This is why you shouldn’t tell anyone how much money you make. A recent post to the Gram exposed Joe Budden’s behind-the-scenes earnings. The accidental upload revealed The Joe Budden Podcast was pulling in a jaw-dropping $900,000 each month through Patreon, backed by 155,000 subscribers and over 30 million visits. Once reposted by No Jumper, the screenshot lit up timelines and had everyone doing the math.
Now get this, the numbers caused a bit of fallout, where it all unfolded live on air. Budden’s co-hosts Parks Vallely, Lamar “Ice” Burney, Antwan “Ish” Marby, Melyssa Ford, Trevor “QueenzFlip” Robinson, and Marc Lamont Hill confronted the moment head on.
QueenzFlip didn’t hold back, saying he felt “lightheaded.” Ice kept it real and admitted he thought the number was fake at first. Ford reminded listeners that transparency around podcast revenue had been a topic of past off-camera convos. Hill summed up the moment as “mind-blowing.” But once the shock wore off, admiration took over. Ford called Budden’s numbers “inspiring,” and Vallely said it served as “motivation to grind harder.”
Kinda curious, if that’s what the podcast generates, and all the hosts reportedly had no idea, is that because their deals are … what? See, where we’re going?
In any event, the unplanned reveal spotlighted just how big podcasting has become for independent creators. Even without factoring in YouTube views or ad dollars, Budden’s numbers speak volumes about what’s possible when you own your platform. The energy from the crew shifted quickly from surprise to strategy. Burney and Robinson even teased building their own subscription-based channels, following in Budden’s footsteps and carving out their own digital empires.