Joe Rogan inked a new multi-year deal with Spotify to keep his popular podcast — The Joe Rogan Experience…
Joe Rogan inked a new multi-year deal with Spotify to keep his popular podcast — The Joe Rogan Experience — on the platform for years to come.
According to a report from The Wall Street Journal, the deal is worth a reported $250 million. Under the new agreement, Rogan’s popular show — which has been exclusively available on Spotify since 2020 — will now be available on other audio platforms, including Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, and YouTube.
In a deviation from his first deal with the company, which was worth more than $200 million, Spotify will sell ads for and distribute Rogan’s show in a video format on YouTube, the Journal noted.
The Joe Rogan Experience has been racking up listeners since it debuted on the podcasting scene in 2009.
“I think podcasting is an art form and I definitely sucked at it when I first started,” Rogan said in an interview with Spotify. “I was curious, but I didn’t understand how to make a conversation flow. I didn’t know when to shut up and listen, and I didn’t know how to make someone comfortable so that you can get the most out of their perspective. I’ve learned how to assist the conversation’s flow instead of waiting for my turn to talk. I learned how to be fully locked in with what the other person is saying.
“A lot of what helps is that I’ve done it for so many hours and learned how to do it better over trial and error, but also that I only have people on the show that I’m genuinely interested in talking to. I never do a podcast just because a person is popular. It’s always from a place of ‘I think it would be cool to talk to that person.’‘”
Joe Rogan’s Run on Spotify Has been loaded with controversy
Despite ranking as the No. 1 podcast in the world, the show has often been a point of contention among listeners. Rogan’s choice of provocative guests aside, Spotify and the show itself were the subject of an all-out boycott after the longtime UFC commentator made controversial anti-vax comments and regularly called into question the legitimacy of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Multiple music artists, including Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, Indie Arie, and Crosby, Stills, and Nash, pulled their libraries from the platform in protest of Rogan’s content. Unfortunately, the controversy didn’t stop there.
In February 2022, Spotify pulled 70 episodes of JRE in which the host had uttered the N-word, creating another string of backlash.
“I’ve also learned so much—not just from all the episodes themselves—but also from all the audiobooks I’ve listened to, articles and books that I’ve read, and documentaries I’ve watched either for the show, or because of the show,” Rogan added. “I always feel like, in starting this podcast, I stumbled into this fantastic accidental education just by being interested in talking to people, and being fortunate enough that people want to listen.”
UFC commentator Joe Rogan has given his opinion on how Nick Diaz performed in his return to the octagon at UFC 266. Rogan usually provides color-commentary for UFC pay-per-view events, but sat out UFC 266 in favor of a hunting trip. For fans wondering what his thoughts were on Diaz’s return, he gave some insight […]
UFC commentator Joe Rogan has given his opinion on how Nick Diaz performed in his return to the octagon at UFC 266.
Rogan usually provides color-commentary for UFC pay-per-view events, but sat out UFC 266 in favor of a hunting trip. For fans wondering what his thoughts were on Diaz’s return, he gave some insight on the latest episode of The Joe Rogan Experience. Talking with comedian Bert Kreischer, Rogan said that while he was impressed with how the elder Diaz brother look, he believes he’ll need more time back in the sport to show what he’s truly capable of.
“My thing about Nick Diaz is, when I looked at him physically, I was like, ‘I don’t know how much he’s been training,’” Rogan said. “When Nick was in his prime, he was really lean. I mean he’s definitely an older guy now, but the thing is I don’t think you can just jump back in that easy after six years out of the sport. I think you probably need more time to prepare.”
In the lead-up to his rematch against Lawler, Diaz repeatedly stated that it was match-up he had no interest in. After the fight, his longtime training partner and friend Jake Shields took to Twitter to say that the UFC pressured Diaz into taking the fight before he was ready. Rogan said that those factors were noticeable in Diaz’s performance.
“I don’t know how much time he had to prepare, and why they agreed to do a fight on short notice,” Rogan said. “I think it was only like six weeks notice, which I think is fine if you’re Michael Chandler. If you’re in peak form right now and you’re ready to go, if someone gives you six weeks, I bet you can get ready for a fight. But if you’re a guy who’s been off for that long, you’re going to need more time. I’m just guessing. I don’t know how much time it took him. But my point was he didn’t do that bad for a guy that was out six (years).”
“Robbie Lawler was pressuring him and he was putting it on him and he was definitely getting the better of the exchanges, but it’s not like Nick Diaz didn’t have his moments,” Rogan continued. “He definitely did. He would just have to have way more time to prepare and he would have to really be ready to go. Like the old Nick Diaz, the Nick Diaz that fought Anderson Silva; the Nick Diaz that fought Georges St-Pierre; the Nick Diaz that fought Paul Daley in Strikeforce. That dude was a f—ing killer. Can he still do that at 38? Maybe. We don’t know if you just have one fight. You need time. If your body hasn’t been used to this stuff, and you haven’t been training as much as you were when you were in your prime, if you still want to do it against legitimately, physically, you probably can.”
