Meet Deezer: The streaming service taking a different path to Spotify
Spotify‘s monopoly on music streaming has long been contended by various underdogs, with Tidal and Bandcamp getting in the ring alongside giants like Apple and Amazon.
Although it seems that the Swedish mega-platform is a habit too many resist kicking, I can say that I have finally abandoned the vice, and the replacement I chose to accompany my road trips and evenings cooking is a dark horse of French tech.
We’re pretty intimate, but Deezer is no mistress; it’s actually an increasingly renown alternative to the bloodbath that is Spotify. With no end to its scandals in sight, the Swedish streamer has been operating on increasingly shaky margins, with a rising subscriber base, albeit decreasing in growth with each quarter. The world is starting to wake up, and although the transition is rocky, its valorous opponents are finally reaping the seeds of a dauntless battle.
Deezer reported its first year of profitability a few weeks back, making 2025’s fiscal year the first time the French streamer managed to pass all metric hurdles. After reporting a €26million (£22.4m) loss in 2024, it sharply reversed its fate for a glorious net income climb to €8.5m (£7.3m) for the year. Its Paris headquarters called it the beginning of “a cycle of sustainable profitability”, implying the lack of exploitation in their ethics.
With a solid 9.2m paying subscribers base, it’s still a mouse to the mammoth 290m subscribers amassed by Spotify, but their artist-centric payment system and their transparency around AI are much in demand in the music industry. Deezer’s chief financial officer revealed the details of an internal survey that found a whopping 40% of their users have switched to their streaming service from another platform because of the company’s values.
According to Deezer’s research, 28% of all music added to streaming platforms is fully AI-generated in 2026. This means that as a consumer, I’d quite like my brand of tea to let me know if a computer was behind its fabrication. After Spotify proliferated AI-generated content without labelling it explicitly, as well as recycling its profits into AI military technology investments and going on firing sprees, I thought it was about time to dump the abusive boyfriend.
It’s in the darkest of days that you don’t think it possible for someone better to come along, for a healthy alternative to download into your life and fairly compensate its artists without posting ICE recruitment ads behind your back, but after shuffling my way across a variety of suitors, I found one that fits, and the numbers agree.
But seriously, this isn’t sponsored content; since the massacre of Palestinians was being profited off by my subscription fees, I sought an alternative that would ensure an easy switch without a loss of playlists.
I wish there had been more information on what was out there beyond the tech monopolies etched into everyone’s routines, but that’s why I’m here to tell the tale: it’s an easy switch, the format is exactly the same, there’s a free non-subscriber format and an opt-out for data collection, and the discovery algorithm is great. There’s nothing to lose, but there are many of your favourite artists that stand to gain, whether it’s Deezer, Qobuz, or Subvert; it will take some time for a greater switch, but no monopoly was taken down in a day.
