Viewers of the Joe Rogan Experience podcast continue to plead for the full episodes to return to YouTube instead of being exclusively available on Spotify, after users report issues with video playback on the music streaming platform.
Joe Rogan is one of the internet’s most popular podcasters, and the JRE has been hosted on YouTube since it started in 2009. In that time he’s racked up over 10 million subscribers on the site, but in December 2020 the show made a controversial move to Spotify exclusivity.
While interesting clips from the show are uploaded to the PowerfulJRE YouTube channel, the podcast episodes can’t be watched in their entirety unless you watch them on Spotify.
Spotify originally wanted to do audio-only recordings of the show, but Rogan and his management managed to convince the streaming service to facilitate the upload of the video recordings, after explaining that some of the show’s most viral moments wouldn’t have happened without video.
The move was generally not a popular one among fans, however, with people saying that “YouTube was more convenient,” as well as, “missing all the comments! When are you gonna get comments on Spotify!”
While it was expected that the controversy would calm down after a few months of the podcast being on Spotify, many fans remain frustrated that they can’t have the same experience on Spotify as they did on YouTube.
After the release of episode 100 of the Joe Rogan Experience MMA show, many shared their concerns in the comments of Rogan’s Instagram post promoting the new installment, as well as on Twitter.
https://twitter.com/RiversLocal/status/1360284051630747649
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You can only watch on desktop or on your phone, @Spotify hasn't made video available on TV apps or console or any other media player.. it's incredible how incompetent of move it is 🤦♂️ @joerogan @JamieVernon
— Kealan Walsh (@kealan_walsh) February 14, 2021
“I can’t even see the Spotify video on my TV, just audio wtf,” one listener said. Others claim, “all I hear on Spotify are ads, the interviews aren’t loading,” with some simply saying that, “Spotify kinda sucks.”
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On Twitter one user explained: “It’s awesome that you have video now, but I hope you work on getting video on my TV app where I would enjoy using it, since I can’t enjoy the show on its previous home anymore.” They added that: “I’m not going to sit at my desk, or stare at my phone for 3 hours.”
https://twitter.com/mikermcfarland/status/1360772907807297539
It seems that users who are watching via a TV, and not a phone, tablet, or laptop, are unable to watch the video that accompanies the audio, and this is a deal-breaker for many viewers.
With Joe often pulling up clips to share with guests and viewers throughout the show, the lack of video is certainly restrictive for some. Many fans hope that Spotify is working on implementing the video feature to TVs and other devices too, as people continue to report the impact it has on their enjoyment of the show.