Deezer playlist pitching: what the Pitching Tool requires

Deezer runs one pitching system for both editorial playlists and its recommendation algorithms, and almost no independent artist can open it. The Pitching Tool lives at creators.deezer.com and is available only to Label accounts and Provider accounts. Deezer states that artists and managers cannot access the tool directly and must work through their representatives (Deezer for Creators).

Provider means your distributor. So the practical Deezer question is not "how do I pitch?" but "does my distributor pitch, and what do they need from me?" Everything below is written so you can brief them in one email.

Who can use the Pitching Tool

Deezer's access rule is clean: label accounts and provider accounts. Artists and managers cannot log in. A distributor that delivers your music to Deezer can pitch it as the provider, and a label can pitch the releases it has rights to.

Two operational limits are worth knowing. Deezer recommends a maximum of three admin accounts per company and advises against sharing one admin login between users. And multiple teams can pitch the same track, for example global and local teams, though Deezer recommends that the team closest to the release market takes the lead.

The 7-day rule and the edit lock

Deezer's optimal timing is short and firm:

• Submit the pitch and deliver the music 7 days before release. Deezer says this gives both the algorithms and the editorial team time to process the release.
• Pitches are accepted up to 14 days after release. A late pitch is possible, but Deezer says it may reduce the effectiveness of algorithmic recommendations and editorial consideration.
• No edits in the last 24 hours before release. You can edit a pitch after submitting it, but the tool locks the day before.
• Listening links must be valid, complete URLs starting with http or https.

Seven days matches Spotify's floor, while Apple asks for 10. If you run one release calendar, Deezer's deadline lands in the same week as the Spotify last call, which makes it easy to remember: day -7 is the final day for both.

The mandatory fields

Deezer publishes the full field list. All of these are required:

Deezer tells pitch authors to complete the non-mandatory fields as fully as possible, which is the same advice Spotify gives: metadata routes the pitch.

Individual pitch or CSV upload

Two submission paths exist, and both are the distributor's job rather than yours.

1. Individual pitch. Select Add pitch, choose Fill form, and complete every mandatory field. Non-mandatory fields should still be filled in.
2. CSV import. Select Add pitch, then Import a .csv file. Deezer validates the file and reports errors; rows with errors are not imported and must be fixed and re-imported.

The CSV rules are strict: use Deezer's template, do not reorder or rename columns, keep dropdown values exactly as Deezer spells them, write the 13-character UPC without leading zeros, use listening links with http or https, and keep the release date within two weeks in the past. Release times are handled in UTC+0.

If a pitch shows as undelivered, Deezer's help page points to three causes: a UPC that does not match BOCatalog, release timing, or the music not being properly delivered to the platform.

Priority levels

Deezer offers five levels: Standard Release, Low Genre Priority, Genre Priority, Priority and High Priority. The level is a signal to Deezer's teams about how much of a push the release is getting, so it should match the actual campaign. Marking every release High Priority is the fastest way to make the field meaningless, and it is usually the distributor, not the artist, who sets it. Ask what level your release is being pitched at.

What to send your distributor

Because you cannot open the tool, your pitch is only as good as the brief you send. One email with these seven items covers the whole form:

1. The release and its exact release date, with the time zone and the 7-day deadline written out.
2. The focus track, named, plus its ISRC if you have it.
3. The UPC as delivered, so nobody adds a leading zero.
4. One primary genre and, if the release crosses lanes, a clear order of preference.
5. The target editorial team or teams, described as "the team that handles [genre] in [market]".
6. Two or three sentences of context: the sound, the story, the campaign and any momentum.
7. The listening link, tested, with the release date stated.

Ask for confirmation that the pitch was submitted and that the status is not undelivered. A pitch that sits in a draft helps nobody.

After the pitch

Deezer describes the Pitching Tool as influencing recommendations and connecting to the editorial team. It does not promise a placement, and Deezer publishes no per-pitch reply promise. What you can do is watch Deezer's own analytics in your distributor or label reports for algorithmic and editorial lifts in the first weeks, and keep independent Deezer playlist curators in the loop. The directory's Soundplate row covers Spotify and Deezer lists, and the wider free options are in our free curators guide.

Four mistakes

1. Asking Deezer for artist access. There is no artist tier. The access requirement is label or provider, and the answer will not change.
2. Sending the brief on day -5. The distributor has to fill a form, fix any CSV errors and submit 7 days out. Send the brief at day -21 with everything else.
3. Requesting a UPC change after submission. Deezer does not allow it. The pitch must be deleted and re-created with the correct UPC.
4. Leaving the focus track blank or choosing by habit. The focus track and its ISRC are mandatory, and they decide which song Deezer's teams actually hear first.

Deezer is the third gate after Spotify and Apple. The full comparison is in where to pitch each platform, and the timing overlaps with when to pitch Spotify.