Deezer turned a first-half profit for the first time in its current turnaround, posting net income of €6.7 million ($7.6 million) against a net loss of €7.6 million ($8.5 million) a year earlier, according to results released on Tuesday, July 28, 2026.

The Paris-based streaming service, founded in 2007 and operating in over 180 countries, reported H1 2026 revenue of €268.2 million ($305 million), up just 0.4% on the same period in 2025. The headline number barely moved, but the composition underneath shifted hard. Direct subscribers — listeners who pay Deezer itself rather than getting access bundled through a telecom or hardware partner — grew by nearly 500,000 in France and other markets. Direct subscriber revenue rose 6.7% to €185.2 million ($210.9 million), according to Deezer's newsroom.

That growth absorbed a hit on the partnerships side. Partnership subscribers — customers who reach Deezer through a third-party bundle — fell by nearly 800,000 to 3.1 million, and partnerships revenue dropped 7.6% to €70.7 million ($80.1 million). The company attributed the decline partly to the termination of its deal with Mercado Libre, the Latin American e-commerce platform. Overall, Deezer lost a net 300,000 subscribers, landing at 8.9 million total. Billboard reported the figures.

Fewer partnership subscribers, but each one worth more. Partnership ARPU — the average revenue per user — rose nearly 19% to €3.70 ($4.21) per month, while direct subscriber ARPU held flat at €5.40 ($6.15). The pattern is straightforward: Deezer is replacing cheaper bundled listeners with full-price paying ones, and the balance sheet is responding.

Adjusted EBITDA — a profitability measure that strips out interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation — quadrupled to €8.5 million ($9.7 million) from €2.1 million ($2.4 million), with margin improving to 3.2% of revenue. Cash on hand jumped 34% to nearly €100 million ($114 million), and financial debt was cut by close to 40% to €4.9 million ($5.6 million).

CEO Alexis Lanternier said the direct business continues to grow, profitability has become sustainable, and the company's financial position allows for confident investment in future growth. Deezer also confirmed its full-year 2026 guidance.

The company has been busy on the deal front. In July 2026, it signed a new partnership with Winamp — the veteran media-player brand — for a white-labelled streaming subscription, meaning Deezer powers the service behind another company's name. Earlier in the year, Deezer renewed ten major distribution agreements including with telecom provider TIM and speaker maker Sonos, and signed new deals with Taiwan's EDF Entertainment and Brazil's Chippu.

The first half was not without turbulence. Q1 2026 revenue had declined 1.6% year-on-year to approximately $154 million, as Music Business Worldwide reported in April. But direct subscribers grew to 5.7 million in that quarter, with French direct subscribers up 9%, setting up the stronger H1 finish.

What stands out is the scale of the pivot. A streaming service losing 300,000 subscribers while growing profit and cash is not the usual pattern. Deezer is betting that fewer, higher-paying direct customers are worth more than a larger base of cheap bundled ones — and for the first half of 2026, at least, the arithmetic worked.