Did Spotify give the Sussexes a ‘gentle nudge’ to hurry up & produce some pods?

Are the Sussex Squad peeps okay with admitting that they thought they would be knee-deep in Sussex podcasts by now? In 2020, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex signed a deal with Spotify to create their own podcast and – I would guess – produce some original podcasts hosted by other people. Since Harry and Meghan got the Spotify deal, they’ve only produced one pod, a holiday special which dropped in late December last year. There’s been nothing pod-related all year! Even though the British media can be and often is extremely gross and nasty about the Sussexes’ business and money, I hope we can admit that it’s *slightly* strange that they haven’t done any kind of podding in 2021. Which is why I kind of believe this story from the Sun (I know, shocking), in which sources claim that Spotify executives were like “hey are you going to do a pod or what.”

Harry and Meghan are working to protect their £18million podcast deal after failing to produce any content this year — leaving Spotify chiefs mystified. Pressure has been mounting on the pair to follow up the only episode of their multi-year contract — a solitary 35-minute holiday special last December. Spotify last year excitedly announced it was expecting a full-scale launch of content from the Duke and Duchess of Sussex throughout 2021. But with only one show under their belts, the streaming platform has so far paid the couple £500,000 for each minute.

Meanwhile, Harry has appeared on numerous other podcasts, including Dax Shepard’s Armchair Expert in May, where he said his life was like Jim Carrey film The Truman Show. They both also found time to sit down for their sensational Oprah interview in March — while the Duchess played pranks on the Ellen DeGeneres show earlier this month.

Spotify bosses are said to have given the pair’s Archewell Audio brand a “gentle nudge” to finish the content and protect the future of the multimillion-pound deal. It is believed that the couple are now close to satisfying their streaming giant paymaster.

One source said: “Spotify were delighted when they signed the couple, but the lack of content has mystified them. Particularly as they seem to have no problem producing content for other platforms.”

The Sun understands Harry and Meghan, who hired veteran podcast producer Rebecca Sanaes as their head of audio in August, will announce a raft of new episodes in time for Christmas.

Another source said: “When Harry and Meghan signed the Spotify deal in December, they didn’t really have a full audio team behind them, there were no scripts ready and they hadn’t made podcasts before. The holiday special episode was whacked together but, even though it was well received by fans, it was hard for them to pull off.”

Archewell Audio was approached for comment. Spotify said last night: “Big things are coming. Stay tuned.”

[From The Sun]

Yeah, I kind of believe all of this? I think Spotify executives probably did exert some friendly pressure but there were no threats of lawsuits or anything like that. Meghan and Harry both took family leave from work when Lili Diana was born, but I also got the impression that they had set up a recording studio in their Montecito mansion, and that the business of Archewell went on while they were on leave. So… I would hope that Harry, Meghan and their team put together something substantial this year, enough to placate/pacify the executives. It would be great if they do drop, like, ten episodes of a pod before Christmas, people would absolutely love that and Isla de Saltines would spend the entire Christmas holiday fuming and crying.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, YouTube, The Ellen Show.

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