Meghan Markle’s Spotify podcast is axed as streaming platform ‘revamps output’

Meghan Markle’s Spotify podcast Archetypes will not be renewed for a second season, as the audio company begins to make changes and revamp its output, it has been confirmed. 

The streaming giant and the Sussexes’s audio production company Archewell Audio released a joint statement on Thursday night saying they have ‘mutually agreed to part ways and are proud of the series we made together’.

Meghan and Harry reportedly signed a £15million ($20million) deal with Spotify for the project in late 2020 but insiders close to the audio giant claim the royal couple did not meet the productivity benchmark required to receive the full payout, the Wall Street Journal reported.

The move to ditch the Duchess of Sussex’s show, which explores the ‘labels that try to hold women back’, follows discussions months ago about renewing it for a second series.

The determined Duchess, however, is still planning to create more podcasts and find a new home for her series, that has previously featured her friend and tennis star Serena Williams, pop sensation Mariah Carey and South African comedian Trevor Noah.

Archetypes launched in August last year, exploring the ‘labels that try to hold women back’. The Duke and Duchess reportedly signed the deal for $20million but will not receive the full payout as it did not reach the productivity benchmark 

Meghan signed off her 12th episode in the Archetypes podcast series with a defiant piece of poetry about survival

The axing of the show comes after sources close to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex claimed the pair would stop making tell-all Netflix documentaries, publishing memoirs and sitting down for interviews that bash the Royal Family, as they have ‘nothing left to say’.

Spotify was said to have carried out conversations for a second series of Archetypes last year following the end of the first season, but talks later stalled.

The talent agency that recently signed Meghan, WME, told the Wall Street Journal: ‘The team behind Archetypes remain proud of the podcast they created at Spotify. Meghan is continuing to develop more content for the Archetypes audience on another platform.’

The podcast reached the top of Spotify’s charts in the week it premiered.  

Spotify, Archwell and WME have been contacted by MailOnline. 

It comes as Spotify announced it would be laying off around 200 staff members – around 2 per cent of their workforce – who work within their podcast teams. It cited difficulties in making podcasts profitable, despite its popularity among listeners. 

Meghan signed off her 12th and last Archetypes episode with a defiant piece of poetry about survival – but made no mention of a potential second series.

Closing the show, which featured men for the first time, she quoted the Greek post-war poet Dinos Christianopoulos and said: ‘What didn’t you do to bury me? But you forgot that I was a seed.’

Discussions to publish more content from Archwell – the production company owned by the royal couple – are ongoing, the Wall Street Journal reported. 

There are also suggestions that Meghan could soon look to bring her wellness and lifestyle blog The Tig, in a bid to rival Gwyneth Paltrow’s Goop website, which is reportedly worth £200million.

It comes amid reports that the couple will stop making documentaries and tell-all books as they have ‘nothing left to say’

The royal pair have raked in millions since moving to California. Prince Harry’s bombshell memoir Spare was part of a $20million book deal 

Since officially leaving the Royal Family and moving to California in 2020, the Duke and Duchess have pursued a number of different avenues to bring in revenue.

This includes Prince Harry’s bombshell memoir Spare which he created as part of a $20million deal with Penguin Books.

The couple also teamed up with Netflix to produce the docu-series called Harry And Meghan, with the streaming giant reportedly paying the pair $100million for the six-episode series.