Obamas Look To Move Beyond Spotify To Amazon, iHeartMedia

Barack and Michelle Obama look to end their association with Swedish streaming giant Spotify Technology SA SPOT, Bloomberg reports.

The former first family’s production company, Higher Ground, discussed a deal worth tens of millions of dollars with other distributors. 

Higher Ground sought a deal to produce several shows and release them on multiple platforms simultaneously.

The Obamas are each willing to appear in an eight-episode program, which for some bidders, failed to justify a deal versus shows like “SmartLess,” “Call Her Daddy,” which appear weekly.

Higher Ground saw that being tied to one service limited the audience for its shows.

Spotify wanted more shows featuring two of the most famous people globally, while Higher Ground aimed to provide a platform for a range of voices. 

Higher Ground pitched Spotify dozens of shows but produced five, Bloomberg noted.

Higher Ground is in the middle of negotiations with several potential partners, including Amazon.com Inc’s AMZN Audible and iHeartMedia Inc IHRT, according to Bloomberg.

The Obamas capitalized on Spotify’s investments triggering Amazon and Sirius XM Holdings SIRI to invest hundreds of millions of dollars in their own deals.

Price Action: SPOT shares traded higher by 1.18% at $123.94 premarket on the last check Thursday.