Former President Barack Obama and his wife, former first lady Michelle Obama, are set to part ways with audio streaming service Spotify.
The Obamas signed a three-year deal with Spotify in 2019, setting foot in the entertainment industry after leaving the White House, but with that agreement expiring, their production company is looking to take the operation to a different company, sources told Bloomberg.
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Higher Ground, the couple’s production company, has been engaged in negotiations with streaming services such as Amazon‘s Audible and iHeartMedia Inc. in a deal that could be worth tens of millions of dollars, according to the report, which noted that Spotify declined to make an offer, in part because of the desire to eschew exclusivity.
Higher Ground seeks a deal that will allow it to produce several shows and release them on multiple platforms. Spotify wanted more content featuring the Obamas themselves, while Higher Ground sought a variety of voices, the report said.
Among the podcast productions made under the Spotify arrangement were The Michelle Obama Podcast and Renegades: Born in the USA, which also featured singer-songwriter Bruce Springsteen.
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Reports of the Obamas looking to leave Spotify began to surface in February. Employees from the production company cited frustrations with trying to get “additional shows off the ground.”
The Washington Examiner reached out Spotify for comment but did not receive a response back.
