Photo Credit: Deezer
Deezer is preparing for a major German expansion in partnership with RTL Group.
French music streaming platform Deezer will begin a significant operation to expand in Germany, says the company’s CEO Jeronimo Folgueira. According to Reuters, the expansion will focus on securing local partnerships utilizing the company’s strategy in Brazil, which proved successful and made Brazil Deezer’s number two market.
“I think in Brazil, we were able to replicate the model that we successfully (did) in France,” says Folgueira, who became Deezer’s SEO only a year ago. “We entered the market with big strategic partners like TIM, Globo, and Mercado Libre, who really help us get scale.”
Deezer’s local partnership with RTL Group will aid in their Germany-based focus, with the platform launching inside the RTL+ app in the next few weeks.
“It will give us very strong entry into the German market,” Folgueira continued. “We expect Germany to become the growth driver of the company for the next few years on the back of that. We are looking to replicate that successful French and Brazilian model.”
Deezer’s shares have continued to fall in the days following its debut in the public sector, a move that analysts considered bold given the current economic situation.
“The fact that we were able to IPO and raise 143 million euros in the current situation shows the strength of our business and industry,” Folgueira explains, saying the company needed the IPO to raise capital to enable Deezer’s expansion.
Folgueira further told Reuters that Deezer will consider aggressive expansion into other markets in the future, such as the US and UK. The company has little presence in those markets compared to its rival Spotify, founded just a year earlier than Deezer in 2006.
“For us to really grow big, we have to find a way of entering and cracking those markets,” says Folgueira. “If we can steal market share and compete with Spotify, Apple, and Amazon in France and Brazil, there’s no reason we cannot do that anywhere else in the world.”