Megan Markle’s Archetypes Podcast Fails to Impress Spotify

The future of Megan Markle’s Archetypes podcast on Spotify is uncertain as rumors suggest that the streaming platform will not renew it for a second season.

According to sources in the podcasting world, the real podcast listener count for Megan’s Nodcast is around 1.5 million listeners.

While this might seem like a lot, it pales in comparison to some YouTube channels with 30 million subscribers.

The number of accounts for everybody who has played at least one episode ever, not regular listeners, is the 1.5 million listens over all accounts, even if one-offs to listen once ever.

Despite having 28 producers, Archetypes has not been in the top 10 in the Spotify podcast charts in quite a few weeks.

It seems that the only thing Markle did was show up, talk to the guests, and record the conversation.

Even with the help of her team, the new episodes are off the top 100 before the week is gone.

Internal meetings at Spotify have revealed that even the staff refuse to call Megan’s podcast Archetypes since she hasn’t talked about a single archetype yet.

Supposedly, they call the show Stereotypes instead.

This could be a reflection of the quality of the content and its relevance to the audience.

Speaking on a recent podcast episode titled To Be or Not To Be alongside Starbucks chairwoman Melody Hobson, expert Daniela Elsa accused Megan of bringing up the past.

Elsa claimed that the headline bait and inferences about her palace days were a sign that the Sussexes need to deliver on their Spotify deal.

Writing in news.au.com, Elsa blasted the royal for her need to generate publicity with the podcast and its titles.

She questioned whether Megan’s propensity to make allusions or comments about her former life has anything to do with a wider public reach.

On one purely pragmatic level, the latter would make sense.

Megan has proven herself to be a successful business person.

She was and is the only self-made millionaire to have joined the royal family.

Given that she and Harry signed a reported $38 million deal with Spotify back in 2020, they need to deliver, and some headline bait strewn about the palace, either on purpose or not, must surely help.

However, Elsa believes that this could be a very difficult moment for the royal pair.

The content of the podcast episodes themselves could be the source of this difficulty.

Elsa alleged that many of Megan’s podcast episodes, which are meant to be all about her bright future, are peppered with references to her palace past.

Besides, Roger Sheldon, managing partner at Reputation Management Ignite, slammed Megan’s podcast for pushing her own agenda.

Despite the Archetypes podcast having the best intentions, it seems to be backed by Megan’s Archwell charity campaign to help women in need who have inspired or helped others in the US.

The episodes and topics seem to be playing into the drama that faces Megan.

The episodes feel self-indulgent, lacking balance.

For instance, Megan’s comments about appearing on Deal or No Deal and it making her not feel smart is her view, but there are a lot of women, including Megan’s co-star Claudia Jordan, who would say it was a smart move indeed to appear on that show.

It would be beneficial for Megan to be aware of that.

But on the podcast, which has a huge platform with a vast audience, it feels as though she’s pushing her own agenda rather than having a conversation that might balance the narrative, something that she needs to do to redress her reputation.

The topics Megan is choosing to cover on the podcast, such as the demystification of a dragon lady and the duality of diva with the likes of Mariah Carey, also seem to be poking the reputational bear, causing drama and media attention.

It’s almost as though she’s saying, “I’m not a diva, I’ve been wrongly mislabeled and treated,” but then adding to the wheel of drama with the content she’s producing.

In conclusion, while Megan Markle’s Archetypes podcast may have had high hopes, it seems to be falling short of expectations.

With rumors that Spotify won’t renew it for a second season, it remains to be seen what the future holds for the show.