Obama’s Production Company Inks Deal to Produce Podcasts for Spotify

Former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama’s production company has entered in an agreement with Spotify to produce podcasts exclusively for the digital music giant.

Fast Company reported Thursday the Obama’s Higher Ground Productions will “develop, produce, and lend their voices” to podcasts on Spotify.

“We’ve always believed in the value of entertaining, thought-provoking conversation. It helps us build connections with each other and open ourselves up to new ideas,” a statement via former President Obama reads. “We’re excited about Higher Ground Audio because podcasts offer an extraordinary opportunity to foster productive dialogue, make people smile and make people think, and, hopefully, bring us all a little closer together.”

Michelle Obama said of the newly-inked deal: “We’re thrilled to have the opportunity to amplify voices that are too often ignored or silenced altogether, and through Spotify, we can share those stories with the world.”

The not-yet-announced podcasts will be available to Spotify’s more than 217 million monthly active users and 100+ million premium subscribers.

The agreement with Spotify comes after the former first couple inked a lucrative agreement with Netflix to produce content for the streaming giant. During a fireside chat at a Las Vegas technology conference last year, Obama shared his vision for joining forces with Netflix, stating that he wants to “train the next generation of leaders.”

“We want to tell stories. This [Netflix deal] becomes a platform. We are interested in lifting people up and identifying people doing amazing work,” he said. “That’s what we hope to be a voice to, through Netflix and through my foundation, where we’re identifying and training the next generation of leaders here in the United States and around the world. So they can start sharing their stories and cooperating.”

In April, Higher Ground Productions announced that it will bring a biopic of slavery abolitionist Frederick Douglass to the streaming giant.
Last week, Bloomberg News reported that failed Democrat presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and her daughter Chelsea are joining the Obama’s in Hollywood by launching a production company of their own. The business-centric news outlet claimed the pair have met with several movie studio chiefs to discussing financing for “stories by and about women.” The unnamed venture is said to still be in the planning stages.