Haughty Obamas Break Up with Spotify After Bitter Row

Former President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama had a bitter falling out and apparently an all-out breakup with Spotify.

Evidently, the couple has too many high demands under their 2019 podcast contract with the streaming service giant.

Demanding Too Much For Too Little

The Obamas seem to have been offering too little to Spotify to be worth their pay and have been demanding far too many substantial concessions, according to a report by The Daily Mail.

Thus, the Obamas are not going to renew their podcast partnership with the Swedish-based streaming service.

The Obamas clashed with Spotify over the meager number of podcast episodes they’ve managed to produce and their demands against exclusivity.

In a nutshell, the ex-president and his wife have been providing Spotify with too little content for too much money; they’ve also been insisting it should not even be exclusive to the streaming company.

Thus, instead of partnership with Spotify, where they may have been paid lavishly for insufficient content, the Obamas are now seeking a deal with Audible, according to a report by Bloomberg.

As part of the Obamas’ collaboration with Spotify, Michelle Obama has been hosting a podcast of her own, “The Michelle Obama Podcast.”

Barack Obama, on the other hand, participated in a podcast series named “Renegades: Born in the USA,” together with Bruce Springsteen.

However, the pair managed to churn out 18 podcast episodes combined in nearly three years through their company Higher Ground Productions.

Obamas Don’t Want to Be Exclusive

The Obamas wanted their already meager content for Spotify to not be exclusive to the company because that was “limiting” their audience.

Instead of being exclusive to Spotify, the Obamas demanded to be able to sell their content to other bidders as well.

Spotify’s highest paid podcasters are Joe Rogan, with a deal believed to be worth $200 million, and Alexandra Cooper, who has a $60 million contract for three years.

While Spotify’s big act shows typically make one podcast episode per week, the Obamas have been way off from reaching that rate.

Barack and Michelle Obama also claimed they aren’t supposed to appear in many episodes; instead, their episodes should be a “platform” for “elevating” less famous voices.

According to the sources cited in the Bloomberg report, the deal the Obamas are now seeking with Spotify’s competitors would bring them “tens of millions of dollars.”

Obama and his family appear to have been enjoying life with their fortune and mansions; he recently hosted a Netflix nature documentary mini-series while being involved in scandals.

The recently increased public activity of the Obamas may or may not have something to do with rumors that Michelle Obama might seek the 2024 presidential nomination of the Democrat Party.

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