Harry and Meghan: Spotify ends podcast deal with couple

Spotify has ended its lucrative deal with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex for the couple to produce podcasts.

A joint statement from Harry and Meghan’s company and the broadcasting giant said they had “mutually agreed to separate”.

Spotify has confirmed that it has not renewed Megan’s original podcast, which ran for 12 episodes from August 2022, for a second series.

The contract value was estimated at $25m (£18m) in late 2020.

The podcast deal was one of the major business agreements the couple made after leaving royal duties and moving to the US in 2020.

When it was announced in late 2020, Prince said it would “bring different perspectives and voices that you may not have heard of.”

The Archetypes saw Meghan speak to luminaries like Serena William and Mariah Carey about stereotypes directed against women.

A statement from Spotify and Archewell Audio, the couple’s content creation label, said they were “proud of the series we made together”.

In December, Archetypes won Top Podcast at the People’s Choice Awards in Los Angeles.

At the time, Megan wrote: “I loved getting my hands dirty in the process, sitting up late nights in bed, working on writing and creating.

“I loved delving into meaningful conversation with my diverse and inspiring guests, laughing and learning with them. It was such a labor of love.”

An Archewell spokeswoman was quoted by The Wall Street Journal as saying that Meghan “continues to develop more content for the archetype audience on another platform.”

When the agreement with Spotify was first announced, it was billed as a relationship that would yield several series — but in the end, only one materialized.

US media reports indicate that the royal couple have failed to meet the productivity standards required by Spotify, and therefore will not receive the full value of the contract.

Since separating from the royal family, Harry and Meghan have sought to capitalize on their global fame in order to gain financial independence.

This included a multi-million dollar content deal with Netflix, and Harry’s massive contract with Penguin Books, which has already produced his autobiography Spare.

Spotify follows advertisement Last week it was to cut 200 jobs in its podcast division after a period of heavy investment in the medium, saying it was embarking on a “strategic realignment”.