What is Deezer and how to upload your music free?
Image Credit: Deezer
Everything that’s worth knowing and even how to get your own music on to French music streaming service Deezer.
Starting out as the first free and legal music streaming service in the business, despite tough competition from Spotify, Apple Music and Amazon Music, Deezer have held strong in the game and show no signs of slowing down. Whether you’re an artist or casual user, we hope this guide teaches you everything you need to know about the history and how to use Deezer.
Click below to jump to one of the following:
- How to upload to Deezer
- What is Deezer?
- Artists
How to upload to Deezer
Join over 800,000 independent artists and labels by joining RouteNote. With RouteNote, you can get your own music onto Deezer, as well as all other major stores, streaming services and social media platforms, quickly and free of charge. Your music is yours! Artists on RouteNote always keep 100% of the rights to their music.
It’s super easy to upload your music to stores, streaming services and social media platforms.
- Sign up to RouteNote
- Head to the Distribution tab and select Create New Release
- Input your metadata (see how different artist roles appear on Deezer)
- Upload your tracks and artwork
- Select the stores and territories you want your music in
Once you’ve input all of the data, choose between RouteNote Free or RouteNote Premium. Distributing your release with Free costs absolutely nothing, while you keep 85% of the revenue. Premium costs a small fee and annual subscription, while you keep 100% of the revenue. Unlike competitors such as UnitedMasters who charge extra for certain stores, all features and stores are the same between RouteNote’s tiers and you can switch any release at any time.
As the streams come in, you’ll receive monthly statistics and revenue, right into your RouteNote account. Statistics and earnings reports breakdown exactly how much each track has earned in each store. Payments can be withdrawn via PayPal, bank account or Payoneer.
Features don’t end at distribution. RouteNote is packed full of powerful tools to make the lives of independent artists and labels a breeze. For labels, tools like Revenue Sharing, available to everyone, make payments to artists super easy.
What is Deezer?
Deezer is a French music streaming service that today offers millions of songs and podcasts, from thousands of independent and major labels, to 16 million monthly active users, with 9.6 million of them paid subscribers at the end of 2021.
How did Deezer start?
Deezer launched way back in 2007, as the first free and legal music streaming service, a full year before Spotify’s launch. After a global expansion, largely between 2011 and 2013, Today, they are available in over 180 countries.
The basic features of Deezer
The Deezer mobile app has four main tabs: Music, Podcasts, Favorites and Search.
The Music tab is full of artists, playlists (like those curated to books) and stations Deezer knows you like, as well as suggestions tailored to your tastes, plus general areas like categories, genres, charts, channels (like the Japanese Music channel, Between the Sheets, HiFi Room, Black Culture and Manchester United), and exclusive content (like InVersions 80s – an 80s covers album from breakthrough artists, DJ Mixes and Ed Sheeran’s Session). While generally music and podcasts are tailored to your language, Deezer also has a Music & Language section, designed to help users listen, learn and practice foreign languages with music and podcasts.
Podcasts shows popular and recommended podcasts, as well as categories, highlights and networks (such as “energy-efficient podcasts” from Ausha). You can also filter podcasts by duration, to perfectly match your commute or exercise. Audiobooks are also available on Deezer in Germany, the Netherlands and Austria.
Favorites has Music and Podcasts tabs, perfect for tucking into music and podcasts you know you’ll love. Music shows Downloaded music, Favorite tracks, Playlists, Albums and Artists, while the Podcasts tab under Favorites shows Downloaded episodes, My podcasts, Latest episodes and In progress.
On top of a search bar to find artists, tracks and podcasts, the Search screen also holds non-personalized content, like Highlights, Genres, Categories and Podcasts by category.
You’ll also find a notification bell and setting cog icons in the upper right corner. The Notifications menu shows a list of new releases, throwbacks, playlist updates and Deezer Sessions.
Deezer’s star feature is Flow. Available on mobile and desktop, Deezer Flow is an AI-powered infinite mix of your favorite songs and new discoveries they think you’ll love. The mood wheel lets you select between You & Me, Motivation, Chill, Melancholy, Focus and Party to fully customize the sound. Tailored music doesn’t end there. You’ll also find playlists like Monday Discovery, Friday Releases and Sunday Chill, all personalized to you! If your Deezer Flow is repetitive, click here for steps on fixing it.
Much like Spotify implemented recently, Deezer supports lyrics, now with translation too. Sing along on mobile and desktop, search by lyrics, and share your favorite lyrics on Instagram and other social media apps.
Are you looking for sharing features? Find out how to share music with lyrics to Instagram Stories. Find out how to share music to Facebook Stories here. Find out how to share music to Deezer. Find out how to embed Deezer into your website with their widget player.
SongCatcher is Deezer’s Shazam-like feature. Simply activate SongCatcher and it’ll recognise songs around you.
Deezer HiFi and Family HiFi subscribers also get access to FLAC audio for high fidelity sound, upping the audio quality to lossless 16-bit, 44.1 kHz, 1,411 Kbps. That’s the full catalog, available in CD-quality, plus access to the 360 by Deezer app, which is full of spatial music via Sony’s 360 Reality Audio.
