Higher Ground Announces Partnership with Spotify to Produce Podcasts

President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama’s production company, Higher Ground, today announced a partnership with Spotify (NYSE: SPOT) to produce podcasts exclusive to the platform. The Obamas formed Higher Ground to produce powerful stories to entertain, inform and inspire, and to lift up new, diverse voices in the entertainment industry. Spotify, which recently surpassed 100 million Premium subscribers and has more than 217 million monthly active users, will distribute the podcasts to audiences across the globe.

Under the Higher Ground partnership, President and Mrs. Obama will develop, produce, and lend their voices to select podcasts, connecting them to listeners around the world on wide-ranging topics. The multi-year agreement will be with Higher Ground Audio, an expansion of the Higher Ground production company that will oversee the move into podcasts.

When President and Mrs. Obama launched Higher Ground in 2018 with an initial partnership with Netflix, their goal was to create compelling content that entertains and inspires viewers. Recognizing that content is consumed in many forms, this new partnership will give them the ability to expand the conversation, educating and engaging Spotify’s diverse and extensive audience.

“We’ve always believed in the value of entertaining, thought-provoking conversation,” President Obama said. “It helps us build connections with each other and open ourselves up to new ideas. 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.”

“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,” Michelle Obama said. “Our hope is that through compelling, inspirational storytelling, Higher Ground Audio will not only produce engaging podcasts, but help people connect emotionally and open up their minds—and their hearts.”

“President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama are two of the world’s most important voices and it is a privilege to be working with them to identify and share stories that will inspire our global audience, which looks to Spotify for unique, breakthrough content,” said Spotify Chief Content Officer, Dawn Ostroff. “Connecting people with original and thoughtful creators — especially those with the ability to highlight underrepresented and indispensable narratives — is at the core of our mission and we are thrilled that not only will the Obamas be producing content, but that they will be lending their voices to this effort."

About Higher Ground

Higher Ground is a production company formed by President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama dedicated to producing powerful stories to entertain, inform and inspire, and to lifting up new, diverse voices in the entertainment industry. Higher Ground Productions has a multi-year deal with Netflix to produce a wide range of scripted, unscripted and documentary-style series, as well as feature-length narrative and documentary films. Higher Ground Audio has a multi-year deal with Spotify to produce a diverse slate of original podcasts.

About Spotify

Spotify transformed music listening forever when we launched in 2008. Our mission is to unlock the potential of human creativity by giving a million creative artists the opportunity to live off their art and billions of fans the opportunity to enjoy and be inspired by these creators. Everything we do is driven by our love for music.

Discover, manage, and share over 50 million tracks for free, or upgrade to Spotify Premium to access exclusive features including offline mode, improved sound quality, Spotify Connect and ad-free listening.

Today, we are the world’s most popular audio streaming subscription service with a community of more than 217 million users, including 100 million Spotify Premium subscribers, across 79 markets.

For more information, images, or to contact the press team, please head over to our press page at https://newsroom.spotify.com/.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190606005636/en/

Public Relations for Spotify:Dustee Jenkins - press@spotify.com

Media Contacts for Higher Ground:FRANK PR - 646.861.0843Clare Anne Darragh - clareanne@frankpublicity.comLina Plath - lina@frankpublicity.com

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