Obamas strike a deal with Audible following Spotify exit

The Obamas’ media company ‘Higher Ground’ has signed a multi-year deal with Amazon Inc-owned Audible to make original audio content, after ending its three-year run with Spotify.

The terms of the agreement announced on Tuesday were not disclosed. The deal gives Audible the right to have a first look at the new material before others in the industry get access to it.

Big news to share today. @HGMedia, @BarackObama and @MichelleObama – welcome to Audible! Read on for more about our exciting announcement. https://t.co/tWH5DtixTQ

— Audible (@audible_com) June 21, 2022

‘Higher Ground’ signed its first podcast deal with Spotify in 2019 and went on to make shows such as ‘The Michelle Obama Podcast’ and ‘Born in the USA’, a series of conversations between former U.S. President Barack Obama and musician Bruce Springsteen.

Listen in as President Obama and Bruce Springsteen reflect on what they learned from becoming fathers. Renegades: Born in The USA is available to stream on Spotify and wherever else you listen to podcasts. pic.twitter.com/gLAsBnuauK

— Higher Ground (@HGMedia) June 19, 2022

But the Swedish audio-streaming platform declined to renew its deal with the ‘Higher Ground’, prompting the Obamas to seek new partners, Bloomberg News reported in April.

The report had said that ‘Higher Ground’ was then in talks with other distributors about a deal worth tens of millions of dollars, among the most lucrative in the podcasting business.