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Deezer Review
Deezer has risen from fairly inauspicious beginnings to become one of the best challenger platforms in the busy music streaming market. The service was initially founded by French developer Daniel Marhely founded under the name Blogmusik back in 2006. The company quickly ran into problems when non-profit agency SACEM sued it for copyright infringement in 2007.
The service relaunched as Deezer in August 2007, after the company agreed to a deal to pay copyright holders and began permitting users to download its songs from iTunes. It soon began inking deals with record labels, and its library grew to more than 8 million songs by 2011. Originally available only in Belgium, France, and the U.K., the service became available for U.S. customers in 2016.
Deezer Packages at a Glance
All information accurate as of 02/12/2020.
How We Evaluated Deezer
The many players in the music streaming market all offer similar-sized content libraries, features, and price points, which can make picking the right option a bit challenging.
Selecting one from the many music streaming services is therefore reliant on a user’s individual preferences, such as their listening device of choice, how important they deem sound quality or discovering new content, and the kind of music they listen to.
We took a closer look at the service to understand how Deezer stacks up against its main competitors in the music streaming space. We compared the services on price, free trial length, sound quality, content, and number of listeners.
Deezer vs. Other Music Streaming Services
All information accurate as of 02/12/2020.
Deezer Key Considerations
Huge content library
Deezer subscribers have plenty of content to enjoy — the service has a collection of over 56 million tracks. This enables listeners to build their own music library with artists, mixes, and playlists. Playlists can also be bolstered by importing MP3s. The service also helps people really get to know their music by providing the option for scrolling lyrics while songs play in the desktop Deezer app.
In addition to a huge choice of music, Deezer is also home to plenty of podcasts. Users that upgrade to Deezer Premium can download content and listen to it whenever and wherever they want.
Discover new music
Listeners can easily find new bands and music thanks to Deezer’s music discovery feature. Its recommendation engine is fairly comprehensive. These discovery features include Flow, which Deezer describes as “an infinite mix of favorites and new tracks.” Its Recommended Releases tool is also useful as it shows users new music from artists they follow and fresh options that are similar to their musical taste. Deezer also recommends playlists and radio stations, which are not quite as personalized. Furthermore, clicking on the Explore tab enables users to search Deezer’s huge library by genre, mood, and interest.
Upgrade for high-quality listening
The service was the original trailblazer in high-quality music streaming, but the listening experience of Deezer Premium now lags behind those of its major competitors, such as Apple Music and Tidal. Its mobile apps stream at a default of just 128 kbps, which can be boosted to 320 kbps in the Settings menu.
However, by upgrading to Deezer’s HiFi package ($19.99/mo.), listeners can unlock CD sound quality of 44.1 Khz and 16-bit audio (1,411.2 kbps). Just make sure to turn on the High Fidelity option in the Audio settings section. This level of quality is on a par with Amazon’s Music Unlimited HD ($13 per month for Prime members or $15 per month for non-members). The HiFi upgrade also comes with an impressive three-month trial period, which provides substantial time to test the service out.
The Bottom Line
In addition to a huge content library of both music and podcasts, Deezer also boasts a rich mix of features that deliver a highly enjoyable user experience. These include a wide range of ways for listeners to consume music, including listening to favorite artists, creating playlists, exploring new music, enjoying curated playlists, and taking advantage of the Flow feature. Deezer also has musical connoisseurs covered with the impressive high-quality sound available through its HiFi package.
About the Authors
Rob Latham is a writer focused on technology, music, entertainment and sports. He is particularly passionate about the role that technology plays in improving peoples’ lives.
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