In 2019, Deezer launched a free tool called Spleeter, that created stems from a stereo audio file.
Going forward, Deezer looks set to increase their live streaming presence, with investments in MUGO, DREAMSTAGE and Driift.
You can find more information on everything Deezer, by heading to their Community page.
How many tracks are on Deezer?
Currently, there are more than 90 million songs on Deezer. This is on par with other music streaming services like Apple Music, Amazon Music and TIDAL, ahead of Spotify, and behind the likes of Napster and YouTube Music. Streamers also get access to over 30,000 radio channels, plus 100 million editorial and non-editorial playlists. Find the most-streamed songs, albums, artists, playlists and podcasts of 2021 here.
Deezer subscription types
Deezer’s subscription tiers and pricing varies between markets. The UK for example offers hi-fi audio to regular Premium subscribers. We recommend checking the Deezer homepage in your own region to see the offers in your country. We’ll cover the subscription tiers available to US streamers.
Deezer Free – $0
Deezer’s free streaming tier is available to anyone signed in, offering the full-catalog of music, podcasts and radio, ad-supported, and shuffle-based music on mobile, with limited skips and no scrubbing. You’ll get personalized mixes and sponsored playlists, tailored to your streaming habits. Audio quality on Free is limited to MP3 128kbps.
Deezer Premium – $9.99 per month or $89.91 per year
Play any track on any device, ad-free, with downloads for offline support. Audio quality is upped to MP3 320kbps.
Any new subscribers can get their first month free. Deezer offers various free and discounted deals for users of Tri, Saudi Telecom Company, Globoplay, RTL+, Fnac and Orange.
Premium is also available to Students at half the price ($4.99 per month) and families. Deezer Family offers the full benefits of Premium to up to six users for $14.99 per month. Each user gets an individual account, with their own individual collection and personalized recommendations. You can also assign members with kid profiles, which are tailored with kid-friendly content, age-appropriate lullabies and tween tracks.
Deezer HiFi – $14.99 per month
With all the same benefits of Premium, Deezer HiFi unlocks high fidelity, 360 by Deezer and exclusive 360 Sessions (from artists like Dua Lipa).
Family HiFi combines the offerings on Deezer Family and HiFi, offering hi-fi sound to up to six profiles, for $19.99 per month.
Not too long ago, Deezer would have been commended for offering high-res audio at a competitive price point. In the past year, competition has risen dramatically. TIDAL offers the same high fidelity audio quality to their regular $9.99 per month subscribers, while Apple Music and Amazon Music offer audio quality up to 24-bit/192 kHz to their regular $9.99 per month subscribers.
All Deezer tiers compared
- Free – $0: ad-supported, limited features and devices
- Premium – $9.99 per month or $89.91 per year: ad-free, all features
- Student – $4.99 per month: ad-free, all features
- Family – $14.99 per month: ad-free, all features, six profiles
- HiFi – $14.99 per month: ad-free, all features, high fidelity and 360 Reality Audio
- Family HiFi – $19.99 per month: ad-free, all features, high fidelity and 360 Reality Audio, six profiles
How to stream Deezer
Deezer is available for streaming on a plethora of devices, including some airplanes!
- Desktop & Laptop
- Browser (Chrome, Firefox, Safari)
- Desktop app (Windows, Mac)
- Mobile & Tablets
- Speakers
- Apple HomePod
- Amazon Echo
- Bang & Olufsen (HiFi)
- Bluesound Network Player (HiFi)
- Bose Music
- Control4 (HiFi)
- Denon HEOS
- Devialet Phantom (HiFi)
- Google Home and Google Nest (HiFi)
- Harman Kardon (HiFi)
- LG Music Flow (HiFi)
- MOON by Simaudio (HiFi)
- Onkyo Network A/V Receivers (HiFi)
- Samsung Wireless Audio 360 (HiFi)
- Savant (HiFi)
- Sonos (HiFi)
- Sony High Definition Audio Range (HiFi)
- Ultimate Ears
- Yamaha MusicCast (HiFi)
- Wearables
- Fitbit
- Garmin
- Wear OS by Google
- Voice Assistants
- Amazon Alexa
- Apple Siri
- Google Assistant
- TV & Gaming
- VIDAA Smart OS
- Android TV
- Bang & Olufsen TV
- Chromecast (HiFi)
- LG TV
- Panasonic TV
- Philips TV
- Portal from Facebook
- Samsung TV
- Sony Bravia
- Xbox (HiFi)
- Cars
- Android Auto
- CarPlay
- MirrorLink via RockScout
- Uconnect LIVE
- Waze
How does Deezer compare with the competition?
Deezer is very similar to other major streaming services, however there are some subtle differences you should be aware of before parting ways with your cash.
Pros:
- Sizeable catalog
- HiFi streaming
- 360 Reality Audio
- Podcasts
- Plenty of pricing options including free
- Upload your personal music library
Cons:
- HiFi and 360 Reality Audio require extra payment
- HiFi tops out at 16-bit, 44.1 kHz, 1,411 Kbps
What’s the difference between Deezer and Spotify?
