The biggest podcasting star Joe Rogan has renewed his deal with Spotify but the new multiyear deal is different from what it was. At the moment The Joe Rogan Experience is exclusive to the streamer but the new deal will allow it to be distributed to YouTube, Apple, and other podcasting platforms.

Though financial terms of the deal have not been disclosed by Spotify, The Wall Street Journal reports that it’s worth $250m, including revenue share while his previous deal was estimated to be worth between $100 million and $200 million. A report from Reuters says the estimated value of the deal mentioned in the WSJ report is incorrect.

There are a few takeaways from the new arrangement. First, this is election year in the US and a larger distribution base means his listenership will only grow. Second, with wide distribution, Spotify will no longer have this massive podcast exclusive to the platform. Rogan’s show forms the backbone of Spotify’s podcasting strategy.

A few years ago, the company went all in on podcast deals to lock in users to the platform. The deals were huge and nobody is sure how far it helped with ad sales. A few days ago, Call Her Daddy went wide access and the company launched a new show with Trevor Noah last year under the same arrangement.

Joe Rogan has interviewed well-known politicians, businessmen and celebrities, including Quentin Tarantino, Miley Cyrus and Elon Musk. Spotify started added podcasts in 2015 and made a big push into the medium from 2019, buying podcast networks Gimlet Media and Anchor FM and signing exclusive deals with reality TV star Kim Kardashian and former US president Barack Obama. The exclusivity policy helped Spotify in some ways. At first, the company acquired top podcasts and studios at the time and then lured podcast listeners away from Apple.

“I think podcasting is an art form and I definitely sucked at it when I first started. I was curious, but I didn’t understand how to make a conversation flow. I didn’t know when to shut up and listen, and I didn’t know how to make someone comfortable so that you can get the most out of their perspective. I’ve learned how to assist the conversation’s flow instead of waiting for my turn to talk. I learned how to be fully locked in with what the other person is saying,” Joe has told Spotify.