In June, a deal with streaming company Spotify fell through for Meghan Markle and Prince Harry. Instead of the usual platitudes, Spotify CEO Daniel Ek revealed the real reasons.
MONTECITO – It’s over after just twelve episodes. Spotify has abruptly terminated the podcast contract with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle (42). Archewell, co-founded by the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, secured an exclusive partnership with the audio giant in 2020, but did not receive an extension. Spotify CEO Daniel Ek (40) has only now revealed the reason behind this.
Spotify boss suggests Meghan Markle’s ‘archetypes’ haven’t made listeners ‘happy’
“We thought we could deliver a great experience that would make consumers very happy and open up new horizons for new creators,” he opened in a recent BBC interview. They believed in innovation, as Ek explained when asked why the streaming giant cut ties with Markle and her husband, Prince Harry.
In the end Eck was disappointed: “We wanted to open new horizons for very happy consumers as well as new creators.” But there was a problem with that: instead of happy users, there were discussions and a lot of anger when it emerged that Meghan had not done some of her interviews herself.
Meghan Markle is looking for a new streaming platform for her film “Archetypus”
Meghan Markle has given an impressive series of interviews in the first and only season of her Spotify show, including meeting stars like Serena Williams (42), Mindy Kaling (44), Paris Hilton (42), and Mariah Carey (54).
A spokeswoman for Archewell Productions said: “Megan continues to develop more content for the Archetypes audience on another platform.” Wall Street Journal.
Markle released only 12 episodes over two and a half years before the series was cancelled. No agreement was reached on the content of the additional proposals. Apparently the pair didn’t get anywhere near the full contract sum of £20 million – although ‘Archetypes’ also landed at the top of the podcast charts for some time.
Spotify insider: ‘Meghan and Harry are the underdogs in all of this, I think they’re being lazy and difficult’
“The truth is that some of them worked, and some of them didn’t,” Daniel Ek continued. “We learn from it and move forward.”says the 40-year-old, who founded Spotify in Stockholm in 2006 with Martin Lorentzon, 54, the former CEO of online marketing and sales solutions platform Tradedoubler.
Ek is familiar with startups and also knows when they will end. Some Spotify staff described Meghan and Harry as “lazy” and “difficult”. Spotify wants to focus on people who reach strong audiences, like Alex Cooper (29), Dax Shepard (48), and Emma Chamberlain (22). “There are a lot of great creators who are very passionate,” an inside source claimed at the time. But the joint statement spoke of an amicable separation. Sources used: pagesix.com, Wall Street Journal, People.com, hollywoodreporter.com, Deadline.com
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