News

First casualty of music streaming wars as Deezer departs

deezerOnline music streaming service Deezer has become the first casualty in the competitive local market, closing  its Sydney office but continuing to operate a full service for Australia and New Zealand from Singapore and Paris.

The French-based company launched in Australia in April 2012 entering the market as a raft of other streaming services including SpotifyPandora and Songl launched, creating a highly competitive crowded market almost overnight.

The news of the office closure broke on Themusic.com.au, and follows on from Apple announcing it would be launching iTunes Radio in Australia. Other local providers include Telstra’s Mog, IHeartRadio from ARN and JB Hi-Fi’s own offering.

“There are too many music streaming services, I have trouble keeping up with them all,” said one media agency CEO, who declined to be named, but said he was unsurprised at the closure.

Thomas Heymann, who headed up the Deezer operation in Australia and New Zealand made the announcement via email explaining the closure of the Australian office.

He said: “Deezer has taken the decision to close the Australian office. The company will continue to operate a full service in Australia and New Zealand, but I shall be leaving the company effective from 14th February.

“Australia and New Zealand operational and business matters will now be dealt with by teams in Singapore and Paris.”

Heymann pledged his continued belief in the service, stating: “I believe Deezer has the most innovative music subscription offer on the market place. It is a service created by music fans for music fans with a human touch and I am wishing the brilliant global team a continuation of their exciting global success.”

On a more personal note, he said: “I would like to say at this juncture that I had a fantastic time running Deezer, spearheading many successful campaigns and partnerships.

“I have made many new friends within the global Deezer family and the business in Australia and I remain an evangelist about music streaming and Deezer.”

Traditionally streaming services have been cagey about revealing their user numbers, although media agency execs report many have been aggressively pursuing more advertising dollars from them in recent months.

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