Spotify strikes exclusive deal with ‘Call Her Daddy’ podcast

Undated handout image of Alex Cooper, host of the podcast “Call Her Daddy”. Sarah Krick/Spotify/Handout via REUTERS

Spotify Technology SA on Tuesday announced a multi-year deal to stream the popular podcast ‘Call Her Daddy’, hosted by Alex Cooper on its audio streaming platform, in its latest exclusive tie-up to keep listeners hooked.

The Swedish company will exclusively stream ‘Call Her Daddy’ starting July 21, including all back catalogue full-length episodes, future episodes and additional exclusive new projects in development, Spotify said in statement, without disclosing any financial details of the deal.

The three-year old raunchy talk show grew popular with a younger female audience on candid conversations about sex and relationships, with fans referring to themselves as ‘The Daddy Gang’. It is also the fifth-most-popular streamed podcast globally on Spotify.

Cooper, 26, formerly hosted ‘Call Her Daddy’ with her best friend Sofia Frankyln. But a public spat over contractual disputes with the podcast’s current owner sports and pop-culture focused digital media firm Barstool Sports led to Franklyn leaving the show to start her own independent podcast.

Spotify has been boosting its podcast muscle by spending more than $500 million in buying podcast networks Gimlet and Anchor, and podcast advertising company Megaphone.

Spotify declined to comment on financial details, but the Wall Street Journal had reported on June 11 that the agreement could top $20 million, citing people familiar with the matter.