The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, have ended their podcast deal with Spotify.
In a joint statement, their company, Archewell Audio, and Spotify announced that they have mutually agreed to part ways and will not be renewing Meghan’s podcast, Archetypes, for a second season.
The podcast deal, estimated to be worth $25 million, was one of the major commercial agreements the couple secured after stepping back from their royal duties and relocating to the United States in 2020.
Prince Harry expressed his hope that the podcasts would bring forward diverse perspectives and unheard voices.
Archetypes, which ran for 12 episodes from August 2022, featured Meghan engaging in conversations with influential figures like Serena Williams and Mariah Carey, focusing on the stereotypes faced by women.
The podcast garnered recognition and won the top podcast award at the People’s Choice Award in Los Angeles in December.
While the specific reasons for the termination of the Spotify deal have not been disclosed, both parties expressed pride in the series they created together. The end of this partnership marks a change in the couple’s podcasting endeavors.
At the time, Meghan wrote: “I loved digging my hands into the process, sitting up late at night in bed, working on the writing and creative.
“And I loved digging deep into meaningful conversation with my diverse and inspiring guests, laughing and learning with them. It has been such a labour of love.”
The Wall Street Journal quoted an Archewell spokeswoman as saying Meghan was “continuing to develop more content for the Archetypes audience on another platform”.
When the agreement with Spotify was first announced, it was billed as a relationship which would produce several series – but in the end, only one materialised.
American media reports suggest the royal couple failed to meet the productivity benchmark required by Spotify, and therefore wouldn’t be receiving the full value of the contract.
Since splitting from the royal family, Harry and Meghan have looked to capitalise on their global fame in order to become financially independent.
That has included a multi-million dollar content deal with Netflix, and Harry’s huge contract with Penguin Books, which has already produced his autobiography Spare.
It follows Spotify’s announcement last week that it was cutting 200 jobs in its podcast division after a period of heavy investment in the medium, saying it was embarking on a “strategic realignment”.