What do Monthly Listeners Mean on Spotify?

  • By Farrukh Mushtaq

    Farrukh Mushtaq

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    Farrukh Mushtaq, a digital marketer at PureSquare, possesses a keen interest in cybersecurity and enjoys writing about it. With several years of experience in the digital marketing industry, he brings expertise and passion to his work.

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  • 6 December 2024
  • 5 mins read

Table of Content

Table of Contents

When you discover a new artist while scrolling through Spotify, you might notice a number of monthly listeners on their profile. What does this number mean? For casual listeners, it’s just a number, but for the artist’s, it’s a sign of how far they’ve reached and influenced people. For marketers, it’s a valuable data point. 

What Are Monthly Listeners on Spotify?

Monthly listeners refers to the unique users who have streamed an artist’s music over the past 28 days. This number is updated daily on the artist’s profile.

This metric refers to the fame of an artist and how far an artist has reached, showing the snapshot of their recent performance. Monthly listeners vary based on current trends releases unlike followers, which represents fan’s loyalty.

Why Do Monthly Listeners Matter?

There are multiple reasons why monthly listeners matter to artists, fans and marketers. Let's take a closer look!  

For Artists:

  • Monthly listener data help artists understand their performance by tracking the success of their campaigns, new releases, and overall popularity.
  • Amplified monthly listeners can catch the attention of record labels and promoters.
  • Artists use these measures to locate their fans geographically.

For Fans:

  • Monthly listeners help you discover how popular or relevant an artist is.
  • The easiest way to see how many other people enjoy the same music as yours. 

For Marketers:

  • Spotify advertisers use this data to target campaigns more effectively.
  • Curators look at monthly listeners to stratify song placements.

How Do We Calculate Monthly Listeners?

Monthly listeners are calculated by Spotify as unique users who play an artist’s track over the past 28 days. Each user is counted as one listener, even if they played the song multiple times or listened to several songs by the artist.

Monthly Listeners vs. Followers

Followers are loyal fans, while monthly listeners are more like casual visitors who come and go based on current trends. 

  • Monthly listeners show short-term shots based on recent activity. These numbers vary widely at a single hit or a viral moment.
  • Followers constitute a long-term engagement featuring the artist through the playlists and new releases.

How Artists Can Increase Their Monthly Listeners?

Want to boost your monthly listeners? Here are a few ways that might help!

Share your songs on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

Release new songs frequently to keep the listeners engaged.

Collaboration with famous artists will expose you to a new audience.

Get on popular Spotify playlists.

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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

  • What qualifies as a monthly listener on Spotify?

    Plus

    A monthly listener is anyone who listens to an artist at least once in the past 28 days, regardless of how long they listened to a particular song.

  • What is a good number of monthly listeners on Spotify?

    Plus

    A “good” number of monthly listeners on the artist’s career goals. For independent and emerging artists, reaching 10,000 to 50,000 listeners shows steady growth. For well-known artists, hundreds of thousands or even millions can attract attention from the industry.

  • Do you get paid for monthly listeners on Spotify?

    Plus

    No, artists don’t get paid directly for their monthly listeners on Spotify. Instead, they earn money based on the number of streams their songs receive. Payments also depend on the listener’s location, type of account (free or a Premium), and Spotify’s revenue from ads and subscriptions.

  • How much does Spotify pay for 1000 streams?

    Plus

    Spotify pays artists an average of $3 to $5 per 1000 streams.

  • Why do monthly listeners fluctuate?

    Plus

    Monthly listeners solely depend on user activity. New releases, viral moments or being featured can increase listeners, while inconsistency or inactivity may cause a drop in monthly listeners.

In summary! 

Monthly listeners on Spotify marks a captivating glimpse on an artists’ current status and popularity. Whether it’s one metric among many, it holds an important value for an artist, fan and marketer. Either you are listening to your favorite music or emerging as a musician, knowing monthly listeners can enrich your Spotify’s experience.