Joe Rogan Fleeing LA for ATX?
In a recent episode of "The Joe Rogan Experience," the podcast and comedian claimed that he was preparing to leave California and move to Texas. After railing against his podcast colleagues and comedians on his podcast "Elon Musk and the Planet of the Apes," he announced that he could move to Texas if things didn't change. If you follow JoeRogan as he packs up and moves from Los Angeles to Texas, follow him on Twitter at @ JoeRogan. Sources: 1, 5, 11
I'm going to Texas, "Rogan said in an interview with the Austin American-Statesman on his podcast," The Joe Rogans Experience. Sources: 0
Within hours of the email being sent, news broke that Rogan had signed an exclusive deal with Spotify that would move all of his podcast content, including video, exclusively to the platform. The deal will make "The Joe Rogans Experience" available on Spotify as an "exclusive" platform from September 1, 2020. Since then, the Spotify - JoeRogan scoop has dealt a major blow to Apple Podcasts, and will also upset the JRE Vodcast, where it has attracted over 2 billion views to date. We have complained to find out more about the details of the deal and the exact terms since news broke that he had signed it. Sources: 6, 7, 9, 10
Forbes now estimates that "The Joe Rogan Experience" currently generates about $30 million in revenue per year, but whether Spotify will get a cut of that figure and how SPOT's own podcast ad technology might affect it is currently unknown. If we take that number, what will happen to the $1.5 million annual revenue of the JRE Vodcast from advertising on Spotify? Sources: 10
The really puzzling thing is that the man himself, Rogan, is doing this while he's in La La Land, which is California. Perhaps the question should not be whether or not he moves to Texas, but whether he leads a "lifestyle off the grid." Independent podcasters are the people who create and distribute audio and video content, and that means people like Elon Musk and Joe Rogans, and many others. If you're a big name and a bit of a celebrity, you can be an independent podcast, but that's going to be a different and very public issue. Or should he leave California altogether and live in the remote area - the one he lives in? Sources: 3, 4, 11
While it seems Rogan and Schaub are at home in the Lone Star State, Willie Nelson once said, "You can't tell a Texan much, but you can always tell him what they can tell you." And while the move from Los Angeles to Austin certainly seems to have freed something from Matthew McConaughey, I can understand the desire to move from LA to Texas, and Joe Rogan's desire to live in Texas. He insists he will only move to Texas if the state relaxes its restrictions on coronavirus. Sources: 2, 11
While it's unclear whether Rogan is factoring this into his decision to pull out, it fits into an ongoing realization many fans have about his podcast, which tends to shoot for a more "realistic" tone than his other shows. Joe Rogans has been criticised by fans in the past for various comments he has made about his relationship with his wife and children. Sources: 5
Not to be outdone, popular podcast and comedian Joe Rogan has apparently also threatened to move from California to Texas. In a post on his Facebook page on Tuesday, Rogans explained his intention to relocate to Southern California and move to Texas, according to the Los Angeles Times. What do JoeRogan's fans think of the podcaster's decision to go to Texas, even though marijuana has not been legalized in the state? Sources: 1, 3, 5
The post does not mention where the studio is located in Texas, but it is likely that if Rogan had just bought a house in Austin, it could be located there. Since the property was acquired by a trust, the new owner is someone everyone probably recognizes: a man named Joseph "Joe" Rogan. Sources: 1, 8
One issue Rogan does not address, however, is the huge tax relief he would receive if he moved to Texas. As Newsweek reports, Rogans could benefit from a tax cut of up to $1.5 million in individual income taxes that are not collected in Texas, as well as a reduction in his state's income tax rate. Sources: 5
If you went to Joe Rogan's house and filled your truck with money, you could spend a lot of money on exclusive podcasts. You'd have to be careful that he has a lot of legal issues to deal with with Spotify and other streaming services, but everyone on his team is happy to get the numbers. If you're a fan of his content, he keeps it off Spotify, which is a big deal for his fans and for Spotify's profits. Sources: 4, 10
If you want to advertise Joe Rogan's experiences on the podcast, he is sticking to his existing ad strategy of running ads read by the host and winning sponsors along the way. If advertisers are willing to pay $30-40 CPM for this, that's a message Joe is delivering and that they are the person listening to his experience podcast. He has 11 million downloads and Spotify wants to make a purchase, so they're buying him for hundreds of millions of dollars and considering whether they're going to do a deal that they're actually going to do.