Spotify competitor Deezer reveals pricing prior to UK launch

A few weeks ago we wrote about Deezer, a Spotify-esque music-streaming service that is due to launch in the UK. Whilst an exact date is yet to be set, we can confirm it will be going live during September, plus more details have emerged as to its pricing structure when it hits the UK.

Deezer was launched in France by Daniel Marhely back in August 2007, and today it has 20 million users, 6 million unique visitors per month and almost 1.3 million subscribers on its premium service.

With 13 million licensed tracks in its repertoire, Deezer will be looking to gain ground on the likes of Spotify, which has been operating in the UK for a few years. As such, Deezer has announced that in addition to it being available on computers, mobile phones and tablets, it will also be available on IP TVs and IP Sound Systems, including Sonos and Logitech Squeezebox.This will help give Deezer a degree of ubiquity, though Spotify also recently announced a deal with UK ISP and TV provider Virgin Media.

Furthermore, Deezer is an entirely Web-based service, meaning that no client software is needed, unlike Spotify. But there are a number of similarities between the services offered by each platform. For example, Deezer users can also share music, playlists and albums with other friends on the platform, as well as Facebook and Twitter, and they can upload their own tracks onto Deezer so all their music is in one place. But pricing is where things really start to match up.

Pricing

Users will be able to sign-up to a 15-day free Trial, with the ability to unsubscribe during that period with no payment due, and Deezer’s pricing structure will be pretty much the same as Spotify‘s:

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• Discovery Mode (Free): Available on PC/Mac and mobile devices, letting users listen to radio channels and smart radio (unlimited listening) and to music on demand in 30-sec clips.
• Premium (£4.99/month): Unlimited streaming on any PC/Mac in enhanced sound quality, no ads.
• Premium+ (£9.99/month): Unlimited streaming, on PC/Mac and all handheld devices online or offline, no ads.

The premium/premium+ plans are almost identical to Spotify’s Unlimited/Premium models, but the free versions of the platforms are decidedly different. On Spotify Open, you can access music tracks from most of its library, though you do get ads, there are restrictions in place, and unlike Deezer you can’t access the radio mode.

Mark Foster, managing director of Deezer UK, said:

“We’re extremely excited to be launching Deezer here in the UK. With easy access everywhere music fans will be able to enjoy music anywhere they like, at any time, and be able to share their music with their friends, easily and legally. Our team of experts will help users make musical discoveries that matter to them. Deezer is set to make music more accessible than ever before in the UK.”

Deezer is also promising to be more than a “faceless streaming service” – it will have a dedicated editorial team who will offer exclusive content and recommendations on a weekly basis.

Deezer will be a welcome addition to the UK’s music streaming industry, but its success will likely depend on it teaming up with a large ISP, in the same way as Spotify has with Virgin. Given that Spotify has a big head-start in the music subscription market, it’s difficult to see at this point what Deezer will bring to the table that isn’t already there.