Rogan compared training for a fight to training for a marathon – something both Diaz and Kreischer have experience doing. He said that repetition makes it easy for the body to adapt, and that it takes a long time to get the body ready to perform at it’s highest peak again.
“You’ve run a marathon,” Rogan said to Kreischer. “When you start out and you run a mile and you’re dead, you’re like, ‘I can’t believe anybody can run 26 of those.’ But if you do it over and over and over again, you build up. I don’t think Nick Diaz had a chance to build back up after being off for that much time. I think you get back to where he was Nick Diaz in his best, he’s got to have some time.”
How do you think Nick Diaz looked on Saturday? Do you agree with Joe Rogan? Let us know!
(Little did Zach Galifianakis know that this would be the most awkward episode of “Between Two Ferns” to date.)
As has become public knowledge by this point, there are two sides to Chael Sonnen. Two sides that, while vastly different from one another, combine to form a charismatic, well-spoken, yet incredibly polarizing mixed martial artist. The fact that Sonnen manages to effortlessly shift between these two paradigms when hyping a fight, giving a post-fight interview, or relentlessly tearing apart a Canadian reporter is only a testament to his ability to enthrall while repelling, to pique one’s interest while simultaneously drawing their ire. This may sound like a bit of “nut-hugging” as the MMA blogosphere likes to so eloquently put it, but there’s no denying that Sonnen is truly a unique individual, and one who could sell a ketchup Popsicle to a woman in white gloves without batting an eye.
But the Chael Sonnen that sat down with Joe Rogan as part of his infamous (as far as podcasts go) “The Joe Rogan Experience” was not the fight-hyping, pro rasslin’ “Oregon Gangster” that many fans can’t bear the sight of. Instead, for over two and a half hours, Rogan managed a feat that perhaps no other interviewer, journalist, or low-level blogger has even come close to: He managed to bring out the sincerity in Chael Sonnen.
And it was nothing short of fascinating.
Not fascinating in a “what’s he going to say next?” kind of way, but rather in a “man behind the myth” kind of way, and to put it simply, it stands above any other Chael Sonnen interview I personally have ever seen. The two dished on everything from Sonnen’s turning point as an MMA fighter (which came as a result of hypnotherapy, believe it or not), to Dan Severn’s infamously terrible work against Shannon Ritch, to Chris Leben’s batshit crazy childhood. But none of it felt forced, or fabricated. The Chael Sonnen that sat down with Rogan was endearing, empathetic, and above all else, realistic, and a kudos is due to Rogan for managing to bring that out of him.
Check out the full podcast after the jump.
(Little did Zach Galifianakis know that this would be the most awkward episode of “Between Two Ferns” to date.)
As has become public knowledge by this point, there are two sides to Chael Sonnen. Two sides that, while vastly different from one another, combine to form a charismatic, well-spoken, yet incredibly polarizing mixed martial artist. The fact that Sonnen manages to effortlessly shift between these two paradigms when hyping a fight, giving a post-fight interview, or relentlessly tearing apart a Canadian reporter is only a testament to his ability to enthrall while repelling, to pique one’s interest while simultaneously drawing their ire. This may sound like a bit of “nut-hugging” as the MMA blogosphere likes to so eloquently put it, but there’s no denying that Sonnen is truly a unique individual, and one who could sell a ketchup Popsicle to a woman in white gloves without batting an eye.
But the Chael Sonnen that sat down with Joe Rogan as part of his infamous (as far as podcasts go) “The Joe Rogan Experience” was not the fight-hyping, pro rasslin’ “Oregon Gangster” that many fans can’t bear the sight of. Instead, for over two and a half hours, Rogan managed a feat that perhaps no other interviewer, journalist, or low-level blogger has even come close to: He managed to bring out the sincerity in Chael Sonnen.
And it was nothing short of fascinating.
Not fascinating in a “what’s he going to say next?” kind of way, but rather in a “man behind the myth” kind of way, and to put it simply, it stands above any other Chael Sonnen interview I personally have ever seen. The two dished on everything from Sonnen’s turning point as an MMA fighter (which came as a result of hypnotherapy, believe it or not), to Dan Severn’s infamously terrible work against Shannon Ritch, to Chris Leben’s batshit crazy childhood. But none of it felt forced, or fabricated. The Chael Sonnen that sat down with Rogan was endearing, empathetic, and above all else, realistic, and a kudos is due to Rogan for managing to bring that out of him.
Take this tidbit, in which Rogan asks Chael what he honestly would have expected had his rematch against Anderson Silva taken place in front of the eighty-some thousand fans in Rio as originally planned:
It would’ve been a scene. I don’t think they could’ve controlled it. They swore that they could, they’d have presidential security there, they were planning on having the President of Brazil there, so they’d have their secret service. It’s like, ‘guys, you can’t do it.’ There was just a soccer game and 73 were trampled to death. You can’t control a crowd when they decide to storm, you just can’t. It’s displaced responsibility. You can’t control that, especially when I’m the main event. And the relevance to that is, it means the beer started pouring five hours earlier. So now your not only talking about an insightful crowd, you’re talking about a drunk crowd.
