Meghan Markle’s Spotify podcast ‘is being scrapped’ as streaming platform ‘renews output’
Meghan Markle’s Archetypes podcast ‘being scrapped by Spotify’ as streaming platform ‘renews output’ with her and Harry ‘losing full payout due to low productivity’
- The first episode of Archetypes launched last August as part of a £20 million deal
Meghan Markle’s Spotify podcast Archetypes will not be renewed for a second season as the audio company begins making changes and revamping its output, it has been reported.
Plans to cancel the Duchess of Sussex’s show, which explores the ‘labels that try to stop women’, follow months ago discussions about renewing for a second series.
Meghan and her husband Prince Harry reportedly signed a $20 million deal with Spotify for the project in late 2020. But insiders close to the audio giant claim the royal couple failed to meet the productivity benchmark required to receive the full payout, the Wall Street Journal reported.
However, the determined Duchess still plans to create more podcasts and find a new home for her series, which previously featured her friend and tennis star Serena Williams, pop sensation Mariah Carey and South African comedian Trevor Noah.
The show’s halt comes after sources close to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex claimed the couple would stop making telltale Netflix documentaries, publishing memoirs and attending interviews bashing the royal family as they have nothing more to say.
Meghan Markle’s Spotify podcast Archetypes will not be renewed for a second season, it has been reported
Archetypes was launched last August and explores the ‘labels that try to stop women’. The Duke and Duchess reportedly signed the deal for $20 million but will not receive the full payout as it failed to meet the productivity benchmark
Meghan concluded her 12th episode in the Archetypes podcast series with a provocative poetry about survival
Spotify reportedly held talks for a second series of Archetypes earlier in the year after the first season ended, but talks later stalled.
The talent agency that recently signed Meghan, WME, told the WSJ, “The team behind Archetypes continues to be proud of the podcast they created at Spotify. Meghan will continue to develop more content for the Archetypes audience on another platform.”
The podcast reached the top of Spotify’s charts the week it premiered.
Spotify, Archwell and WME have been approached by MailOnline.
It comes as Spotify announced it would be laying off about 200 staff – about two percent of its workforce – who work within their podcast teams. It cited difficulties in making podcasts profitable despite its popularity among listeners.
Meghan concluded her 12th installment in the Archetypes podcast series with a provocative poetry about survival, but made no mention of a possible second series.
Closing the show, which featured men for the first time, she quoted the Greek post-war poet Dinos Chrisianopoulos saying, “What didn’t you do to bury me?” But you forgot I was a seed.’
Discussions to publish more content from Archwell, the production company owned by the royal couple, are ongoing, the paper reported.
There are also suggestions that Meghan could soon be looking to bring her wellness and lifestyle blog the Tig, in a bid to rival Gwynth Paltrow’s Goop website, which is reportedly worth £200 million.
It comes amid reports that the pair will stop making documentaries and tell-all books because they have ‘nothing left to say’
The royal couple has racked up millions since moving to California. Prince Harry’s amazing memoir, Spare, was part of a $20 million book deal
Since officially leaving the royal family and moving to California in 2020, the Duke and Duchess have taken a number of different avenues to generate income.
This includes Prince Harry’s bombshell memoir Spare, which he made as part of a $20 million deal with Penguin Books.
The pair also teamed up with Netflix to produce the Harry and Meghan docuseries, with the streaming giant reportedly paying the pair $100 million for the six-episode series.