Deezer, a France-based music streaming service that competes with the likes of Spotify, Apple Music and Tidal, secured a further €100 million ($92 million) in funding to support its further growth.
Existing investor Access Industries led the latest funding round with participation from Orange, which has been a strong partner of the Deezer service since launch. Deezer added that it has also expanded its catalogue to over 40 million songs, and claims that this is now the largest music catalogue available globally.
The financing will be used to increase customer acquisition efforts around the world and accelerate the introduction of new products, features and growth initiatives.
Deezer CEO Hans-Holger Albrecht noted that it is still early days for the music streaming market, "and it's quickly becoming the primary distribution channel for music."
However, Deezer has faced huge challenges from larger rivals Spotify and Apple Music as it seeks to build its market share. It originally planned to raise around €300 million from an initial public offering (IPO) planned for last October, but ultimately decided to postpone the IPO because it felt the market conditions were not right.
Like its rivals, Deezer offers on-demand and music streaming services online and via mobile phones. Mobile operators in Europe including Orange, Vodafone, and Deutsche Telekom bundle Deezer music with smartphone plans to attract subscribers. Deezer said it is now present in 180 countries, with over 6 million subscribers worldwide. However, that compares to Spotify's 20 million subscribers, according to figures from the company's web site.
Three UK also recently teamed up with Deezer to offer contract and pre-paid customers unlimited access to the music-streaming service for six months. Once the free period expires, customers can opt to subscribe to the service for £9.99 (€13/$14) a month.
For more:
- see this Deezer release
Related articles:
Three UK picks Deezer to boost content play
Deezer plans to raise €300M from IPO
Apple Music is a long-term play, says SVP Eddy Cue
Deezer plans IPO to take on Spotify, Apple
IHS: Audio streaming breathes second life into music industry revenue