How Do Monthly Listeners Work on Spotify? 

When you produce and publish a song on Spotify, how can you discover how your fans respond to your music over time? That’s the critical measurement, isn’t it? The good news is that Spotify has a metric to help artists understand their popularity on this platform, called monthly listeners. Get ready to learn how do monthly listeners work on Spotify.  

What Are Monthly Listeners on Spotify 

Each song that an artist releases on Spotify has some listeners. Spotify calculates the unique users that play a track within the past 28 days. It means if they play a song several times, Spotify still counts them as one listener. 

In fact, that really matters to an artist because more listeners guarantee their popularity. Suppose you are an artist who has a concert; the number of people who come to your concert matters whether they want you to play a song several times. 

As you can see, monthly listeners on Spotify are equal to an artist’s and a track’s popularity on Spotify. However, it may change during different periods. Meanwhile, a song may go viral for a while and lose popularity afterward. 

It should be noted that monthly listeners of all the artists on Spotify are visible to the public. So, everyone can see how popular a singer or music producer is. Furthermore, more monthly listeners can help artists attract more fans, opportunities, and collaborations.

How Many Monthly Listeners Do the Most Famous Artists Have?

First, you should know that top artists may change each month based on their monthly listeners. Often, a new song becomes popular, leading more people to search for and listen to it. Therefore, that month, that artist may have more monthly listeners. 

However, the popularity of some artists is always the same. The following table shows you the monthly listeners of famous artists as of February 2024. 

Does Spotify Pay Artists for Monthly Listeners? 

No, the number of monthly listeners doesn’t have anything to do with how artists make money on Spotify. This number just shows the popularity of an artist in 28 days. Whether it goes up or down, it doesn’t impact artists’ income on the platform. 

If you want to make money on Spotify, you should focus on your Spotify Streams. Let’s compare these two metrics. 

Spotify Monthly Listeners Vs. Spotify Streams 

Both metrics are essential for an artist; the first shows the artist’s popularity, and the second shows the popularity and reach of one track. 

Generally, Spotify Streams refers to the number of times a track has been played, no matter if it’s the same user who has played it several times. 

Let’s say you play one of Taylor Swift’s songs. You are counted as one monthly listener and one monthly stream. But if you replay the song again, you are still counted as one monthly listener, but the song will have two streams. 

As you can see, the Spotify monthly listener is counted one for each unique user, but the Spotify Streams is counted as many times as a track is streamed. 

However, it should be noted that Spotify Streams are counted for tracks that are played for at least 30 seconds. So, if someone plays a track on Spotify for less than this duration, it is not calculated as a Stream. 

Now that we know the definition of both metrics, let’s see the overall comparison.

• Spotify Monthly Listeners is visible to the public. Everyone can see how many monthly listeners an artist has. But the Spotify Streams is only visible to the artist’s dashboard. So, their fans can’t see how many streams a track has. 
• Spotify Monthly Listeners may stay still for several days, but the Spotify Streams increase because the same user may play a song several times. 
• The number of Monthly Listeners shows an artist’s popularity; the number of Spotify Streams is crucial for an artist’s Spotify royalties.
• Spotify Monthly Listeners don’t impact an artist’s revenue on the platform. On the other hand, Spotify Streams can impact an artist’s monthly income. 

Spotify Monthly Listeners Vs. Spotify Followers 

There is another metric on Spotify that can impact an artist’s popularity. That’s their followers. Like any other platform, Spotify users follow their favorite artists to get notified about their latest releases or create a playlist of their favorite songs. 

Some people may think that Spotify Monthly Listeners and Followers are the same. Although they may seem similar, or their numbers are usually close to each other, they are different. 

Generally, users may play a song but don’t follow the artist. Therefore, the number of monthly listeners is usually more than the number of followers. 

However, like Monthly Listeners, an artist’s Followers are also visible to the public. It is shown on the About page of an artist. As you can see, Rihanna, who is ranked the 4th top artist based on the Spotify Monthly Listeners, has far more monthly listeners than followers.

Which One Is More Important on Spotify? Followers or Monthly Listeners? 

This is a critical question. The answer is that both of them are important factors to show the popularity of an artist. However:

• The Monthly Listeners is the first thing that usually Spotify users see on an artist’s page. 
• Spotify ranks each artist based on their Monthly Listeners. 

Therefore, it’s somehow a more critical factor. 

On the other hand:

• The number of followers shows the fan base of an artist. 
• Followers are more loyal, but listeners may come and go. 

Therefore, it’s not something to forget. It’s still an essential metric for Spotify artists. 

As an example, Ed Sheeran, the most followed artist on Spotify, has fewer monthly listeners than followers. He was once the top artist on Spotify after he released the “Shape of You” song, which also broke records on Spotify, with over 3.6 billion streams.

But who knows, maybe next month Ed Sheeran beats The Weekend on the number of Monthly Listeners. 

Ultimately, most artists like to have more followers on Spotify. That usually shows how people like them, even if they don’t release a trending song.

Accordingly, there is a formula that calculates the ratio between listeners and followers. 

Here is the formula:

Spotify listener-to-follower ratio= Spotify Followers/ Spotify Monthly Listeners

What Does Listener-to-Follower Ratio Mean on Spotify?