To thoroughly explain the differences between Deezer and Spotify in terms of exclusive content such as Live EPs and artist profiles, it’s important to note a few key distinctions:
1. **Exclusive Content**: Deezer and Spotify both offer unique content, but the type and availability can vary. Deezer sometimes provides exclusive Live EPs that are recorded in special sessions and are available only to their users. Meanwhile, Spotify often releases exclusive singles and albums, as well as Spotify Sessions, which are similar to Deezer‘s live recordings but may feature more well-known artists.
2. **Artist Profiles**: On Deezer, artist profiles can include detailed biographies, discographies, and sometimes exclusive interviews or playlists curated by the artists themselves. Spotify, on the other hand, also offers artist profiles with similar features, but it adds unique elements like Spotify for Artists, which allows musicians to directly interact with fans by sharing personal messages and behind-the-scenes content.
Each platform aims to attract users by offering unique content and experiences, so choosing between them may depend on one’s personal preference for these offerings
Find our full breakdown of the differences between Deezer and Spotify here.
Artists
Once you’ve uploaded your music there, don’t expect the streams to automatically start rolling in. First up, you’ll want to make your brand recognisable across streaming and social platforms.
What is Deezer for Creators?
Much like Spotify for Artists, Deezer for Creators lets artists customize their profile, track performance and share achievements.
Customization lets artists change their profile image and add a status/bio. Use the highlight feature to showcase a new release or particular track you want to promote at the top of your artist page.
You’ll also find in-depth, easy-to-read statistics that show not only an up-to-date number of streams, listeners and trends over time, but also provide data on listeners, such as gender, age, platform and country. This is essential for targeting future ad campaigns.
The Playlist Report shows you where your releases have been playlisted and can provide a shareable card with the name of the playlist to send to socials. You can also access other shareable achievements on Deezer for Creators, to celebrate new releases and key statistics.
Click here to find some of the top third-party playlist curators on Deezer, to send your music to.
Once you’ve got your first track on Deezer, you can claim your artist profile by following the steps here. All you’ll need are your release UPCs. RouteNote artists can find all their UPCs in their account, under Distribution – Discography. You can assign various roles in Deezer for Creators, including Artist, Label, Provider, Manager. Once approved, artists and managers can use the app, available on Android and iPhone. The app has both Analytics and Audience data. You can only add new users or change your profile picture on the web portal.
As a bonus, artists registered to Deezer for Creators can even get a discounted HiFi subscription for €7.99 until January 30 2024.
How much does Deezer pay-per-stream?
Deezer, much like most other music streaming services, operates on a pro rata basis. This model collects all of the subscription and advertising revenue, before splitting it based on the number of streams an artist gets in a month. For this reason, the pay an artist receives for a single stream varies month-to-month. Despite this, some organizations provide average estimates based on the number of streams an artist received, versus the payment earned.
From this, Deezer has been estimated at around $0.0064 per stream. This puts their platform in a similar bracket to other streaming services that also offer a free tier like Spotify and Amazon Music, but below premium-only services like Apple Music and Napster. The latter two pay far higher, as subscription revenue is worth significantly more than advertising revenue.
After over ten years of music streaming, the industry is exploring other ways to pay artists. One such model, explored by Deezer in 2019 was the User Centric Payment System. Rather than pooling all of the revenue, a UCPS splits your subscription or advertising revenue between the artists you stream the most. Many believe this is a fairer system that would favor smaller artists with dedicated audiences. In 2021, Deezer circled back to the idea, with the video below.
How to market your music with PUSH.fm
Our friends over at PUSH.fm have free tools designed to help all artists (RouteNote or otherwise) promote their music online.
Smart Links
Once you’ve uploaded your music to all stores, how do you share links to your fans on the various music streaming platforms they use? Smart Links are the solution to this issue. One handy landing page with links to everywhere your music lives.
Smart Links aren’t only great for musicians and streaming services, they also help online personalities link to the various social media platforms they live on, with just one URL.
URLs, links and designs are all fully customizable, at no extra charge, to suit your brand.
Pre-saves
Pre-saving music is great for fans and artists. Fans receive your music in their library on release day. As fans pre-save your music, streaming services will notice this engagement, increasing the likelihood of inclusion on editorial playlists and promotion across the platform. Pre-saves are available on PUSH.fm on Deezer, Spotify and Apple Music. All you need are your pre-release links. RouteNote artists can find these here.
Just like Smart Links, Pre-saves are fully customizable.
Content Unlocks
Content Unlocks allows you to set required social actions in exchange for prizes. For example, a fan can follow you on social media or stream your latest track, to receive a free download or access a secret code. Available Deezer actions include Pre-save, Like Playlist, Like Artist or Like Song. You’ll find a variety of social actions available across Deezer, YouTube, Apple Music, Facebook, Instagram, SoundCloud, Spotify and Twitter. You can set a number of actions or specific actions to be required in order to gain access to the exclusive content.
Statistics
PUSH.fm makes it easy to see exactly what your audience wants. You receive in-depth performance statistics on visits and conversions/pre-saves, for each campaign, over a given time period, letting you see where your fans are going, in order to inform future marketing campaigns.
