First casualty of music streaming wars as Deezer departs

Online music streaming service Deezer has become the first casualty in the competitive local market, closing  its Sydney office but continuing to operate a full service for Australia and New Zealand from Singapore and Paris.

The French-based company launched in Australia in April 2012 entering the market as a raft of other streaming services including Spotify, Pandora and Songl launched, creating a highly competitive crowded market almost overnight.

The news of the office closure broke on Themusic.com.au, and follows on from Apple announcing it would be launching iTunes Radio in Australia. Other local providers include Telstra’s Mog, IHeartRadio from ARN and JB Hi-Fi’s own offering.

“There are too many music streaming services, I have trouble keeping up with them all,” said one media agency CEO, who declined to be named, but said he was unsurprised at the closure.