Get your music on Deezer

How music gets onto Deezer

Deezer, like Spotify and Apple Music, takes its catalogue from labels and distributors. We send Deezer the audio, artwork and metadata for your release, and Deezer pays what the release earns back through us.

Deezer has a free tier with advertising and paid subscriptions. It is used worldwide and is biggest in France, Germany and Brazil, so for an artist with listeners in those countries it is one of the services that matter.

Deezer's artist-centric model, explained

Most streaming services divide their money in proportion to streams. Deezer changed that in 2023 with what it calls its artist-centric payment system. Deezer describes the rules like this:

• Artists above a threshold get a boost. Streams of an artist with more than 1,000 streams a month from at least 500 unique listeners count double.
• Chosen music gets a boost. A stream counts double when the listener actively searched for the song, or found it in a playlist made by people rather than an algorithm.
• The boosts combine. A stream that earns both is worth four times one that earns neither.
• Each listener is capped. One account counts for at most 1,000 streams a month in the calculation; Deezer says the average user streams about 600 times.
• Noise is not paid as music. Deezer replaces rain, white noise and similar recordings with its own audio that earns no royalties.

What that means in practice depends on how people listen to you. The model gives more weight to listeners who come looking for an artist and less to plays that happen in the background. An artist with a small but loyal audience that searches for their songs is treated differently from one whose plays come mostly from automatic recommendations. Neither is better or worse as music; they are simply paid differently.

AI-generated music on Deezer

Deezer runs its own detection for music made entirely by AI. In September 2026 it said nearly 90,000 fully AI-generated tracks were being delivered to it every day in June 2026 — at peak, more than half of all new uploads.

Its policy for those tracks:

• Albums containing AI-generated songs are clearly labelled
• Those songs are left out of algorithmic recommendations and editorial playlists
• Streams found to be fraudulent are not paid

If AI generated part of your track, be honest about it when you release. Do not release audio that imitates a real artist's voice. And never buy streams: Deezer does not pay for streams it identifies as fraudulent.

Deezer for Creators

Deezer for Creators is Deezer's tool for artists, managers, labels and distributors, on the web and in a mobile app for artists and managers. Anyone with at least one track live on Deezer can use it. It is only in English for now.

• Analytics — streams, unique listeners, favourites and the top playlists you are in
• Audience — top countries, age, gender, subscription plan and device for each release
• Your artist page — profile picture, bio, social links, and a playlist or album to highlight
• Pitching — submit a release to Deezer's editors

Claiming your artist page

Deezer verifies a claim with the UPC of a release that is already live on Deezer and credits you as main artist. A featured credit or a compilation appearance does not count, and track ISRCs are not accepted. We create a UPC for every release, free, so you will have one from your first release with us.

Pitching

Deezer recommends that the music and the pitch both reach it seven days before release, and it accepts pitches up to 14 days after release, although later pitches have less chance. Another reason to set your release date two to three weeks ahead.

Releasing on Deezer, step by step

1. Apply and set up your artistAccounts are opened by application — tell us about your music and we usually have you ready within one working day.
2. Credit yourself as main artistYou need a main-artist credit on a live release to claim your Deezer page. Featured artists go in the artist fields too, not in the title.
3. Upload artwork and audioSquare artwork of at least 2400 × 2400 px (3000 × 3000 is ideal) and lossless WAV, FLAC or AIFF. Both are checked on upload.
4. Pick Deezer and the other storesEvery plan includes every store at no extra charge. We deliver approved releases within 24 hours; how fast Deezer publishes is up to Deezer, and most stores take a few days.
5. Claim, then pitchOnce a release is live, claim your page in Deezer for Creators with its UPC, and pitch your next release from there a week or more before it comes out.

How Deezer pays you

Deezer pays from subscriptions and advertising, divided by the artist-centric rules above. There is no fixed amount per stream, and we do not quote one.

Stores report in arrears — most about two months after the month the streams happened. Deezer's earnings land in your TempoDigital wallet in US dollars with everything else. On the Artist ($29.99 a year) and Label ($149 a year) plans you keep 100%; on the Release plan ($8.99 per release) we keep 10%. See pricing.

Mistakes that cost artists on Deezer

• No main-artist credit. Without a live release that names you as main artist, you cannot claim your Deezer page.
• Pitching on release day. Deezer wants the music and the pitch a week before; leave room.
• Releasing noise or filler as music. Rain and white-noise tracks are replaced with Deezer's own non-royalty audio.
• Bought streams. Deezer does not pay streams it finds fraudulent, and AI-generated filler is kept out of recommendations.
• Skipping Deezer. In France, Germany and Brazil it is one of the services people actually use.