Creative Differences Didn’t Stop Harry and Meghan From Inking 2020 Spotify Deal, Author Claims: ‘They Were in a Desperate Place’
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, along with Spotify, weren’t a good match, and, per an author, the couple had an inkling that might be the case from the start. According to Endgame author Omid Scobie, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex inked the 2020 deal, among others, due to immense “financial pressure” after moving to the U.S. and being financially cut off by King Charles III. Ahead, a look at the “desperate” situation Harry and Meghan found themselves in. Plus, why, Scobie says, they and Spotify mutually agreed to part ways in 2023.
Harry and Meghan signed with Spotify after defying King Charles and losing ‘all financial support’
While promoting his newest book, Endgame: Inside the Royal Family and the Monarchy’s Fight for Survival, which debuted on Nov. 28, royal correspondent Scobie discussed Harry and Meghan’s Spotify deal. Moreover, the events leading up to the flurry of deals they signed with Spotify, Netflix, and Penguin Random House.
Speaking to The Independent, Scobie shared that the deals were a way to lessen “financial pressure” after relocating stateside. Furthermore, drama with Harry’s father, known as Prince Charles at the time, only added to it.
Why? Because the now-75-year-old cut Harry and Meghan off financially. Scobie told the outlet the move came as a response to Harry’s repeated claims his brother Prince William’s communications team leaked stories about him and Meghan to a British tabloid while the pair were still living in England.
“Senior aides said, ‘If you don’t stop poking into this, you’re going to face the consequences,’” Scobie said. “Not long later he was cut off from all financial support, including security, which Prince Charles was funding privately. That sends someone into a spin of having to sign a whole bunch of deals.”
Harry and Meghan’s Spotify deal ‘fell apart’ because they didn’t want to do ‘media-stirring content’
Think back on Harry and Meghan’s Spotify projects that got off the ground, and they’re very limited. The now-parents of two recorded a “2020 Archewell Audio Holiday Special” before Meghan’s Archetypes podcast, which ran for only one season, debuted in August 2022.
As for why Harry and Meghan’s $20 million Spotify deal “fell apart,” Scobie put it down to creative differences. The audio company wanted “headline-grabbing, media-stirring content” from the couple, which Harry and Meghan didn’t want to do.
“Obviously, they had money,” Scobie said. “But they needed serious money for a proper roof over their heads and security. It was the middle of a pandemic; of course, you’re going to sign the deals.”
“I’d imagine the couple knew at the start that’s what Spotify wanted from them,” he continued. “But the money was on the table, and they were in a desperate place.”
Harry and Meghan didn’t realize Spotify would ‘turn down so many of their ideas’
On the topic of the deal, Scobie wrote in Endgame Harry and Meghan didn’t realize Spotify would “turn down so many of their ideas.” Additionally, he shared they’ve learned a “mountain of lessons” about business from the failed partnership.
Harry and Meghan initially signed their Spotify deal in late 2020 to produce and host “programming that uplifts and entertains audiences around the world.” Fast-forward to June 2023, and the couple and Spotify announced their mutual decision to end the deal.
“Spotify and Archewell Audio have mutually agreed to part ways and are proud of the series we made together,” they said in a statement.
Amid Endgame revisiting the Spotify deal, Harry and Meghan may have a possible contract with Audible ahead.
