Vodacom and Deezer have entered into an exclusive partnership to provide the mobile operator’s customers access to the music service’s 35m songs.
The announcement follows speculation earlier this week that Deezer was looking to enter the South African market ahead of its rival, Spotify. It’s understood that Vodacom had previously engaged with Spotify.
The deal between Vodacom and the Paris-based Deezer will give the music streaming service access to 35m subscribers on the Vodacom network.
“With Deezer’s mix of local and international artists, we’re changing the way that South Africans experience music,” said Vodacom chief commercial officer Phil Patel in a statement.
“The real benefit behind the Deezer service is its ease of use. By simply registering and downloading the Deezer app, one has immediate access to South Africa’s largest digital music library. Importantly, music can be streamed over multiple devices — no more side-loading or fiddling around with album covers,” Patel said.
Vodacom will be giving all of its customers one month free access to the Deezer Premium+ subscription, after which a monthly fee of R60/month will apply. Vodacom says contract customers will be billed directly to their Vodacom accounts, while prepaid users will need to top up with the equivalent amount of airtime. A free, advertising-supported version of Deezer is also available to non-subscribers.
The one month free offer launches today.
Vodacom said that in the near future, Deezer will be included as a value-added service in some Vodacom packages.
Deezer is available on most popular smartphone platforms, including Android, iOS, Windows Phone 8 and BlackBerry. — © 2014 NewsCentral Media