Spotify takes France’s music streaming market by storm

Spotify is racking up major gains in France’s music streaming market, driving the growth of the business and overtaking rival service Deezer on its home turf.

In November of 2019 Spotify rose to take 13 percent of the online audience in France, exceeding Deezer by 1 percentage point, as reported by Omdia’s Consumer Research - Devices, Media & Usage Intelligence Service – Premium . By April 2020, Spotify's share rose to 17 percent, increasing its lead over Deezer to 4 percentage points.

Deezer had initially launched in France in 2007 as a free advertising-supported service. Following the launch of its premium paid service in 2009, the company remained the market leader in France for more than a decade. Deezer gained high penetration over the years and continued to maintain its subscriber base.

“Spotify’s increased market share in France marks a major accomplishment, given the country is home to rival service, Deezer,” said Fateha Begum, principal analyst, TV, video and advertising for Omdia. “Although Deezer increased its penetration over the previous six months, Spotify now leads the market as its uptake rates were considerably higher. By just about every measure, Spotify is outperforming Deezer on its home court.”

Spotify now is largely driving the growth of the French music streaming market. The proportion of online consumers using streaming music services in France increased by 5 percentage points over a six month period to reach 32 percent in April. Spotify was responsible for 4 out of those 5 percentage points.

The company also increased its French userbase by more than 30 percent over the same six-month period. Spotify’s increased uptake almost entirely came from consumers 18-to-34 years in age. Other music services remained relatively flat in terms of penetration across all age groups, including those aged 18 to 34.

In terms of unique music streamers, the uplift in penetration of online users by age mirrored that of Spotify’s. This suggests that Spotify successfully gained a new wave of music streamers and was responsible for the rise in music streaming in France. Spotify has now surpassed Deezer across all age groups except those aged 55-64.

While French telco Orange had helped drive early adoption of Deezer, its mobile customers are now favoring Spotify.

Spotify has managed to increase its share in what was once Deezer’s core growth area. Spotify increased its penetration of Orange Mobile subscribers by 3 percentage points in six months. If Spotify continues this trajectory, Spotify’s penetration soon will surpass that of Deezer’s among Orange Mobile homes.