Former President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama’s Higher Ground media company has opted not to extend its deal with Spotify. Instead, the power duo will search for other podcasting partners in the growing industry. Neither Spotify nor Higher Ground have publicly commented on the matter as of yet.
Variety has reported that Higher Ground has become “frustrated” with the exclusive deal and would like to extend its distributions as far and wide as possible. Additionally, Variety reports that Higher Ground and Spotify have “disagreed with Spotify over how many of its shows would feature the former president and first lady.”
At the moment, High Ground is expected to continue producing podcasts for Spotify through October 2022. After the deal runs out, the media imprint may continue talks with Amazon’s Audible or iHeartMedia. With that said, High Ground podcasts are likely to remain on Spotify in a non-exclusive fashion.
Elsewhere, Higher Ground continues to work with Netflix to produce television series, original films, documentaries and other projects in a separate pact. It is unclear if they will extend their deal with the streaming giant amid their reported subscriber loss.
