Questlove is moving his podcast from Pandora to iHeartRadio
Pandora loses one of its originals.
After helping Pandora transform itself into an original content creator, Tonight Show musical director Questlove is taking his podcast and talents to iHeartMedia. As part of a new deal, the company will air fresh episodes of Questlove Supreme on its iHeartPodcast Network and iHeartRadio stations starting on November 6th (you'll be able to listen to the podcast on platforms like Pocket Casts and Overcast as well). The Roots drummer will also curate and produce new original content for iHeartRadio early next year.
The move is, without a doubt, a setback for Pandora. Questlove Supreme was the biggest original on Pandora's podcast slate. The musician was also an advisor to Pandora and the company's first artist ambassador. More than anything, however, Questlove's move to iHeart speaks to just how big of a business podcasts have become. During its most recent quarterly earnings report, iHeart said it was able to increase digital revenue by 33 percent thanks to a 300 percent in podcast listenership. With that kind of money at stake, creators like Questlove are going to be in high demand.
