Deezer, a global music experience platform delivering millions of songs to users worldwide, relies on high-quality data to create seamless listening experiences. From personalizing playlists to powering operational decisions, data lies at the heart of everything Deezer does. As a long-time Secoda customer, Deezer has used the platform to centralize data management and foster collaboration across teams.

In 2024, Deezer’s data team saw an opportunity to take these efforts to the next level by implementing Secoda’s Data Quality Score (DQS) feature. This decision marked a significant step toward standardizing data quality across the organization and ensuring all teams could rely on trusted data for their workflows.

Why DQS?

The data team at Deezer saw DQS as an opportunity to enhance their data quality practices while supporting the organization’s growth. Their goals included creating a scalable framework to monitor datasets, automating workflows to save time, and ensuring data-driven decisions were based on reliable insights. Transparency was key—they wanted a centralized view of data quality metrics to make collaboration between data producers and consumers easier. By starting with DQS, Deezer set the stage for building trust, improving processes, and aligning teams on shared quality goals.

Laying the groundwork with DQS

Deezer’s early exploration of Secoda’s Data Quality Score (DQS) has highlighted its potential as a flexible and scalable solution for both their data governance and quality needs. The team began by applying DQS to a carefully selected set of datasets, focusing on key BigQuery tables, to evaluate how the feature could support their broader goals. This initial focus allowed the team to assess the platform’s capabilities without disrupting existing workflows.

For Deezer, DQS stood out for its adaptability, offering the ability to toggle between granular table-level details and a comprehensive view of the overall data quality landscape. This flexibility will be instrumental in helping the team gain a better understanding of both immediate quality concerns and broader trends across their datasets. Features such as subscribing to specific tables and receiving automated improvement suggestions have also shown promise in simplifying how Deezer could identify and address potential issues in the future.

Deezer has also recognized the value of Secoda’s user-friendly design during this phase. The intuitive interface has made it accessible for both technical and non-technical users, ensuring that the team can comfortably navigate and interact with the platform as they refine their approach to using DQS.

Deezer has also explored ways to integrate Secoda into their existing workflows, including leveraging the Secoda API to enhance automation and streamline documentation processes. As Mauricio Chigutti, Analytics Engineer at Deezer, shared: “The Secoda API is an excellent tool that enables us to create a more customized integration between our data pipeline deployment and the data catalog. Our primary use-case is to update table and column descriptions and documentation using code-generated information or schema repositories.”

Looking ahead, Deezer plans to expand their use of DQS by integrating it more fully into their workflows and engaging teams across the organization. These next steps will focus on leveraging the platform’s scalability and actionable insights to improve data quality management on a larger scale. While they are still in the early stages, the team is confident that DQS has the potential to play a significant role in building a more transparent and efficient data ecosystem.

The benefits on the horizon

Deezer is already seeing early signs of improvement in their data quality workflows. By leveraging DQS, the team anticipates several long-term benefits:

• Enhanced trust and transparency: A centralized view of data quality metrics fosters greater alignment and accountability across teams.
• Improved efficiency: Automation and actionable insights help the team identify and resolve issues faster than ever before.
• Streamlined collaboration: The DQS framework establishes clear expectations between data producers and consumers, creating a more cohesive data ecosystem.

“We’re excited about what’s next,” Mauricio shared.

"Secoda is helping us streamline our data quality processes, and the fewer tools we need to manage our data stack, the better for us.”

What’s next

This initial rollout of DQS marks just the beginning of Deezer’s journey toward enhancing their data quality practices. As the team continues to refine their processes and involve more stakeholders, they are confident that DQS has the potential to drive meaningful improvements in trust, collaboration, and efficiency.

Stay tuned for our detailed case study on Deezer's significant results with Secoda. We'll explore their strategic approach to achieving complete documentation, reducing engineering overhead, and scaling data compliance across their organization.