Spotify says ‘Super Listeners’ — the ‘die-hard, listen-on-repeat, buy-up-all-your-merch’ fans — make up 2% of monthly listeners but 18% of streams.
On the heels of the mid-year market data report from Billboard affiliate Luminate, Spotify has released its own study on the value of “super listeners” — die-hard superfans who listen on repeat and buy all the merch. Those listeners make up 2% of an artist’s monthly listeners — but account for over 18% of monthly streams.
Moreover, Spotify indicates that 2% of an artist’s monthly listeners make more than half (52%) of their merch purchases. According to Spotify, that stat is based on multiple seven-day windows of purchasing behavior on the platform this year for artists with 10,000 monthly listeners or more at any point in 2022 and at least ten tracks as of January 1, 2023.
Breaking down Spotify’s study geographically, Latin America includes four of the Top 10 markets with the highest concentration of super listeners, including the No. 1 (Chile) and No. 2 (Mexico) spots. The rest of the list features Canada, Hong Kong, the United States, Argentina, Columbia, Japan, Poland, and the Philippines.
The release of Spotify’s Fan Study: the Super Listeners Edition coincides with the launch of its new “super listeners” audience segment Spotify for Artists. In addition to monthly listeners and stream counts, artists and their teams using the platform will have access to data on “super, moderate, light, programmed, and previously active listeners.”
“Earlier this month, we launched the new Segments dashboard in Spotify for Artists, allowing artists and their teams to better understand who makes up their audience, how often they’re listening, and how they’re streaming,” says Rob Fink, Associate Director of Brand Marketing for Spotify for Artists.
“These new Fan Study insights dive into super listeners — a crucial part of an artist’s audience — who power artists’ careers by driving more streams, buying more merch, and engaging more deeply with artists over the long term.
“By sharing insights into listener behavior on Spotify, our goal is to arm artists and their teams with data, strategies, and tools to better understand, grow, and engage their audience on our platform.”
