How’s Deezer Doing? French Streamer Posts 11% Jump in Revenue

French music streaming company Deezer’s revenue increased 11% (13% at constant currency) to 134 million euros ($147.3 million) in the third quarter, the company announced Wednesday (Oct. 30).

That was slightly slower than the 15% growth rate in the second quarter and first quarter but ahead of the 7.4% revenue growth the company posted in calendar 2023. 

Partnerships accounted for most of the quarter’s improvement by growing 21% to 41.5 million euros ($45.6 million). Deezer powers music streaming services for such companies as Germany’s RTL and Argentinian e-commerce company Mercado Libre. Through partnerships, Deezer offers its branded service to the likes of DAZN, a sports streaming platform, and Mexican mobile carrier WIM, whose customers get a 20% discount on Deezer Premium. 

Subscriber growth was helped by the conversion of “the first cohort of MeLi+ subscribers from trial accounts to premium accounts with higher margins,” CEO Alexis Lanternier said during an earnings call on Thursday (Oct. 31). Also, Lanternier added, the Mercado Libre partnership, which provides 12-month trials, has produced results “higher than our initial expectations.” 

Revenue from France was 78.5 million euros ($86.3 million) and 58.6% of total revenue, down from 59.4% in the prior-year period. The rest of the world generated revenue of 55.5 million euros ($61 million). The “other” category was 6.7 million euros ($7.4 million), up 63.8%, in part due to new verticals such as its wellness app, Zen.

The growth in France and contraction in the rest of the world is part of the plan, CFO Carl de Place said. “The strategy has been to improve the profitability and moving to positive profitability for Deezer, which has made us be more selective in the way we invest, in terms of marketing and making sure we invest in markets where we can see that the return on the investment is positive for this. So that’s the reason why we are growing in France and over the rest of the world has been declining.”

Direct subscribers represent the majority of Deezer’s business but grew at a slower 4% to 85.8 million euros ($94.3 million). The number of direct subscribers rose 4.1% to 9.9 million; 5.2 million of them came from Deezer’s home market of France while the rest of the world produced 1.8 million subscribers, down from 2 million in the prior-year period. Deezer’s subscriber base took a hit because the company removed 400,000 “inactive family accounts,” but the company explained that the move had no impact on revenue and benefited gross margin. 

Despite the positive momentum in the quarter, the company chose to maintain its guidance from the previous quarter. Deezer forecasts 10% revenue growth in 2024 and expects adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) to improve to a loss of 10 million euros ($10.9 million) and plans to have positive free cash flow. 

Deezer was among the first music streaming platforms to raise prices in 2022 and did so again in 2023. There will be “potential for price increases” as Deezer continues to “upgrade the experience to add value to the user,” de Place said. 

Following the release of third-quarter earnings after the market’s close on Wednesday, Deezer’s share price was practically unchanged, falling just 0.4% to 1.35 euros ($1.46) on Thursday. Year to date, Deezer’s stock price has fallen 36% from 2.1 euros ($2.27) per share. 

Deezer’s third-quarter financial metrics: