In 2019, the Obamas secured a podcast partnership with Spotify that had a rumored payout in the league of $30 Million, the amount the company payed Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.

In a two-year period, Michelle and Barack only produced 18 episodes for the company.

The couple has decided not to renew their contract, which was set to renew this year after Spotify demanded exclusive rights for their content and didn’t want to appear in episodes as much as Spotify desired.

Spotify allegedly became frustrated with the Obama’s as a result of their relatively lackluster output.  Podcasters with major contractors typically put out at least one episode a week, according to sources close to the company.

Barack and Michelle are still on the hunt for a podcast deal that some sources say will be worth tens of millions of dollars.

 

The Daily Mail Reports–

 

 

 

 

Barack and Michelle Obama will not be renewing their lucrative podcast partnership with Spotify after clashing with the streaming giant over exclusivity and how much they were expected to appear in episodes.

The former first couple are said to be looking instead for a new deal at Amazon with its Audible service, or at iHeartMedia, according to Bloomberg which first revealed that the arrangement was not being renewed.

The Obama’s signed their deal with Spotify in 2019 for an undisclosed sum but it is likely to be in the realm of $30million, the amount scored by Harry and Meghan in 2019 for a multi-year deal.

Since then, Michelle has hosted her own podcast – The Michelle Obama Podcast – and Barack has appeared in a series with Bruce Springsteen titled Renegades: Born in the USA.

Between them, the Obamas have only released 18 podcast episodes in more than two years.