Deezer may not be a household name like Apple Music and Spotify, but you can still consider it a major player in the music streaming industry. Launched in 2007 in Paris, France, by Daniel Marhely and Jonathan Benassaya, the service has expanded to 180 countries to become a truly global player in the sector. This success led the company to list on Euronext Paris in the summer of 2022. So, following this crucial change in its corporate structure, who owns Deezer now?
It’s worth noting that Deezer is not owned by a single company, according to its investor website. Its largest shareholder is Access Industries, an investment group launched and controlled by billionaire Len Blavatnik. The group first invested in the music streaming company in 2012 and at the end of 2025 owned around 36% of Deezer’s shares, making it somewhat of the company’s largest shareholder. Second behind Access Industries is French telecommunications and communications giant Orange, with a 7.7% share of the company. Other significant Deezer shareholders include Kingdom 5-KR-272 (5.1%), Rotana Audio Holding (also with 5.1%), Artemis Group (4.3%) and Warner Music Group (4%). So, as the numbers show, despite Access Industries’ substantial stake, no single shareholder owns the majority of Deezer, meaning the music streaming company has no outright controlling owner.
From French startup to global streaming service
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The history of Deezer ownership is only part of the company’s history. Indeed, its journey from a small French music streaming service to a global platform is interesting in itself. For starters, it wasn’t originally called Deezer. Initially, for a brief period, the service was known as Blogmusik. Daniel Marhely created Blogmusik in 2006, before entrepreneur Jonathan Benassaya joined him the following year. Blogmusik was later shut down due to an issue over music rights, but rather than abandon the project, Marhely and Benassaya decided to work together to turn it into a licensed music streaming service, relaunching it as Deezer in the summer of 2007 – a year before Spotify and eight years before Apple Music.
The new Deezer quickly had to take on the challenge of moving from the status of a French startup to that of a global company. To achieve this, it focused on partnerships alongside its own efforts to reach customers. So rather than relying solely on users signing up directly, Deezer struck deals with telcos and other companies, helping it reach users in markets where music streaming was still relatively new. This carefully considered approach has allowed Deezer to establish itself beyond its French roots while competing with newcomers like Spotify and later entrants. As its history shows, Deezer has seen it all, from the early days of unlicensed music services to the fiercely competitive global streaming market. Looking ahead, we now face another major shift in the shape of AI and the changes it brings to the way music is created and consumed.
