I know I was supposed to start with “Dear GH Artistes”, but I’m actually not the main guy. I’m only here to give a classic introduction by making some clarifications and listing some stats because, you know, I’m the technical guy and we all love numbers right? Basically, some clarifications need to be made on Deezer and music streaming in general. As usual, I’m going to list a few points, so here we go!
Dear people,
Deezer IS NOT a Ghanaian or African-based music streaming service with some 10,000 songs without a single Vic O classic – Hold on let me check this……. Oh it actually doesn’t know who Vic O is, but that’s not my point! Deezer is a worldwide music streaming platform available in over 180 countries, including Ghana. Spotify is available in about 50 countries, excluding Ghana. Deezer boasts of having 38 million songs available for streaming. I’m sure you’re guessing Spotify has about 10 times that. Well you’re wrong; Spotify has 30 million songs in its music library and Tidal, 25 million. Just like all other music streaming services, Deezer makes you feel like you’re a music head when in reality, you’re only trying to look cool by listening to Aurora and the likes.
I can’t be the only one who thought Deezer was African, right? Right???
The reason why Spotify has over 60 million users as compared to Deezer’s 20 million is that Spotify is the king of the United States, and you know these guys and music streaming. Deezer’s strategy is to target the emerging markets such as Brazil, Russia, Turkey and oh yes, Ghana because these places hopefully won’t reach a market saturation point anytime soon. They’re also partnering with Mobile networks such as EE, Orange and tiGO to make the payment system a lot easier, since people in countries such as Ghana are still yet to adopt the online way of paying for services on a full scale.
Side Note: The tiGO partnership wasn’t as good as they made it seem, but my partner and I promised to make this article look all goodey goodey.
Speaking of payment, Deezer’s premium+ service charges its users $4.99 a month which is wayyy less than the others, and it offers pretty much the same features.
Deezer arguably has a cleaner and more intuitive user-interface than our dear Spotify and its clone, Tidal and it doesn’t compromise on functionality or sound quality. There’s a lot of African content thrown at you with Deezer (It gets annoying at some point). I’m refraining from giving more details because this isn’t a review. Stats and clarifications, remember? I’ll give you a 30 page review sometime later.
iTunes and iTunes-like online music services are seeing significant drops in sales in recent years. CDs? [sigh] I have a practical story but let’s not go there… or maybe we should! I was given 50 CD copies of a big rapper’s album to sell. I’m not mentioning his name but he’s here in Ghana. To cut the long story short, it’s been three months and I’ve sold only one copy. You’re allowed to make your deductions. The music streaming business however is soaring exponentially. Am I the only who thinks this niche brings memories of the Wacky Races, with Apple’s recent schemes making Tim Cook look like Dick Dastardly and Dr. Dre being Muttley the dog (or should I say dawg?) in their Beats Music vehicle? It’s worth noting that this Wacky Race includes other giants like Rdio, Pandora, Youtube music key and Google Play music. Even the most conservative people are being tempted to adapt to this new world, which includes music streaming. Numbers don’t lie!
Now that all that has been clarified, lets move unto the main agenda…
DEAR ARTISTES!
No that’s my line, Dudzi.
Dear artistes,
Perhaps all that mumbo jumbo talk about the stats and technicalities was a bit much.
Let’s down it to a more personal scope.
Think about an increase in your fan base. (Remember the African music references being thrown at you on Deezer point?) You wouldn’t just be reaching out to Ghanaian music lovers who want to stream your music but the rest of whatever billion subscribers who would have your music thrown at them. Suppose it’s unlimited music like what tiGO provides for Deezer subscribers in Ghana, someone will definitely be tempted to jump in on your song. Personal experience, the first time I heard Stromae, I just wanted an upbeat hip hop type French song, and every time I searched in one music streaming or downloading app or the other, Stromae came up. So I downloaded that, and his sound was beautiful! I’ve fallen in love since. I thought the dude was French, just found out about a week ago (*throws hands in the air*…no no.., I will not schmoney) that he’s Belgian.
Imagine being that “African guy with the cool beats”? Just saying.
Also, how many of you are pulling money from your music. Like truly?! I don’t know if the Ghanaian music industry isn’t making its profits from music sales as much as it is from shows, or advertising contracts and what not. This is Ghana. Nobody buys CDs anymore.
I love music, but I haven’t bought a single CD ever in my life before. I wouldn’t even lie. And iTunes does count. Like yo, I’m not about to buy ONE album for $5 from iTunes! Do you know how much 5 dollars is now? Calm down!
However, if I got Deezer I could stream that for a couple of MBs and you’d get your money as well. I don’t know how it works but I’m pretty sure the music streaming app people pay y’all something.
I take several caps off for Sarkodie tryna pull a Tidal on all of us by releasing his New Guy gig with Ace Hood on Deezer. There’s hype surrounding that song already so you know you’re gonna have a couple people downloading Deezer to watch and listen to it. I don’t know the exact stats (remember I’m not here for the stats) but Tidal chocked a number of new subscribers just from that “Feeling Myself” release on Tidal. Deezer could too. So Deezer gets money= you get money. And don’t tell me you’re here to do it for the fans, or for the love of music. That one dey but you know you need money boo.
Saddle up, have a talk with your management and let’s see how you can roll some in.
PS: get into the studio and spit some raw scalding fire and let it be worthwhile to stream. We don’t want no mediocre things being channeled outta our country. And we don’t want to waste our data on crap too. Just saying. Stay woke. Sayonara 🌞
Hello everyone, It’s the stats guy here again.
DEAR MUSIGHA!
It’s 2015! With all due respect, your conservative minds aren’t going to fetch you any extra bucks. It’s about time you and your members see music streaming as an experiment and endorse it. Note that I said experiment, because we were taught not to put all our eggs in one basket. Market Deezer or whichever music streaming service it is like it’s your baby. Let’s see how far we can go with this. Look at all the numbers up there, imagine the constant flow of revenue if this experiment is a success on a platform like Tidal. I love Ghanaian music and I don’t want to be the one to witness its fall. No way, I believe in you guys.
Sub goddess to Asaase Yaa. Aspiring goddess of sunshine. Third eye to Ogun. Poetic nymph of the 2nd dynasty. Akuaba Doll – @ab_boateng
And…
Yours truly,
Edudzi (@mR_Ewe_GuY)
Disclaimer: This is in no way an endorsement of any one of the Music streaming services. It’s a big market out there, compare terms of service and choose which one suits you best.