Spotify has inked an exclusive deal to distribute Kim Kardashian West's new podcast, a spokesperson confirmed to Axios.
Why it matters: The deal, unlike Spotify's purchase of "The Ringer" in February and its exclusive arrangement to distribute "The Joe Rogan Experience" beginning this fall, includes female producers and hosts, which could lure a more diverse, female-centric audience to the platform.
Details: The podcast will be co-produced and co-hosted by West and television producer Lori Rothschild Ansaldi, according to the Wall Street Journal, which was first to break the news.
- A Spotify spokesperson confirmed details of the Journal's report, which notes that the podcast will be adjacent to West's work with the Innocence Project, a nonprofit that focuses on exonerating wrongfully convicted individuals and criminal justice reform.
- Kardashian West has been studying law to bolster her work with the Innocence Project.
- She met with President Trump in June 2018 and encouraged him to issue clemency to Alice Johnson, a 63-year-old woman serving a life sentence without parole for a nonviolent drug offense. Trump signed a commutation for Johnson the next week.
Be smart: The deal to exclusively distribute the podcast is especially timely, given the current reckoning for racial injustice, criminal justice and police reform sweeping the U.S.
The big picture: This is Spotify's third major investment in an exclusive podcast this year. The company has invested more than $600 million on acquiring podcast companies and exclusive rights to podcasts in an effort to diversify its business away from streaming music.
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