Serena Williams announced that she was retiring from tennis, and the Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle was fast to invite her to the opening episode of her podcast. According to Spotify, shortly after the premiere on the 23rd of August, the Archetypes Podcast reached the top of the charts on the platform.
How much of this is true? Continue reading to find out. Spotify tells us that the Archetypes podcast continues to attract massive ‘traffic’ on the platform. Despite the major ‘success’ the podcast briefly fell to 2nd place in the US and India. The Joe Rogan Experience podcast overtook the lead in the US, and the ‘Ranveer Show’ overtook in India. The two major Spotify ‘markets’ in the world.
Users Call Megham Markle’s Podcast Ranking ‘Fake’ – Spotify Looking For Excuse To Justify The Money Spent On The Deal
Starting from the 1st of September, Meghan Markle’s Archetypes podcast was in first place in seven countries including the US, Canada, Uk, Ireland, India, Australia, and New Zealand.
According to the Daily Mail, and other newsletters around the world, this is all fabricated. The platform is blamed for altering the numbers and manipulating the charts to keep the California-based Duchess of Sussex on top of the list.
The measuring for success on Spotify is done in different ways. One is the measurement for attracting newcomers to the platform. Another is a combination of the number of total followers and the number of recent unique listeners. However, the episode rankings are determined solely by the number of unique listeners on that day.
Now, from Spotify, they state that all this data is computed into a complex algorithm that converts it and outputs the podcast chart rankings.
The Joe Rogan Experience dropped a single episode the past week. The controversial show tops the charts on Spotify ever since its appearance on the platform. It is popular due to the controversy surrounding it. Joe Rogan usually hosts controversial characters and makes controversial claims that are somewhat ‘accepted’ by the wide public, making the show a complete success. This week, Rogan dropped only one episode, the same as Meghan Markle. She dropped one episode as well, and according to Spotify, it has been a death race for the first place.
In the most recent episode, Meghan Markle hosted Mariah Carrey, the five-time Grammy winner. They spoke about the struggles and the difficulties raised by being born a mixed-race person, about finding their freedom, as well as about the complexities surrounding the word ‘diva’.
Spotify’s data, made public for all users, shows that British Spotify users are more inclined to listen to Joe Rogan, Rob Beckett, and Josh Widdecombe in the contrast to listening to Meghan Markle and her Archetypes podcast.
The Twitterati worldwide recognize the rankings and the obvious ‘non-explanatory’ bias by which Archetypes appears in the first place.
“Why is Archetypes no 1 in the Spotify US chart when, in the episode chart, both releases are way down the page?? Don’t get it!” – one American started the conversation.
The comments started lining up on it. “They paid $18 Million, were criticized – now they want to make it seem it was worth the deal”. – another one points out.
“Genuinely wish I’d recorded my mother’s reaction to Meghan Markle’s podcast ‘Don’t tell me we’re listening to MEGHAN’” – a British Spotify user Fleur Elizabeth wrote.
Joe Rogan keeps on breaking records. His shows have more views than ever, and according to Spotify, he gets new listeners each day. So the question asks itself. How does Meghan Markle surpass the popularity of Joe Rogan?
“Meghan Markle’s podcast beating Joe Rogan? I did a simple google trend search: Joe Rogan twice the popularity of Meghan Markle, and the Joe Rogan Experience five times the popularity of Meghan’s Archetypes podcast. The trend is consistent. I call BS.” – one tweet points out. “Meghan Markle claims to be ambitious. Yet it took her over a year to produce the first episode of her podcast. She claims to be a feminist. Yet constantly uses her husband’s social position and family connections to accumulate money and power for herself. Megain Archetypes”
The unusual calculation of popularity comes to light when you look at the top episodes in several world regions. For example, in Germany, the Archetypes podcast is in 10th place in the podcast rankings, however, when you look at the single episodes, there is no episode from the archetypes podcast even in the top 100 episodes.
In France, we have a similar situation. The podcast is in 2nd place! The second place of all podcasts! But the two podcast episodes are in the 34th and in 62nd place respectively. What is the variable that counters the episode rankings? Something needs to surpass the episode rankings value and push the podcast in the 2nd place. However, seems like we cannot explain what it is.
In Norway, the podcast is in 3rd place on the rankings list. However, the Mariah Carrey episode is in 89th place for most listened-to episodes. The Serena Williams episode is not even in the top 100. So something here is not as it should be.
Next week, Meghan Markle will release a new episode of the podcast. She will have the actor, comedian, writer, director, and producer Mindy Kaling as her guest. We will see how that one will finish in the ranking lists.
Meghan will host people from different professions and surroundings for the following episodes of the podcast. The Spotify podcast will make an attempt to attract as much traction as possible. Actor Margaret Cho, journalist and author Allison Yarrow, comedian Robin Thede, and Nigerian American comedian and writer Ziwe Fumudoh are just a part of the hinted guests for the Archetypes podcast.
