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What is Deezer? Here's everything you need to know in 2023
It has been about 15 years since Deezer launched. In that time, the music streaming service has grown both in its availability worldwide and the number of artists and songs on the platform. Here’s what you need to know about Deezer, what it offers, and if it’s worth the cash to snag a subscription.
What is Deezer?
Deezer is a digital, online music streaming service. You can access music and podcasts if you download the app or use the desktop player. Deezer claims that over 90 million tracks are available worldwide.
You can sift through multiple genres on your own or take advantage of recommendations based on your listening habits. If you want to find new music, there’s also Deezer Originals, where you can find content only available through the platform.
There are multiple subscription levels to choose from, though they aren’t all available in every country where you can use Deezer. We’ll cover each of these subscription levels shortly.
Is Deezer free?
Depending on your country, you may have access to Deezer Free. You can stream music, make playlists, and get recommendations at this subscription level.
You can also take advantage of a feature called SongCatcher. It works like Shazam. If you hear a song out in the world, you can have SongCatcher listen to it and try to identify it. Lyrics, when available for a track, are also available at this subscription level.
Advertisements will occasionally play if you choose the free plan. You don’t get true on-demand playback with limited skips. Instead, there’s a shuffle-based playback regimen. You can’t save songs to listen to offline, either. Your maximum streaming bitrate at this level is 128kbps.
Why upgrade to Deezer Premium?
Subscribing to Deezer Premium nets you some benefits. The big one is no more advertisements. But there are some other advantages found in this subscription tier:
- Better audio quality: if you want lossless streaming, Deezer Premium gives you CD-quality tracks to enjoy.
- Offline listening: you can listen to songs without an internet connection by saving them and then enjoying them later.
- Unlimited skips: no need to sit through songs you don’t like. Just hit skip until you find another banger. Play individual tracks or playlists as you wish.
- Personalized recommendations: Deezer Flow, Discovery, Chill, and New Releases are all accessible so that you can find new music.
- Cross-device syncing: play music on various supported devices (up to three at a time) and switch between them.
How does Deezer work?
Like any other streaming service, you need an internet connection to use Deezer. After that, you just need to make an account for the free subscription. Or you can sign up for a trial of Premium.
- For the free version, open the Deezer sign-up page and fill out the required forms.
- For Premium, sign up for a one-month Deezer Premium trial.
After that, you’ll need to install the Deezer app on your phone (iOS or Android). There’s also a desktop app you can use on Windows or macOS. If you don’t want either of those, you can also use the web player in your browser.
Discovering music and playlists
After setting up an account, you can explore what Deezer offers. You can browse through music based on genre, popularity, musicians, albums, and other criteria. Or you can check out the available podcasts.
The more you listen, the more tailored recommendations will become. The Flow discovery feature will quickly determine your preferences and suggest similar things to listen to.
If you don’t like what the app comes up with, you can easily make your own. Just hit the Playlists option in the sidebar and then Create a Playlist. You can add songs to playlists anytime, not just when creating one.
Additionally, you can find favorite playlists created by other people. If you don’t want to bother with playlists, there’s always the option of just favoriting a bunch of tracks and then listening to those. Also, you could choose to subscribe to artists by clicking on the Bell icon to get notifications about releases and more personalized recommendations.
How much is Deezer Premium?
Ad-supported Deezer is free, but you have a few options when it comes to Premium.
- Deezer Premium — $9.99 USD per month. Includes access for one user on up to three devices, ad-free listening, unlimited skips, CD-quality tracks, and on-demand playback. An annual subscription is available for 25% off.
- Deezer Family — $14.99 per month. All Premium features plus up to six individual accounts on up to 13 devices and child-specific profiles.
- Deezer Student — A 50% discount on Deezer Premium.
Is Deezer available in my country?
Deezer is available in many countries worldwide, but sometimes only with a paid subscription. Deezer maintains a complete list of countries where you can use the streaming service.
If you can’t use Deezer in your home country, fear not, there are alternatives out there that might be available.
Deezer Alternatives
Deezer isn’t the only streaming music option out there. There are others, and some offer additional features or bigger content catalogs.
Here are a few to choose from below and some reasons why they might be a better fit for you.
