Spotify announced Friday that it had signed a multi-year agreement with President and Michelle Obama’s expanded production company. It said that Higher Ground Audio will produce podcasts exclusively for Spotify.
Obamas Amplifying ‘Voices That are too Often Ignored’
Spotify said that President and Mrs. Obama will appear in some of the podcasts. Their production company, Higher Ground, already has a deal to produce programming for Netflix. Apple also tried to negotiate a content deal with the former President after he departed the White House.
The former First Couple believes “podcasts offer an extraordinary opportunity to foster productive dialogue, make people smile and make people think, and, hopefully, bring us all a little closer together,” said President Obama. “We’re thrilled to have the opportunity to amplify voices that are too often ignored or silenced altogether, and through Spotify, we can share those stories with the world,” Mrs. Obama said.
Spotify Chief Content Officer, Dawn Ostroff said: “Connecting people with original and thoughtful creators — especially those with the ability to highlight underrepresented and indispensable narratives — is at the core of our mission and we are thrilled that not only will the Obamas be producing content, but that they will be lending their voices to this effort.”
These aren’t podcasts, they’re programs. Podcasts aren’t platform-limited.