Podcasts that review episodes of 'The Joe Rogan Experience' ranked among the top shows in the US this month, flexing the power of his fan base

• Podcasts that review episodes of "The Joe Rogan Experience" piggyback off the show's popularity.
• "The Joe Rogan Experience Review" ranked #6 on Apple Podcasts earlier this month.

Podcasts that review episodes of "The Joe Rogan Experience" have piggybacked off the No. 1 podcaster's success, with one review-focused show ranking among the top 10 podcasts in the US earlier this month.

The show, aptly titled the "Joe Rogan Experience Review podcast," saw its listenership on February 2 peak at No. 6 on Apple Podcasts, according to Chartable — just a few days after Rogan's COVID misinformation controversy started to bubble up.

A second, less popular spinoff titled "The Joe Rogan Experience Experience" also peaked on the Apple Podcast charts that week, coming in at #66 the night of January 31. Earlier that day, Rogan thanked Spotify for "taking so much heat" after musicians Neil Young and Joni Mitchell pulled their music from the streamer in protest of misinformation spread on the show.

"I want to thank Spotify for being so supportive during this time, and I'm very sorry that this is happening to them," Rogan said in a video posted to Instagram. Meanwhile, Spotify CEO Daniel Ek defended the podcaster in a tense townhall with employees, claiming that Joe Rogan, while controversial, was necessary for the streamer to achieve its "bold ambitions" as a platform.

The ambition in question is Spotify's $1 billion investment in podcasts, including the acquisitions of Gimlet Media, Anchor, Parcast, The Ringer, and Megaphone. On Thursday, the company announced the purchase of two podcast analytics companies, Podsights and Chartable.

Rogan's massive listenership — which has proved to extend even to his reviewers — gives Ek the needed ammunition to prove Spotify's bet on podcasts is paying off.

Almost all of Spotify's top 10 podcasts are at least five years old, fueling anxiety around what will be industry's next big hit. Last year, the streamer reported a net loss of $39 million, with podcast ads accounting for 13% of total revenue in Q3, according to the Journal.

Some musicians with music on Spotify, on the other hand, have been critical of the increased focus on podcasts. Belly, an alt-rock band at the forefront of the #deleteSpotify movement, told Insider the streamer's aggressive investment in podcasters like Rogan flies in the face of its meager payments to artists.

The loyalty to Rogan has at least proven fruitful for Adam Thorne, the British founder and host of "Joe Rogan Experience Review," according to an interview with Bloomberg. Advertisements on his weekly hour-long show earn him enough money to support himself, he said.