Spotify
Spotify is the big name in music streaming. It offers a huge catalog of music and podcasts, plus availability on many devices. You can even get a discounted Hulu subscription upon signing up in the United States.
Spotify is cheaper than Deezer, with an individual subscription for $9.99 per month and a two-person option for $12.99. A family plan costs $15.99 per month, and a student plan costs $4.99 per month.
However, Spotify does not yet offer a hifi option. It was set to launch in 2021, but so far, it has not. You can compare Spotify plans and pricing to other popular streaming services in our guide.
Apple Music
Apple Music is the other big name in streaming. It has a more limited free tier, but the premium plan has over 50 million songs and iCloud integration.
An individual plan on Apple Music is $9.99 per month, and a family plan is $14.99 per month. You can also opt for the Apple One program and get Apple TV Plus, iCloud, Apple Arcade, and more for $14.95 monthly. A stripped-down version called Voice is $4.99 per month. You get access to the entire library, but some features will be missing, such as downloads or multiple device access.
Apple Music offers both 16-bit, CD-quality, and 24-bit tracks when you opt for a paid plan. However, the 24-bit tracks will require an external digital-to-analog converter (DAC).
Qobuz
Qobuz is focused on quality, meaning all plans give you access to lossless streaming. That content catalog might be missing some of your musical preferences, however. No free plan exists, but anyone can buy content from the Qobuz download store even without subscribing.
A single-user Studio subscription costs $12.99 per month or $129.99 for an annual subscription, while a two-person account costs $17.99 per month or $179.88 annually. It gives you access to the entire catalog, offline listening, and editorial content. A single-user Sublime subscription is $179.99 per year with the same benefits and up to 60% off on purchases from the store, while a two-person account is $179.88 annually or $17.99 per month. Qobuz family plans are $17.99 monthly and support up to six users.
YouTube Music
YouTube Music is Google’s offering in the streaming world. It doesn’t offer a high-quality streaming option or many fancy features, but it has a huge content catalog. If you want to find obscure covers or difficult-to-find tracks, this service likely has them. Plus, the recommendations algorithm is quite good.
You can sign up for a subscription at $9.99 per month. However, if you sign up for YouTube Premium at $11.99 per month, you get YouTube Music plus no more ads in videos.
TIDAL
TIDAL is another quality-focused music streaming service. You get the option to sign up for HiFi or HiFi Plus. Plus, there’s video content, including music videos, live shows, and documentaries, on the platform, with some of them being exclusive.
An individual HiFI plan is $9.99 monthly for access to 16-bit tracks, and a family HiFi plan is $14.99 monthly for up to six people. HiFi Plus is $19.99 per month and goes up to 24-bit tracks plus support for Dolby Atmos and Sony 360 Reality Audio, with a family HiFi Plus plan being $29.99 per month. Discounts are available for students, military, and first responders.
Frequently asked questions about Deezer
Deezer offers a free subscription level, but it has limited features compared to the paid tiers.
A Deezer Premium plan lets you save tracks for listening offline.
Yes, for tracks with available lyrics, you can pull them up and view them in the app or web player.
It depends on which streaming quality you select. CD-quality streaming can consume a lot of data, but 128kbps streaming will use less.
Yes, you can use Chromecast with Deezer on compatible devices.
We already wrote a whole showdown between Deezer vs Spotify if you want to compare all the pros and cons of either service. But in short, while Spotify has a larger selection of podcasts to listen to, Deezer has better audio quality and music discoverability.
Both Spotify Premium and Deezer Premium cost $9.99/month. However, the Spotify family plans are cheaper at $12.99 per month compared to Deezer’s at $14.99 per month, though the latter supports hifi.
Despite being a robust music streaming service, Deezer has struggled to gain as much market share as competitors like Spotify or Apple Music. Why is that? Well, some factors could include less aggressive marketing, fewer integrations with other platforms, or simply the early establishment and popularity of competitors.
Yes, Deezer offers a free tier that allows users to listen to music with ads. However, the free tier has some limitations, such as shuffle play only on mobile devices and a limited number of track skips per hour.
Deezer’s Premium subscription, which includes ad-free listening and offline downloads, cost $9.99 per month. They also offer a HiFi tier for $14.99 per month, providing CD-quality sound. Family and student plans are offered at discounted rates.