The ratio may be one of the following numbers: 

• Less than 1: Your listeners are not converting into followers. They listen and go. But you may be one of the trends this month because more than your followers come to listen to your tracks. As you can see, most of the top artists on Spotify have less than 1 listener-to-follower ratio. 
• Equal to 1: It may rarely happen to have the same number of monthly listeners and followers. But it shows almost all of the listeners are turning into followers, or only your followers are listening to your tracks. 
• More than 1: This number somehow shows you are losing your popularity because not all of your followers listen to your tracks per month. 

Overall, in the case of popularity, the ratio of -1 is better, and in the case of loyalty, the ratio of +1. 

How to Increase the Number of Spotify Monthly Listeners?

Want to boost your popularity on Spotify? You need to have more monthly listeners on your Spotify. Here are some tips to help you increase this metric: 

1. Complete Your Spotify Profile 

First, it’s essential to have a complete and optimized bio on Spotify. Add a header and write an introduction so new visitors to your profile will know you better and feel like you are professional at your work. 

You should note that your profile is your brand on Spotify; try to make it as great as you can. Here are some tips to optimize your Spotify profile: 

• Choose a high-quality profile picture.
• You can add up to 125 images to your Spotify gallery, showing your personality or behind-the-scenes moments. 
• Add your social links, such as Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube. It is always worth it if people find you are active on social media platforms. 
• Claim your Spotify for Artists account. You will access features and tools that help you professionally manage your Spotify account. 
• Use Artist’s Pick. They can see your taste in music by checking out your Artist’s Pick. 
• Keep your profile up-to-date. 

2. Promote Your Tracks on Other Social Media Platforms 

As a Spotify Artist, it’s essential to be active on other social media platforms, especially if you are new and want to increase your monthly listeners on Spotify. One of the best ways to promote your new track is using Instagram Story. 

You can play part of your track in the story and direct your Instagram followers to your new song. Don’t forget other platforms, such as Twitter, Facebook or TikTok. 

Each of these platforms can bring you new followers and streams to your Spotify account and increase your monthly listeners on Spotify. 

3. Collaborate with Other Artists 

Collaborating with other artists on Spotify can be a great way to expand your audience. You can find a way to introduce yourself to more people, especially if the Artist you collaborate with has many followers. 

Here are some tips for collaborating with artists on Spotify:

• Co-write a song.
• Invite another artist to perform on your track.
• Create a Spotify playlist with another artist and invite them to add songs or podcasts they like or are inspired by.

Whatever you do, you should find a way to other Artist’s profiles. Whether they add your song to their Artist’s pick, co-create a song with you, or promote you in other ways. 

4. Verify Your Spotify Account 

Spotify verification badge adds to your credibility. This blue tick can impact people’s decision to whether to follow you or not. Furthermore, it’s more common for Spotify users to listen to a track from a verified artist. 

Therefore, after creating your account on Spotify, take the steps to get your Spotify account verified.

5. Buy Spotify Plays

Here, you need to know about another metric, Spotify Plays, which shows how many times a track has been played thoroughly. This is one of the metrics that is visible to your audience. More play on a song indicates that people have liked it. 

Therefore, it is more likely for new visitors to your profile to listen to your track, which adds to your monthly listeners.

You can easily buy Spotify Plays and increase your chance of getting more followers, more streams, and more monthly listeners. 

There are several follower growth services that offer this service, too, including buyfollowers.com. You can easily select the number of plays you want to add to a particular track. Then, get it within the quickest time. 

However, it’s better not to start with huge numbers as the Spotify platform may find it uncommon and ban your account. Increase the number of your Spotify Play practically. 

You can also do the same to your Spotify followers. If you want to increase your followers as quickly as possible, you can use the related service on buyfollowers.com and easily buy Spotify followers. 

Bottom Line 

To clearly define how do monthly listeners work on Spotify, we compared different metrics on Spotify. We offered tips to increase monthly listeners, as it is one of the most critical factors on an artist’s page. Spotify ranks artists based on this metric; that’s why monthly listeners show how popular an artist is on this platform. 

FAQs

Has anyone ever had 100 million monthly listeners?

Yes, many famous Spotify artists have more than 100 million monthly listeners, including Taylor Swift and The Weekend, who are currently the top artists on Spotify based on their monthly listeners. 

However, since this number will change each time, it’s possible for other artists to reach this number, too. 

Who is #1 on Spotify monthly listeners?

First, you should know that, as the name indicates, the Spotify monthly listeners are calculated monthly. Therefore, the #1 artist based on this metric may change over time. Currently, The Weekend group is at the top of the list. 

How to get 10,000 monthly listeners on Spotify?

You should try different strategies to increase your monthly listeners on Spotify. Furthermore, the more tracks you release, the more listeners you will get. 

Therefore, be consistent, have a complete profile, collaborate with others, and be active on other social media platforms to promote your new tracks and get more streams.

How many monthly listeners on Spotify is good?

The number of monthly listeners on Spotify that is considered “good” can vary widely depending on the context. 

For independent or emerging artists, having a few thousand monthly listeners can be seen as a positive sign of growing popularity. 

For more established or mainstream artists, having several million monthly listeners might be considered a standard of success.