Spotify is the most popular music streaming service globally, while Deezer is one of its toughest competitors. An extensive Deezer vs Spotify comparison will help you decide which music streaming service is better and which you should pay for in 2023.
Several music streaming services are available for listeners, and these two are the contenders for the top spot. The other services include Amazon Music, Apple Music, Tidal, Rdio, YT Music, etc. We will also compare them with these two top contenders but not today. Let’s leave that for later.
For now, our focus is on how Deezer squares off against Spotify. On one end, there’s the music streaming industry leader; on the other, there’s a rapidly growing underdog. Let’s check out all the aspects to decide which is better, Spotify or Deezer.
Deezer Vs Spotify- A Brief Comparison:
When looking for the best music streaming apps, Spotify will be the first to pop on the results. It is massively popular, provides a vast ocean of music, songs, and podcasts, and the user interface is greatly simple. However, some reasons make users look for Spotify alternatives.
Some users try finding a replacement for Spotify due to the annoying ads and high subscription prices, while others don’t like the app’s involvement in recent controversies. Deezer will be the most notable name when looking for the best Spotify alternatives.
The first look at the app will make you wonder if it’s better than Spotify and if you should jump ships immediately. But is Deezer better than Spotify? It’s worth discovering if you plan to switch to it and bid adieu to Spotify this year.
About Spotify:
Spotify is a “digital music service” that provides access to millions of songs. It’s a Swedish company founded by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon on April 23, 2006. It’s available as a web application and has dedicated apps for various platforms, including Android, iOS, Windows, and others.
It is the most popular music streaming service, with over 517 million users as of May 2023. Spotify allows users to listen to endless songs, albums, artists, playlists, and podcasts from worldwide and all genres. New songs are added to the platform regularly.
About Deezer:
Deezer is a music streaming app that provides access to an amazing library of more than 90 million songs from across the globe. Daniel Marhely and Jonathan Benassaya founded it in August 2007 as a French music rental service. It is now available in over 180 countries with free and paid versions.
Deezer has become one of the most popular and rapidly growing music streaming services. It’s one of the top Spotify competitors, with over 9.3 million paid subscribers as of March 2023. One of the highlights of Deezer is its “HiFi” feature that lets users listen to music in “real CD quality.”
Spotify Vs Deezer- Music Discovery:
Music discovery is among the key aspects that listeners focus on. Both Deezer and Spotify do a good job of providing exposure to new music and artists. Deezer uses “Collaborative Filtering” to recommend music that suits your taste. It also has a “Made for You” section that provides access to several daily mixes created by Deezer’s algorithm.
The algorithm uses your likes, listening history, and general activity to decide your musical preferences. It combines your taste with your mood and current trend to recommend the best tracks to play. Additionally, there is a key discovery feature called “Flow” which is a never-ending playlist.
On the other side, Spotify uses a hybrid algorithm to recommend music you’ll like along with the famous “Discovery” playlist, which updates new songs every Monday. Spotify uses Collaborative Filtering, Natural Language Processing, and Raw Audio Modeling. All of this is used to provide accurate recommendations.
The Release Radar and Daily Mix playlists update weekly and daily, respectively, with new songs from the artists you follow. The streaming platform recommends additional playlists, albums, and radios based on your listening history.
Winner: Tie
Spotify Vs Deezer- Content Variety:
Both Spotify and Deezer offer solid variety in content forms. There are songs, podcasts, audiobooks, radio, and more. Spotify has more than 100 million songs from various genres and artists. Along with them, there are over 3.6 million podcasts, and the platform is still expanding it.
Spotify has recently acquired several podcast product companies, such as Anchor, Gimlet Media, The Ringer, and Parcast to expand the library. It also acquired Podz in June 2021, a newsfeed tool that helps improve podcast discovery. Spotify also has the “Word” section that features audiobooks.
The company partnered with Storytel and acquired Findaway to improve the feature. In addition, Spotify also has Greenroom, a live audio feature that lets podcasters host live discussions.
On the other side, Deezer also provides all these features and a collection of over 90 million songs. However, Deezer’s podcast collection is significantly limited compared to Spotify. The audiobook feature is also limited to users in Germany, Austria, and the Netherlands.
It tries to compensate for the shortcomings of the Live Radio feature not available on Spotify. It grants access to over 32,000 radio stations covering news, sports updates, etc. However, this feature is also present in a limited number of regions.
Winner: Spotify
Spotify Vs Deezer- Streaming Quality:
Deezer and Spotify both provide multiple quality settings. However, this is the aspect where Deezer gets an edge over Spotify with its lossless CD-tier Hi-Fi quality. Spotify provides five audio quality settings up to 320kbps, but there is no HiFi tier even after being promised in 2021.
On the other side, Deezer has the HiFi tier that ups the audio quality to 1,411Kbps. However, you’ll have a compatible pair of headphones or earphones to get the most real experience. With HiFi, Deezer also gives access to 360 Reality Audio tracks which is Sony’s initiative to get the best music listening experience.
