Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have ended their partnership with Spotify.
In 2020, their production company Archewell Audio signed an exclusive deal with Spotify, estimated to be worth $20 million, to produce audio content.
However, less than a year after Meghan’s debut podcast, Archetypes, the partnership has concluded. Officially, the termination is said to be mutual and amicable.
Archetypes, which involved Meghan in discussions of the “labels that try to hold women back”, achieved significant success, topping podcast charts in various markets. The series featured Meghan’s interviews with several guests, including Mariah Carey, Serena Williams, Paris Hilton and Trevor Noah.
However, critics pointed out that the couple released only 12 episodes in two years. There are speculations from anonymous sources that the deal might have ended due to their low productivity. Another anonymous source claimed that the couple wanted to explore opportunities beyond Spotify’s exclusive distribution.
Bill Simmons, Spotify’s head of podcast innovation and monetization, openly expressed his disappointment with Harry and Meghan on his podcast. Simmons criticized the former royals and referred to them as “grifters.” He suggested that the public is mostly interested in their insights into the royal family. Simmons spouted, using several curse words, that all the couple do is complain about the royals.
In a January 2023 podcast, Simmons criticized Harry and said that he was embarrassed to share the Spotify platform with him.
