Deezer registers $144m revenue in Q1 2024

During this period, the company’s consolidated revenues reached €132.5m ($144m), up 14.2% year-on-year (YoY) at constant currency.

In the announcement issued on 29 April, Deezer classified its revenues into three segments: Partnerships, Direct and Other, with the company saying it “delivered a second consecutive quarter of double-digit growth, giving it confidence in its ability to achieve its 10% revenue growth target in 2024.”

At the same time, its subscriber base increased by 12.8% to reach 10.5 million compared to 9.3 million in Q1 2023.

Deezer’s partnerships accounted for 32.7% of its total revenues in the quarter, amounting to €43.3m over the period, up 37.6% YoY at constant currency.

The company said its revenue growth in Q1 reflected “the continued ramp-up of its recent partnerships including RTL+, Sonos and Mercado Libre. The partnerships, it added, were “in line with the group’s strategy to focus its efforts on attractive and large markets.”

The company’s subscribers via Partnerships reached 4.9 million in Q1, up 35.4% YoY in comparison to 3.6 million in Q1 2023.

Deezer’s Direct revenues reached €86m, up 5% YoY, with the company saying the growth in the segment was driven by “a new wave of price increases, launched in Q4 2023, now applied to more than 75% of the subscriber’s base.” In addition, Direct growth was due to “improved geographic mix with the strategic refocus of the direct business on selected key markets leading to the continued expansion of the subscriber base in France (+3.6%) and the slowdown in Rest of World subscriber base at 11%. [This reflects] the implementation of a more selective strategy in Direct to drive premium account subscriptions by reducing trials and promotions.”

The company reported that its Other revenue, consisting mainly of advertising and ancillary earnings, reached €3.2m, up 23.3% YoY at constant currency.

Deezer generated the majority of its revenues in its home market of France, where it reached €76.1m in Q1, up 8.5% YoY, and counted 5.5 million Direct subscribers, down 1.8% YoY versus 5.6 million Q1 2023.

Its ARPU (average revenue per paying user) in Q1 stood at €5.1 for its Direct subscribers, up 6.4% YoY.

“Deezer’s performance in the first quarter of 2024 highlights clear momentum and evidence that our strategy is on point,” Deezer interim CEO Stu Bergen said. “By delivering unique experiences to music fans worldwide, Deezer delivers value and innovation to all our stakeholders. We continue to be a catalyst for positive change, challenging the status quo in remuneration and pricing, while maintaining our unwavering support for artists and songwriters.”

The report also highlighted Deezer’s artist-centric agreement with Merlin announced in March, and its “improved catalogue quality following the removal of over 26+ million tracks since October 2023 – including non-artist content, noise, and duplicates – by using its advanced proprietary technology.”

The company said: “As part of its artist-centric model, Deezer is dedicated to enforcing a stricter provider policy to ensure exceptional quality content and elevate the user experience. Deezer has trained advanced models capable of recognising and distinguishing specific types of content such as noise and functional music.”

Deezer launched its Universal Music Group-approved artist-centric payment system in September 2023, with Warner Music Group signing up for the same system in France a few months later.