Deezer Posts Tepid Q1 Subscriber Results

Photo Credit: Deezer

Deezer reports lower revenues and global subscribers in Q1, but its AI-detection tool continues to make it an industry leader in a deal with Hungary-based music rights organization, EJI.

Deezer continues to lag behind streaming juggernauts like Spotify and Apple Music, and its Q1 financials reflect that. The France-based streamer posted revenues of $154 million, down 1.6% year-over-year, while its “Direct” subscribers grew to 5.7 million. That’s despite its total subscribers globally falling by 5.1% year-over-year to 8.9 million, as total subscribers from “Partnership” subscriptions plunged 23%.

The company reports its subscriber base in two categories: “Direct” subscribers, who sign up and pay for the service themselves; and “Partnership” subscribers, who access Deezer through bundles with another service.

Deezer’s total Direct subscribers, particularly in its home market of France, grew by 9.1% year-over-year to 3.8 million, driven by “a well-balanced combination of strong brand positioning, targeted promotional offers, and sustained marketing investments,” Deezer says.

Meanwhile, Direct subscribers in the rest of the world increased to 1.9 million, up 8.7% year-over-year and reflecting “solid organic traction and selected profitable marketing investments in key markets.”

But the streamer’s total subscribers globally across both Partnerships and Direct fell 5.1% year-over-year to 8.9 million, as subscriptions from Partnerships fell 23% year-over-year to 3.2 million. Deezer attributed such a steep decline to what it called “expected run-off” of its deal with Brazilian marketplace Mercado Libre. As a result of that “expected run-off,” total revenue for the quarter fell 0.9% year-over-year to $154.3 million.

“In the first quarter of 2026, we continued to see strong momentum in our Direct subscriber base, both in France and the rest of the world. At the same time, we are executing on our strategic priorities, including the repositioning of our Partnerships segment, where we are making encouraging progress through new deals and the launch of our revamped Deezer for Business offering,” said Alexis Lanternier, CEO of Deezer.

“We also took a step in monetizing our innovation capabilities with the signing of an agreement to license our AI tool. Overall, we remain firmly on track to deliver our full-year guidance, with positive adjusted EBITDA and Free Cash Flow, while maintaining revenue broadly in line with 2025 levels.”

In March, Deezer partnered with Hungary-based music rights organization, the Bureau for the Protection of Performers’ Rights (EJI), to license its AI detection technology. That move followed Deezer’s announcement in January that it was planning to license its AI-detection tool to the wider music industry. Also in March, the company revamped its Deezer for Business to include its AI-detection tech.

Last week, Deezer revealed that its proprietary tool to tag AI-generated content across its catalog has detected just shy of 75,000 AI-generated tracks uploaded to the platform every day. That comes to over 2 million AI tracks uploaded to the platform each month, and means that fully AI-generated music now accounts for over 44% of all new tracks delivered to Deezer on a daily basis.