We often discuss Spotify as one of the most robust music streaming options. After all, it has a little bit of everything—aside from HiFi. Apple Music tends to come a close second, with more of a focus on music and high-res streaming options. TIDAL gets a lot of air time because it does great things for artists, has hi-res music streaming, and is in the same price bracket.
One streaming service that often gets less air time is Deezer. However, Deezer has many very cool, music-focused features and high-resolution music streaming quality.
So, who is Deezer, what does it do, and is it the right music streaming platform for you?
What is Deezer?
To many people’s surprise, Deezer has been around since 2007. This French music streaming service is available in 180 countries and has a massive 120+ track catalog. Deezer is also home to podcasts!
All music streaming services try to set themselves apart from what they offer their users, but Deezer’s features are fun and practical.
In February 2024, they reported their paid user base to be 10.5 million and their active user base to be 14 million (because Deezer still has a free tier in many countries).
Over 30% of their user base is in France, and the rest is spread out globally, with Brazil taking second place. While the user and subscriber base might seem small compared to Spotify’s massive 615 million active users, Deezer has a 91% customer satisfaction rate.
Why do users love Deezer?
It’s essential to take a look at why users prefer to subscribe to a ‘smaller’ streaming service. We took to Reddit to ask which features people in the Deezer subreddit enjoyed and why.
There were some features mentioned that don’t typically make it to the larger promoted ones, like Flow and SongCatcher.
S-chlock, a member of the Deezer subreddit, said that what they liked the most is they can upload their own MP3s. This allows them to listen to rarities that won’t be on any streaming services. Motley-connection agreed.
Websitey mentioned that the ability to shuffle the whole library is their top feature - other users agreed. And after checking if it was available elsewhere, people in the Tidal forum mentioned this feature to be missing! The more you know.
Gapless playback, mentioned by user hjbardenhagen, wasn’t mentioned often. It is a feature that only works through mobile and web app.
Gapless playback is where there is no delay between tracks playing, and unlike with crossfade there is no track blending.
Some users stated that, while not technically a feature, they switched to Deezer because of better pay for artists. However, that conversation continued further about how fair it was and if indeed, it was better than on other streaming services.
Thanks to forum users for permission to quote and for the conversation.
Deezer’s Best Features
One of the most important things about your music streaming service is that it suits your needs. While all have a Play button, each one has different features.
Flow
Flow is one of the most interesting features on Deezer and one that users really enjoy. Flow is Deezer’s AI playlist generator. A lot of investment and improvements have happened to Flow in the last 12 months.
It’s one of the exclusive features that Deezer offers, and it gives you an ever-changing mix of fresh music and your favorites.
What makes Flow so interesting is that you tell Flow how you’re feeling or what you’re doing—perhaps you need Motivation or are in the mood for Love.
You tell Flow, and it will generate playlists to match.
You can change them on the fly, too. Flow is smart, though. It also analyses what you typically listen to, what you like, and what you ban or skip.
With Flow, you get an infinite mix of utterly unique music - definitely one of the coolest features.
SongCatcher
There is nothing worse than listening to a song and not knowing the artist or the name. Deezer has a nifty built-in tool called SongCatcher. You can hum or whistle to it or hold your phone up to the music.
SongCatcher takes your input and searches through millions of tracks to offer you something that fits.
In their own words, Deezer says that every song has a unique audio fingerprint, which SongCatcher matches.
They also put together a monthly playlist with the most popular songs people have used SongCatcher for, which is cool all by itself!
Listen with Lyrics
Most platforms allow you to listen with lyrics running alongside. But how in time the lyrics are with the music or how correct they are is hit and miss. Deezer presents lyrics in a cool way, though.
They also translate them for you so you can enjoy your favorite songs and understand what they mean!
Deezer is also one of the only streaming services where you can search for songs using the lyrics! This is really handy for the earworms that you only remember a few of the lyrics.
And Deezer is a very social platform, so they have an easy way to share lyrics on Snapchat, Messenger, and Instagram so you can take people on your musical journey with you.
And, they have some Karaoke perfect playlists for you to test out how good the lyrics really are - and, of course, sing your heart out!
Offline Music
We often think about offline listening when we are traveling, on a plane, for example. We don’t have a signal, so we need to download things in advance.
But another bonus to offline listening is that if you don’t have unlimited data, you can download your music library using your home WiFi and save your data when you go out.
All of your downloads can be found in the Favorites tab under Downloaded Music. And it’s auto-synced.
It’s not just your mobile. You can listen offline; with Deezer, you can use your Garmin, FitBit, or Apple Watch!
Shaker
Wouldn’t it be nice if, no matter what streaming service you are on, you could all contribute to a playlist? Well, that is precisely what Deezer offers with Shaker.
It is a platform inclusive co-creation playlist maker. You can share it with your friends on Spotify, SoundCloud, YouTube, Tidal, and Apple Music.
While a playlist is cool, Shaker offers a little more spice. It shows your musical compatibility, favorite artists, and even your group anthem! It’s a fun tool and a cool feature that brings friends together no matter what streaming platform they are on.
Music Quizzes
We like to think that we are knowledge-stacked when it comes to music! But you can put your knowledge to the test and challenge your friends, too. Deezer has a range of music quizzes.
Some of their most popular ones are TikTok Hits, Disney, Films & TV, and 90s Rap. You can choose from the solo player or multiple player mode, and then it is fingers on the buzzer time!
Deezer is a good all-rounder platform with a couple of features that aren’t available on any other streaming services. And, hi-res music in combination with a good price - what’s not to love?
You can grab a Deezer trial and check it out for yourself. Don’t forget to take your playlists with you, though! You can move from all major streaming services to Deezer in a few taps.
