Joe Maring / Android Authority
YouTube Music is great, but Deezer is better. The French music streaming service is highly underrated in my opinion and deserves a lot more attention.
However, despite my love for Deezer, there are issues holding it back, with one of them being a dealbreaker for me. I can’t justify switching over to it from YouTube Music, but I still think it’s a great option for certain users in the US.
Would you consider switching from YouTube Music to Deezer? 22 votes Yes 27 % No 68 % I already have 5 %
What Deezer gets right
Mitja Rutnik / Android Authority
Let’s start with the design. Deezer is far less cluttered than YouTube Music, which translates to a better overall experience with the app. As an example, the Home tab in Deezer has 10 sections that show everything from my favorite artists to various mixes and playlists the app thinks I should check out. To a point, even this seems a bit excessive to me, but it pales in comparison with what YouTube Music’s Home tab looks like.
There are more than 25 not-so-nicely-designed sections available, and it takes me quite some time to go through them all. While I find value in some, like the Speed dial section with my most played songs, others are just wasting space. I really don’t care about the section showing me the most commented tracks on the platform, so an option to clear it out for a more manageable Home page would be a great idea, Google.
The overall look and feel of Deezer throughout the app is just better. Not only is it less cluttered, but thanks to the purple accents throughout the UI, it has a bit of personality. I’m a very visual person, and small details like these make an app that much more fun to use.
The lyrics feature is also much better designed and easier to access. There’s a loading circle that shows you exactly when the lyrics will start — a small touch that’s missing on YouTube Music. I love to sing along despite having no musical talent whatsoever, so I appreciate this simple but useful detail. The background is also more colorful in most cases, a stark contrast to the dark and dingy one of its competitor.
Then there’s the main feature of the app I love, which is called Flow. It’s the one I use most of the time, especially when on the road. It’s basically a personalized, never-ending mix of my favorite songs, artists, and genres, alongside new artists and tracks the app thinks I’ll like. The more time I spend using the app and liking or disliking songs, the better the recommendations get. The feature really works brilliantly, and I can even get a bit more specific with recommendations by choosing a particular mood (party, chill, focus…) or genre (pop, rock, alternative…). It’s a great mix of songs I already know and new ones, creating that perfect balance I’m looking for. It’s also better than trying to find a new playlist every time or starting a radio that’s based on just one song.
Granted, YouTube Music does have a similar Supermix feature, but it’s not as good for me personally. First of all, while Flow is front and center in the app for easy access, Supermix can get buried within the Home tab, making it harder to locate. The ability to adjust for a specific mood, which is one of my favorite features, is also more streamlined in Deezer.
Don’t want to miss the best from Android Authority? Set us as a favorite source in Google Discover to never miss our latest exclusive reports, expert analysis, and much more.
to never miss our latest exclusive reports, expert analysis, and much more. You can also set us as a preferred source in Google Search by clicking the button below.
Deezer also has a few extra features that I really enjoy, including music quizzes. I can listen to parts of a track and try to figure out the name of the song or the artist. The faster I answer, the more points I get, if the answer is correct, of course. It’s a very addictive and fun feature to use. And I also have to mention that the service offers lossless audio streaming quality, a feature not available on YouTube Music.
Speaking of artists, Deezer also shows me concerts coming up in my location and beyond. The info is also added to each artist’s page on the app, making it easy to figure out where and when I can see them perform live. What I really like is the ability to filter the results to show only my favorite artists, which makes it much easier to find concerts I’m actually interested in.
Other, smaller features Deezer offers just add to the experience. For example, I can dismiss not only a song on the app, which means that I won’t hear it again, but also the artists themselves. This is a feature YouTube Music lacks but is an important one for improving the quality of the music that the app shows me.
The Monthly Recap feature is also great. It shows me how much time I spent listening to music, my top 10 streamed artists and tracks, the genres I played the most, and a lot more. YouTube Music has a similar feature, but it shows less data and is based on the last three months instead of just one.
Where YouTube has the upper hand
Joe Maring / Android Authority
I said Deezer is the better service overall, but I didn’t say it was superior in every way. There are still several areas where Google’s streaming service has a leg up on its French rival.
YouTube Music is great for videos. Standard music videos and live performances are missing from Deezer’s app. This is likely not a big deal if you just stream music to your speaker or car’s stereo while your phone is in your pocket, but if you like something visual to accompany your music at times, YouTube Music is the superior option.
Then there’s the Samples tab, a music-focused take on the YouTube Shorts experience. It lets you scroll through an endless feed of short video clips to discover new music, and a quick tap of the play button will launch the full song.
YouTube Music’s podcast feature is often criticized, but Deezer’s implementation is even worse.
Then there are podcasts. It might be surprising, given how often YouTube Music’s podcast feature is criticized, but Deezer’s implementation is even weaker. For me, it comes down to three key issues: Deezer’s library is smaller and is missing many of the niche shows I listen to. The episode descriptions are also less informative since YouTube Music can pull richer data directly from the main platform. And crucially, if a podcast has a video format, you’ll get it on YouTube Music — an option that’s completely missing on Deezer.
These are all the areas where YouTube Music is better than Deezer, but to be honest, they aren’t the reasons why I’m not willing to ditch Google’s service. The real reason is quite simple, and I’ll get to it in the next section.
If it’s so good, why am I not switching?
Mitja Rutnik / Android Authority
The sole reason I won’t ditch YouTube Music for Deezer is purely financial, covering both the price of premium plans and the availability of a free tier. In my region, the price difference is substantial. Deezer sets me back €11.99 per month (~$14), while YouTube Music is just €6.49. The value proposition gets even better with YouTube Premium, which removes ads from YouTube and includes Music for only €7.99. On top of that, YouTube Music offers a free, ad-supported plan that, despite its limitations, gives me access to the entire library. Deezer doesn’t have a free plan in my location, making it a bad choice for me since I tend to switch between premium and free plans often.
Things are different for US consumers, though.
For consumers in the US, the logic is a little bit different. First, a free Deezer plan is available to users. Second, the pricing is completely different. Deezer and YouTube Music cost roughly the same in the US — especially when opting for an annual plan — while YouTube Premium is a few bucks more expensive.
So without a massive price gap, Deezer’s offering seems a lot more appealing in the US than in parts of Europe. It’s a deal many should take in my opinion, unless they have their eyes on YouTube Premium and are willing to spend a few extra bucks per month. But for those who just want a music streaming service, Deezer is definitely worth trying out.
So, choose Deezer if you want a music streaming service with a great UI, a better personalized music discovery (Flow), lossless audio streaming quality, and extra features like music quizzes and tour dates. YouTube Music is a better option for those who prefer videos and perhaps want to bundle it with YouTube Premium to get rid of those pesky YouTube ads. Which of these two would you choose? Let me know in the comments.
Follow