Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s podcast studio, Archewell Audio, will stick with its multiyear exclusive Spotify deal despite recent pushback from the royals over the platform’s handling of COVID-19 misinformation.
An Archewell Audio spokesperson told The Hollywood Reporter on Thursday that the studio had encouraging conversations with Spotify executives regarding the platform’s misinformation policies and practices. As a result, the studio is moving forward with the production of Archewell’s first podcast series, from the Duchess of Sussex, which is expected to release this summer, the spokesperson said.
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In January, as musicians like Neil Young and Joni Mitchell began leaving Spotify in protest of COVID-19 misinformation spreading on Joe Rogan’s podcast, the royals — through an Archewell Foundation spokesperson — said they had expressed “concerns” to Spotify about its policies.
“We have continued to express our concerns to Spotify to ensure changes to its platform are made to help address this public health crisis,” the Archewell Foundation representative said at the time. “We look to Spotify to meet this moment and are committed to continuing our work together as it does.”
Amid the uproar, Spotify began adding content advisory labels to podcasts that feature COVID-19 discussions and published its platform rules. Still, the Rogan fallout was enough to compel podcasters like Roxane Gay to pull their shows from the platform, while Ava DuVernay’s Array exited its first-look deal with the streamer.
Since announcing the Sussexes’ exclusive deal with Spotify in late 2020, Archewell Audio has only released one show: a holiday special with guests like Stacey Abrams, José Andrés, Brené Brown, Deepak Chopra, James Corden, Elton John, Naomi Osaka and Tyler Perry.
Since then, Archewell has hired Rebecca Sananes, formerly the lead producer for Vox Media and New York magazine’s Pivot podcast, as the studio’s head of audio. Producer Ben Browning also joined in 2021 as head of content for both Archewell Audio and Archewell Productions.