Another difference between the two services is that Spotify has an “Automatic or Auto” option that adjusts the streaming quality according to the internet speed. However, this feature is absent on Deezer. You need to select a defined quality option, but you can still save data with the lowest one.
Winner: Deezer
Spotify Vs Deezer- User Interface & Functionality:
Spotify has a highly aesthetic user interface that users like, but Deezer isn’t far behind either. Deezer uses a bright UI with plenty of colours and a nice font to highlight everything. The Music page provides various sections like “Recommended Playlists,” “Made for You,” “Music by Genre,” and others.
On the other side, Spotify has a dark-themed interface that goes pretty well with new-age users. The “Home” page features various sections, including a “Made for You” tab. If we have to compare the two user interfaces, I will choose Spotify, and many others would likely do the same because of its more eye-pleasing appearance.
Regarding functionality, both Deezer and Spotify provided similar options, such as the ability to like songs, skip them, add them to a queue, and adjust the playback mode. Spotify also provides the “Behind the Lyrics” feature for some songs with its partnership with Genius.
Deezer also has a feature that lets you view the lyrics, but that’s just it. It won’t explain certain parts of a song based on things the artist has said about it as Spotify does. On Deezer, you will find everything you’ve saved or downloaded in the Favorites tab, while Spotify provides those things in the “Your Library” section.
Winner: Spotify
Spotify Vs Deezer- Pricing & Plans:
Deezer and Spotify provide have a similar set of pricing and plans. Both offer the free tier with ads, no offline listening, and several other perks. However, Spotify’s free plan is slightly better than Deezer’s as it provides 160kbps streaming compared to the latter’s cap of 128kbps.
Coming to the premium options, Spotify has the following plans with these prices:
- Individual: $9.99
- Family: $15.99
- Student: $4.99
Meanwhile, Deezer has the following premium plans with these prices:
- Individual: $10.99
- Family: $17.99
- Student: $5.99
- Annual: $99.90
As clearly visible, Deezer is around a couple of dollars costlier than Spotify but makes up for it with its annual plans. You have to spend around $120 to get Spotify for a year, but you can purchase Deezer’s annual subscription for only $100. This saves you around $20 on the subscription price.
However, users tend to go for smaller plans, and Spotify has a clear edge over Deezer. Spotify and Deezer have a Student discount, but Deezer’s plan is costlier. We believe that Deezer should keep prices lower than Spotify to attract more users if they want to compete with them.
Winner: Spotify
Final Verdict: Which One is Better?
Spotify and Deezer are two amazing music streaming services that you can use to listen to your favourite songs and artists. However, picking a side is necessary when you want to purchase a premium subscription. This brief comparison was created to help you decide which service is better.
Going by the results, it’s evident that Spotify is better than Deezer right now. Deezer still has a long way to go to beat Spotify, but it seems they are on the right track. They only need a few customizations to the platform, pricing, and a good marketing strategy to walk toe-to-toe with Spotify.
If you want to choose the best music streaming service, Spotify is your reigning and defending champion. You can buy Spotify Premium or start your free trial without any hesitation. However, if you are looking for the best Spotify alternative, Deezer isn’t bad either. You won’t regret using either of these two.
Frequently Asked Questions:
A: No, Deezer is not owned by Spotify. It is owned by two major companies- Access Industries (the parent company for Warner Music Group) and Rotana Group. Jeronimo Folgueira is the CEO of Deezer while Daniel Ek is the CEO of Spotify.
A: Deezer is better than Spotify in terms of audio streaming quality. It provides a lossless, CD-tier, HiFi listening option with the most impressive music listening experience. It also has a clean user interface, easy-to-use EQ controls, and a wide range of songs. Deezer is also cheaper than Spotify if you go for an annual subscription.
A: There are several disadvantages when using Deezer free such as the limit on the number of tracks you can like, add to a playlist, or skip in an hour. Another con of using Deezer is the limited collection of podcasts on the app, and the audiobooks are only available in a limited number of regions. In addition to that, Deezer is also costlier than Spotify when opting for the monthly plans.
A: Yes, Spotify is the best music streaming app available right now. It has the best collection of songs, podcasts, audiobooks, and other stuff for listeners. You can use it for free or go for its Premium subscription. There is also a free trial that you can use to try out the premium features. The user interface and music discovery are the highlights of Spotify.
That’s all for this brief guide. If you have any queries about anything shared here, please use the comments section. We’ll be ready to assist you more.
This is Saquib, a technology and social media expert with over 10 years of experience in the industry. With a passion for staying up-to-date on the latest developments and trends in the tech and social media world and as a writer, I have been creating informative and engaging content that is easy for readers to understand and enjoy, also published in several leading tech and social media publications and is a regular speaker at industry events. In addition to my writing and speaking engagements, I also work as a consultant, helping businesses grow with the ever-changing tech and social media niche.
