Kim Kardashian West to host criminal justice podcast for Spotify
Kim Kardashian became interested in criminal justice reform after helping to win the release two women from prison
Reality TV star Kim Kardashian West has reached a deal with Swedish music streaming company Spotify Technology SA to host a podcast related to criminal justice reform, a representative for West said on Wednesday.
The show, to be available exclusively on Spotify, will be connected to West's work with The Innocence Project, a nonprofit that fights wrongful convictions, the representative said.
Best known for developing beauty and fashion products and chronicling her life with her sisters on TV's "Keeping Up with the Kardashians," West became interested in criminal justice reform after helping to win the release two women from prison. She is currently studying to become a lawyer through a California apprenticeship program.
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The new podcast will highlight the investigative work of TV producer Lori Rothschild Ansaldi, West's representative said.
No financial terms were disclosed for the deal, which was first reported by the Wall Street Journal.
Spotify, which has over 700,000 podcasts on its platform and reaches nearly 300 million monthly users, has been investing in big names to draw audiences to non-musical content. In May, it signed a deal for exclusive rights to a popular podcast by comedian Joe Rogan.
The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
With deals like Joe Rogan's and now one with Kardashian West, Spotify has established itself as the most well-funded company in the podcast ecosystem. The Swedish company is willing to pay for exclusivity, and it's clearly interested in chipping away at the dominance of other platform owners like Apple and, to a lesser extent, YouTube, where plenty of podcasters also post video versions of recordings. (Rogan's popular YouTube channel will no longer contain full episodes after his Spotify deal kicks in fully later in 2020.)
Despite the pandemic changing people's daily lives, Spotify said its podcast business is growing. About 19% of Spotify's monthly active users listen to podcasts.
