Deezer comes to Sonos dealers

By Devin Brown

In this image released by Deezer, it shows the Sonos sub operated
with Deezer Elite service. (Deezer)

Last month Sonos dealers received emails saying they were eligible to sell Deezer Elite, a subscription based HD music streaming service only available to Sonos and Bose customers. This announcement has received mixed reviews among some Sonos dealers in Utah.

Deezer will be able to track how many new Deezer Elite accounts are sold by Sonos dealers. The dealers will receive a commission for each Deezer account they sell.

Headquartered in Paris, Deezer is one of Europe’s largest music streaming services. It’s one of the first services in the U.S. to stream in high-resolution music, uncompressed music designed to give the listener a “studio quality” sound.

In September Glenn Peoples, a contributor for Billboard.com, wrote Deezer wants to differentiate itself by selling sound quality over the number of artist a service, such as Pandora and Spotify, carries.

Brandon Curtin, a project designer at Big Fish Automation in Draper, Utah, said Deezer is for people who are looking to narrow down their options for better music.

Curtin said Deezer is an “awesome” service but he doubts people will actually find out about the app. He believes Deezer is testing the U.S. market. He said fans of Pandora and Spotify might not understand what makes Deezer different.

“Deezer is definitely just dipping their toes in the market,” Curtin said. “The United States is known for quantity over quality. I don’t think most people will care about the high-res music.”

Curtin said Big Fish’s customers aren’t afraid to spend money on HD music. He said if a customer spends over $10,000 on a stereo system they will go out of their way to buy high-resolution music, through either websites like HDtracks.com or CDs such as super audio CDs.

Jared Walth, a salesman for AVWORX in Layton, Utah, said Deezer is a better option than Tidal, another HD music streaming service in the U.S. He said Tidal is $19.99 per month. Deezer is $9.99 per month with a one-year commitment for Sonos customers.

Walth said his customers who use compressed music streaming apps like Spotify and Pandora would be excited to use Deezer. He said it depends if Deezer lets non-Sonos subscribers use the service.

“I’ve got a few guys who listen with headphones,” Walth said. “They’ll ditch their Spotify if they get Deezer.”

In this image released by Sonos,
it shows the Connect preamp with
RCA and Digital connections
on the back. (Sonos)

Spotify, which doesn't stream music in HD, cost $9.99 per month for its unlimited streaming service.

Walth said using Deezer with a Sonos Connect player, a wireless preamp, will add HD music to any system using a digital optical cable.

Sonos customers can activate Deezer Elite through the Sonos app. All Sonos dealers received a free Deezer account to demo to customers.

Deezer would not comment on when the app might be available to all customers in the U.S. It would also not comment on how much commission each Sonos dealer receives for selling Deezer Elite accounts.