Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have cut ties with streaming giant Spotify. As we reported earlier today, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s deal with the firm has ended after just one series of Meghan's podcast.
Following a "mutual agreement" between the royals and the streaming giant, a joint statement from Archewell Audio and Spotify was released.
Meghan hosted only one series as part of the £18 million deal - the podcast Archetypes - which ran for 12 episodes from August 2022, chatting to celebrities, historians and experts about the history of stereotypes levelled against women.
But as speculation grows about what has been going on behind the scenes, some media commentators are offering up their thoughts on what they think has brought the contract to an end.
Future News Editor Ian Silvera told Express.co.uk that one theory is Spotify felt their output was being diluted by the couple's deals with other companies.
He said: "The Sussexes have been working with other media companies, including Netflix and Penguin Random House.
"This has meant that their audio exclusivity with Spotify has been diluted – why listen to the podcast when you can watch the documentary?"
He added: "The Sussex experiment should make podcast platforms think twice about the types of arrangements they sign with celebrities and what other media work that personality or personalities may be signed up to."
Dhilon Solanki, founder of personal podcast gift platform Story Locker, told Express.co.uk that the "cosy" format of the podcast could have been a problem.
He said: "Archetypes successfully mined the couple's showbiz contacts book to serve up A-List guests like Serena Williams and Paris Hilton, but the show's format often felt too much like a cosy 'Meghan and friends' affair - rather than one that delivered great insights for its audience.
"What sets podcasting apart from traditional broadcasting is its greater ability to focus on individual stories and people.
"Ultra-personal podcasts can build strong and hugely loyal followings, but this series struggled to rise above self-help platitudes. Listeners expected to hear from the real Meghan, but this was often in short supply as she stayed in host mode."
Tennis star Serena Williams, singer Mariah Carey, Paris Hilton and actors Mindy Kaling and Constance Wu were among the guests on Archewell.
The joint statement from Archewell and Spotify said: “Spotify and Archewell Audio have mutually agreed to part ways and are proud of the series we made together.”
Harry and Meghan signed the lucrative deal with the audio streaming giant to host and produce podcasts, estimated to be worth around 25 million US dollars (£18 million), in late 2020.
In December, Archetypes won the top podcast award at the People’s Choice Award in Los Angeles.
Meghan wrote on the couple’s Archewell website at the time: “I loved digging my hands into the process, sitting up late at night in bed, working on the writing and creative.
“And I loved digging deep into meaningful conversation with my diverse and inspiring guests, laughing and learning with them.
“It has been such a labour of love.”
The Wall Street Journal quoted an Archewell spokeswoman as saying Meghan was "continuing to develop more content for the Archetypes audience on another platform".
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