Rogan pushed on, asking Sonnen what he thought would have happened had he beat Silva in his home country, and it was here that Sonnen truly opened up.
I think it would have been bad. I think it would have been very, very bad. And I would not have backed off one bit. Because I’m not gonna change; I’m gonna dance with the one that brought me. I’m going to be aggressive, I’m going to be in your face…I’m going to do my job as soon as Bruce Buffer gets out of my way. And I can’t change, I don’t know how to change. This is what I’m programmed to do. I hate to talk like one of those maniacs, ‘I’d have given my life blah blah blah,’ but Joe, I swear to you, hand to God, I’d have given my life to win that championship if I had to.
Let’s not forget, this isn’t tough guy talk. I signed the contract to go to Brazil to do the fight, and in my heart I thought, ‘I don’t know how this is gonna go.’ I made my mother promise she wouldn’t go. My mother doesn’t get it, she’s an older woman. She’s got a ruby or a diamond on every finger, you know, you don’t go into South America like that, let alone a fight. It was just one of those deals, but look, this is what I’m gonna do.
Check out the full podcast below. The conversation in question starts somewhere around the hour and a half mark, but I’d recommend you check out the whole thing.
(“Please tell me he didn’t call anyone the C word.”)
It didn’t take long for UFC color commentator Joe Rogan to acknowledge the recent criticisms aimed at him by Quinton “Rampage” Jackson. And despite being called a “fake ass” and a “girly, high-ass voiced rusty trombone player” (loosely translated), Rogan decided not to start a war of words with Rampage, and in fact was rather complimentary when discussing the former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion on his video podcast, The Joe Rogan Experience:
I love Rampage. I don’t mean to be rude when I assess things. I’m just trying to objectively try to figure out how this guy could be doing better than he’s doing. When I look at a guy Rampage, first of all, [he’s] one of the most exciting fighters of all time. You go back to his fights in PRIDE like the Ricardo Arona fight or the Kevin Randleman knockout…he had a lot of great, great fucking fights in PRIDE. You know, I like [Rampage] a lot. I like him as a person. I enjoyed hanging out with him.
Join us after the jump for the full video.
(“Please tell me he didn’t call anyone the C word.”)
It didn’t take long for UFC color commentator Joe Rogan to acknowledge the recent criticisms aimed at him by Quinton “Rampage” Jackson. And despite being called a “fake ass” and a “girly, high-ass voiced rusty trombone player” (loosely translated), Rogan decided not to start a war of words with Rampage, and in fact was rather complimentary when discussing the former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion on his video podcast, The Joe Rogan Experience:
I love Rampage. I don’t mean to be rude when I assess things. I’m just trying to objectively try to figure out how this guy could be doing better than he’s doing. When I look at a guy Rampage, first of all, [he’s] one of the most exciting fighters of all time. You go back to his fights in PRIDE like the Ricardo Arona fight or the Kevin Randleman knockout…he had a lot of great, great fucking fights in PRIDE. You know, I like [Rampage] a lot. I like him as a person. I enjoyed hanging out with him.
Rogan maintains that his ringside assessments have nothing to do with the fighters themselves, and are simply a matter of informing the audience:
When I’m doing commentary on a fight, all I’m trying to do is sort of objectively assess what I think someone could be doing differently to try and get themselves out of a spot if their not winning. I’m not critiquing the guy’s soul. I’m not breaking down who he is as a person. I like the guy a lot.
Rogan went on to state that he “wished [Quinton] wasn’t mad at me,” and that “when I tell him to throw leg kicks it’s just because he has awesome leg kicks.” Whether or not you agree with Rogan on this point in particular, if you rewatch the Jones/Jackson fight, you would likely agree that the few leg kicks Rampage landed seemed to have some effect on the lanky legs of Jones, a sentiment that Rogan states outright. But it’s clear that Rogan has nothing but respect for the former PRIDE star:
He’s got the toughest fucking job on the planet. There’s a lot of pressure and a lot of stress involved in being a fighter, and the last thing I want to do is add more pressure and add more stress. All I’m doing is trying to just [analyze] the fight…I can’t protect someone’s feelings at the expense of doing what I’m suppose to be doing, which is sort of analyzing what is going on.
As for Jackson’s accusations that Joe is biased towards Jiu-Jitsu fighters, Rogan feels that he is actually much more biased towards “very aggressive strikers” like Wanderlei Silva, who he claims to be his favorite fighter. Well NOW we see where Rampage’s dislike for the man stems from.
UFC commentator Joe Rogan has given his opinion on how Nick Diaz performed in his return to the octagon at UFC 266. Rogan usually provides color-commentary for UFC pay-per-view events, but sat out UFC 266 in favor of a hunting trip. For fans wondering what his thoughts were on Diaz’s return, he gave some insight […]
