In June, Spotify leaked news of their split with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex to the Wall Street Journal. The trade papers followed up, and it was briefly a no-blame business story about a podcast/music streaming company making adjustments to their business model and the Sussexes looking at other platforms, especially given Meghan’s new WME representation. Within days, the story took a decidedly negative turn when Spotify executive Bill Simmons called Harry and Meghan “f–king grifters,” and industry sources began gossiping about Spotify’s disappointment in the lack of Sussex output. I still feel like Harry and Meghan should have done more to push back against the Spotify narrative specifically – this wasn’t some British tabloid fever dream, it was about the industry and their business, and they just let those stories sit out there, festering like an open wound. Well, perhaps the Sussexes didn’t clapback because it looks like they’re “over” their nascent podcasting careers.
Meghan Markle has officially ditched her Archetypes podcast after her £18million Spotify deal fell through. The Duchess of Sussex has abandoned an attempt to secure the name of the ill-fated Archetypes streaming series backed by husband Prince Harry.
Meghan had wanted to trademark the word Archetypes but the couple – who quit frontline royal family duties in 2020 – have now withdrawn the bid by their firm Archewell Audio. They previously asked the US Patent and Trademark Office to grant exclusive name rights but have now given up. A newly-revealed notice on the USPTO website revealed how they have formally withdrawn their claim.
An “abandonment” record was given for Archewell Audio’s bid to trademark “Archetypes” as a name for “Downloadable audio recordings and podcasts, all in the fields of cultural treatment of women and stereotypes facing women”.
The move comes after Meghan’s Spotify deal was scrapped in June with the announcement her podcast wouldn’t get a second series. It was said the shows did not meet “productivity requirements”.
[From The Sun]
Well, this doesn’t actually mean that Meghan is abandoning podcasting altogether, it just means that she’s not trying to fight over exclusive rights to the “Archetypes” name. If she does sign on to another podcasting platform – a big if – she might just start over with a new show name and a new idea. I wonder if she wants to continue podcasting? I would understand if she thought “why bother,” but it felt like she got the hang of it after a few episodes, and I could see how she might want to just start over with a new concept, new name, new platform and new ideas.
Photos courtesy of Spotify and Cover Images.
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