Deezer may be getting a leg up in the South African market for music streaming thanks to a partnership with Vodacom Group. Bloomberg cited an unnamed person familiar with the negotiations who said the Vodafone unit would offer its customers access to Deezer through an exclusive year-long deal. Neither Deezer nor Vodacom offered comment on the report.
If the arrangement is confirmed, partnering with Vodacom would give Deezer a potential audience of 32 million South African listeners. The streaming service is already available in the nation, but most of its top rivals in other countries have been slower to make inroads into Africa. Spotify, which had reportedly been in talks with Vodacom, and Pandora do not have significant presences in Africa, according to Bloomberg. Instead, it cited Deezer’s main rivals as Spinlet and Rara Media Group.
Telecom deals have been gathering good buzz for music platforms both in the U.S. and internationally. Especially in the case of Vodafone and its subsidiaries, multiple services may be able to take advantage of the extra leverage. Deezer might snag South African allegiance, but Spotify already has ties to Vodafone Ireland.