Real reason Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s Spotify deal collapsed

Spotify was one of their most lucrative post-royal life contracts – and a huge clue it was about be cancelled actually came weeks ago.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s Spotify deal has been cancelled. Picture: Angela Weiss/AFP

It was one of the most lucrative jewels in Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s post-royal crown - making the collapse of their Spotify deal recently all the more shocking.

However, a huge clue at what was to come was actually delivered all the way back in April with some very telling remarks by the streaming giant’s CEO, Daniel Ek, who admitted the company had been “overpaying” and “overinvesting”.

“We’re going to be very diligent in how we invest in future content deals,” Ek said on a conference call with financial analysts earlier this year, according to the BBC.

“And the ones that aren’t performing, obviously, we won’t renew. And the ones that are performing, we will obviously look at those on a case-by-case basis on the relative value.”

According to The Sun, Spotify was looking to drop any content not meeting audience demands – a policy which appears to have also claimed former First Lady Michelle Obama’s podcast, which was dropped last year.

Harry and Meghan have parted ways with Spotify. Picture: Angela Weiss/AFP

The Sussex arrangement, estimated to be worth somewhere between $29 million and $37 million AUD, was declared officially over in a joint statement from Spotify and Harry and Meghan’s company, Archewell Audio, last week. In it, both parties stated they had “mutually agreed to part ways and are proud of the series we made together”.

The series referred to was the Duchess of Sussex’s 13-episode single season of Archetypes, which featured several of her celebrity friends and looked to dissect the labels thrust upon women.

Following its debut, Archetypes became the top podcast on Spotify and won a People’s Choice Award in December. However, sources told Variety that Spotify executives had expected more content from their eye-watering deal with the Sussexes.

According to The Wall Street Journal, the couple did not meet the “productivity benchmarks” required to get the full payout before their contract ended.

It’s unclear how much they ultimately made from the arrangement.

There are question marks surrounding the couple’s deal with Netflix now, too. Picture: Samir Hussein/WireImage

In the wake of their Spotify departure, there’s also been speculation about the future of Harry and Meghan’s whopping multimillion-dollar deal with Netflix, with reports it may also be in jeopardy.

That deal, also made in 2020, was worth a reported US$100 million (A$145 million).

While last year’s Harry & Meghan docu-series was the most-watched subscription TV show of 2022, there are no plans for a follow-up – and aside from the Duke of Sussex’s upcoming Invictus documentary, Heart of Invictus, there appear to be no other projects in the pipeline.

The Duchess of Sussex’s animated series, Pearl, was axed last May before it could even get off the ground.

A source told The Sun that there is “a less friendly attitude” toward the Sussex deal “from some at the top” at Netflix.

“The feeling is that the lemon has been fully squeezed. The big bucks Harry and Meghan signed in for do not exist today.”

Originally published as Real reason Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s Spotify deal collapsed