'm blown away that a so called serious person can argue a black person deserves to be paid the same amount just because...why exactly. If there was a black Rogan with similar or even close metrics sure, it would make sense. But the idea that a corporation has to give black people 100mil because a white guy got that is asinine.
I'd bet money nobody was listening to any of Hill's podcast content. Just like nobody reads her articles. Yet she is constantly given a platform (to bash black men on...) by white corporations because diversity is a nice buzzword in the quarterly meetings. And these opportunities constantly go to people like Hill who are not popular, do not mirror most black people's views or interests, and largely spend time crying about not having enough access to white institutions (Oscars, Grammys, white men's dikk, etc). It's lame as fukk.
This is what kills me. I think Rogan is pure brain poison but there's no denying he is one of the most popular voices in the country with an insane amount of listeners/supporters. Him getting 100mil makes complete sense solely based off listeners. And while I do think the dude is a fukking idiot, I'm blown away that a so called serious person can argue a black person deserves to be paid the same amount just because...why exactly. If there was a black Rogan with similar or even close metrics sure, it would make sense. But the idea that a corporation has to give black people 100mil because a white guy got that is asinine.
I'd bet money nobody was listening to any of Hill's podcast content. Just like nobody reads her articles. Yet she is constantly given a platform (to bash black men on...) by white corporations because diversity is a nice buzzword in the quarterly meetings. And these opportunities constantly go to people like Hill who are not popular, do not mirror most black people's views or interests, and largely spend time crying about not having enough access to white institutions (Oscars, Grammys, white men's dikk, etc). It's lame as fukk.
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I wonder if Spotify cutting costs means they won’t be able to afford Rogan when his licensing deal expires later this year…or if they’re just trimming fat to be able to afford re-signing Rogan (if he’s up for it).
ALonelyDad
Veteran
Her comment about the Denver/Lakers game 1 was so bad, I say she deserves it
tremonthustler1
aka bx_representer
Podcasts are like any form of entertainment; once you have your fill, it's hard to add new ones to what you already have simply because you don't have the time to keep up. There's plenty of people who I otherwise don't mind, but I don't have the time to invest in what their pods are.
When it comes to pods, we don't follow one particular person the way much of America follows Joe Rogan or NPR or Ben Shapiro or some others. If everyone here listed which pods they play, we're gonna get a different answer for each person, and it's probably only gonna be a handful of pods.
I just took a look at Apple's top charters and I've maybe heard of 15 of these and only play one of them (the Ringer).
Of any of the shows that Spotify had exclusively, I've only really lamented not hearing No Skips (I don't have Spotify nor care to have it). Otherwise, that exclusivity stuff only goes but so far. You gotta be top 5 of everything for that to really make waves now.
fukk it, we should list which pods we listen to just to get a sense of where we go on these things.
When it comes to pods, we don't follow one particular person the way much of America follows Joe Rogan or NPR or Ben Shapiro or some others. If everyone here listed which pods they play, we're gonna get a different answer for each person, and it's probably only gonna be a handful of pods.
I just took a look at Apple's top charters and I've maybe heard of 15 of these and only play one of them (the Ringer).
Of any of the shows that Spotify had exclusively, I've only really lamented not hearing No Skips (I don't have Spotify nor care to have it). Otherwise, that exclusivity stuff only goes but so far. You gotta be top 5 of everything for that to really make waves now.
fukk it, we should list which pods we listen to just to get a sense of where we go on these things.
Agree 100. That tramp is the WOAT, and has always been.
Licking the diversity dollaz sweat off massa's balls while shytting on the brothers 24/7.
The ultimate form of white supremacy.
She was good on His and Her’s podcast, but it’s been downhill for her ever since she tried the 6pm SC spot that flopped badly.
She got the battery strapped in her back and distill hasn’t realized that her schtick has been okayed out.
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Chappelle is black Rogan, but after the Comedy Central shyt I don't think he'd ever do a deal like Spotify did with Rogan.
tremonthustler1
aka bx_representer
Didn't he have a pod with Black Star?
I never checked for it because I thought they had that on Luminary exclusively.
The sports podcast game is tough right now.
You have podcast like JJ redikk, Paul George’s, Draymond green that are great and the originals that are still going (all in the smoke and two knuckleheads). Just not a lot of space right now
You have podcast like JJ redikk, Paul George’s, Draymond green that are great and the originals that are still going (all in the smoke and two knuckleheads). Just not a lot of space right now
duckbutta
eienaar van mans
"Cast a wide net"
No they don't.
You raise they net up and you find exactly 3 things in it.
Internet nerds, c00ns, and crackas.
I been in a 100 barbershops in my life...
I aint NEVER heard anyone say "did you see what bill simmons said about"
But I also work with internet nerds who think cause they pretend to know what fake made up basketball stat means they smart
They always say "did you see what bill simmons said about"
A perfect example of this is Simmons saying this new cba is going to ruin basketball and this second apron is going to blah blah blah....
Meanwhile a podcast with REAL actual former front office people are saying...only like 3 teams even spend money like that so it don't really matter
Bill Simmons in a nutshell...he says one thing but people who actually spent time doing the job for years say the exact opposite thing
But he got a 100 million dollar bag to be wrong and spew nonsense cause he white