Joe Budden and his current negotiations with Spotify have been well-documented. If you've been following his Podcast for a while, you would know that Budden's podcast was one of the first to ever sign with Spotify, putting them in an odd position. As the Podcast industry has grown, so have the deals and as it stands, Budden and his podmates are stuck on a deal that doesn't exactly reflect the market. With the podcast's contract expiring soon, Budden has made his gripes with Spotify public and on his most recent podcast, the artist and podcaster divulged on some disturbing behind the scenes information.
In the clip below, Budden explained that at the beginning of the pandemic, the podcast took a break because Joe's father had fallen ill and was in the hospital. Previously, Spotify had not agreed to let the podcast take time off but in this instance, it became obvious that the guys needed a break to handle everything that was going on. As Joe recalls, a few weeks into this break, he received a phone call from Bill Simmons whose podcasts with The Ringer were bought by Spotify for $250 million. In the midst of the call, Joe claims that Simmons tried to walk him through how to conduct a podcast from home. When Budden said that he wasn't podding because of his father's illness, Simmons seemingly brushed over the fact and continued to explain how Zoom calls work.
Based on these remarks, it comes across as though Simmons and Spotify were quite insensitive to Budden's situation and were of the mindset that the pod must go on. Budden went on to say that eventually, they did start recording from home before going back to in-person broadcasts as that's what they're more comfortable with.
Joe finished the segment by saying that he's felt as though the podcast has been disrespected and that the Simmons call is yet another example of what's been building up over the past two years.
Budden's contract with Spotify is set to end soon which means in the coming weeks, we will see how this all plays out. Keep it locked to HNHH for all of the latest updates.