Roberto Martínez negotiated months to keep creative control in his Amazon deal, trading Spotify distribution for financial benefit and a commitment to 100 episodes yearly. He calls it a comfortable prison that forced discipline on his small team while protecting his creative freedom.
Yes, I was in a box. When it came to losing distribution on Spotify, it was definitely a cost that I knew I was going to end up paying. But at that time, Spotify didn't monetize. It was a very different landscape, and it was something that I found incredible that there was no infrastructure to monetize your work, considering the amount of people who consumed podcasts, not just mine, on the platform. So it was also an interesting time to be able to make that decision. Also, a large part of that negotiation and that specific deal was not taken lightly. It took months of negotiations. I am someone who, if I work with someone, there is a process that I really stick to. Because if for me, the most important thing is to maintain that freedom, I want it to be maintained as much as possible with the projects I get involved in. So, well, distribution was lost. I understood what I was going to do for the project, which was not to be distributed on the largest audio platform, which was Spotify. I also understood that it was going to generate a certain type of discontent in the audience. This, and I understand it too, because ultimately you take away the comfort of the listener who already has a consumption habit and is already doing it. For the same reason. The terms of the negotiation took so long, and for me, it was something very interesting because it precisely allowed me to achieve a kind of freedom that I did not have before. I mean, in a financial sense, it was obviously a huge plus. But also in terms of committing to publish 100 chapters a year, I started a monologue format as well. In that whole experience that today is already part of the creative repertoire for me, it was a very nice box. I mean, it was a box, a prison that I enjoyed. Right? It was a comfortable prison for me in that sense, because it committed me to a certain work pace and certain expectations for two years. Also, the fact of publishing chapters on one platform after another brings with it a routine that you have to incorporate into your work team. So I saw it as a challenge in terms of professionalization. For me, it was a step forward. Although the creative team is very small, I think it was a plus in terms of how to work and having to be accountable to such a large company and also understanding the commitment they made to my project. I mean, I didn't see it as a prison because I met the people who bet on my project and I'm very grateful to them for wanting to be involved in the project and because ultimately they risked their lives to believe in Creativo in Mexico.
