Musical acts make $1 million+ per concert (if they're doing arenas), so they're not in the poor house.
I know what you're saying, but one thing really doesn't have to do with the other. What artists make at concerts really isn't related to them not being compensated fairly or properly by Spotify. And
most artists on Spotify
don't make that kind of money performing at concerts, nor will they ever. Spotify is a great thing for consumers - they have access to hundreds of millions of songs at their fingertips, but the artists are definitely taking a bit of a shafting when it comes to royalty payments.
Rogan has $100 million, so there's no need for him to do anything different. His ascension has been interesting. He's sort of done the McDonalds thing of being consistent. Not amazing, not perfect. Just consistent - grinding it out. He's been podcasting for 20+ years. And despite being gullible for conspiracy theories (even the really dumb ones), the one biggest thing he's had going for him was his lack of an ego. He's said countless times that he's an idiot, that he's an expert on nothing, and that no one should base their political decisions on what he says.
Rogan's deal with Spotify was worth $100 million over 3 years I believe, and it was a terrific deal for him because it's straight licensing. Spotify doesn't own any part of his show or company, and when the deal is up he's free to up and take all his episodes anywhere. Great deal for both of them. Really. Rogan got a fat pay-check and Spotify got to claim the podcast throne from Apple off Rogan's back.
I think his biggest draw is his open-mind and his humility. He comes across as a very humble, like-able guy. He comes across as a very genuine, kind person. There is no bullshit or pretension to anything about him. He hasn't "sold out" or become some hack rooting for one team or out-come no matter what. He's not rooting for one team over the other team. One thing I like about him is that he rants against tribalism constantly. He's pretty much the same guy now that he was when he started his podcast out of his garage in 2009 when no one was listening or watching.
He has had experts in an incredible number of different fields on, talking for 2-3 hours, while asking questions and for clarifications just as any layperson would. THAT is what's drawn people in. He's not always up against a commercial break or arbitrarily ending the show at a set number of minutes, and it's allowed for conversations to occur that you can't find anywhere else. Not because he's particularly deep or knowledgeable, but because he's never been beholden to anyone. He ends the podcast when everything's been fleshed out, not because a focus group says an ideal podcast length is 92 minutes.
I can't tell you how many times I've been enjoying one of my other podcasts and they "need" to wrap it up.....because.....reasons? Because if you spoke about philosophy or college football or religion for 7 more minutes, the world would explode? All your listeners would complain? What? It's stupid.
Joe Rogan isn't great at anything except not being a slave to the clock. The mainstream everything can't handle that.
I agree with pretty much all of this, except the end. I think Joe Rogan is
great at connecting with other people. He's just a humble, genuine, down to earth regular guy. And I think that's one of the things that has made him so big right now. People appreciate sincerity, authenticity, and honesty. Especially when they get it almost nowhere else.