{"id":236990,"date":"2025-07-23T19:23:04","date_gmt":"2025-07-23T18:23:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/?p=236990"},"modified":"2025-07-23T19:24:47","modified_gmt":"2025-07-23T18:24:47","slug":"super-listeners-are-2-of-all-music-streamers-but-buy-50-of-concert-tickets-spotify-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/super-listeners-are-2-of-all-music-streamers-but-buy-50-of-concert-tickets-spotify-says\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Super listeners’ make up just 2% of an artist\u2019s monthly streaming audience, yet buy 50% of concert tickets, Spotify says"},"content":{"rendered":"MBW\u2019s Stat Of The Week is a series in which we highlight a data point that deserves the attention of the global music industry. Stat Of the Week is supported by\u00a0music data analytics firm\u00a0Chartmetric<\/a>.\n
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The music industry has been intensely focused in recent years on better monetizing the superfan: That segment of the music audience that\u2019s more engaged and more willing to spend money on their favorite artists.<\/p>\n

Now, Spotify<\/strong> has identified a new segment within its own audience: What it calls “super listeners.”<\/p>\n

On the surface, that may seem like another name for superfan, but Spotify\u2019s definition of “super listener” seems to be a smaller subset of superfans \u2013 and the streaming platform says it\u2019s this small group that is the key to growing a loyal fan base.<\/p>\n

While Luminate, in its Luminate Midyear Report\u00a0(download it here<\/a>),<\/strong>\u00a0identifies 18%<\/strong> of the US music listeners as \u201csuperfans,\u201d Spotify says only 2%<\/strong> of listeners on its platform qualify as \u201csuper listeners.\u201d<\/p>\n

Is an audience segment that small worth paying attention to? Spotify says yes. According to their data, super listeners account for 18%<\/strong> of all streams, are nine times<\/strong> as likely to share music with their network, and account for a whopping 50%<\/strong> of all artist ticket sales through Spotify.<\/p>\n

One super listener streams 20 times<\/strong> as much of an artist\u2019s music as \u201cprogrammed\u201d listeners, i.e., those listeners who click on a track because it appeared in a playlist or recommendation.<\/p>\n

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And in a survey of 4,500 US-based listeners, this group reported spending more than $25<\/strong> per touring artist on merch, live shows and other purchases in the previous 30 days.<\/p>\n

They also display a great deal of loyalty: More than 50%<\/strong> of an artist’s super listeners will still be listening six months later. In other words, they\u2019re the \u201csuper-superfans\u201d that truly drive an artist\u2019s career.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese fans aren\u2019t casual. They\u2019re committed,\u201d Spotify said in a blog post.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you\u2019re looking to build a real fanbase that sticks around and keeps showing up for your music, it\u2019s not just about getting more listeners. It\u2019s about connecting with the right ones.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you\u2019re looking to build a real fanbase that sticks around and keeps showing up for your music, it\u2019s not just about getting more listeners. It\u2019s about connecting with the right ones.\u201d<\/p>\n

Spotify<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

To that end \u2013 and with an eye towards a little self-promotion \u2013 Spotify is offering up some tips on how to use the platform\u2019s tools to identify and build an artist\u2019s super listener base.<\/p>\n

Artists who are signed up to Spotify for Artists<\/strong> can use the analytics dashboard to identify super listeners by going to Audience \u2192 Segments to see how many listeners are super listeners, moderate listeners or light listeners.<\/p>\n

Artists can also go to Audience \u2192 Overview to see the source-of-streams graph that shows where listeners are finding the music, whether through playlists or by actively searching an artist\u2019s profile page, catalog or release pages.<\/p>\n

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Spotify has devised a \u201cfan funnel\u201d to help artists visualize how to move listeners from being \u201cpassive\u201d fans to \u201cactive\u201d fans, and identified three stages, each one requiring a strategy of its own:<\/p>\n

The growth stage<\/strong> consists of potential listeners and programmed listeners (those hearing an artist\u2019s music through playlists, recommendations, etc). Artists can use Discovery Mode<\/a> or playlist pitching<\/a> to turn bring potential listeners to their music.<\/p>\n

The reactivation stage<\/strong> involves previous listeners who\u2019ve dropped off and haven\u2019t listened to an artist\u2019s music in the past 28 days. Artists can use Showcase<\/a> and Marquee<\/a> campaigns to nudge those listeners back to their music.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause campaigns hone in on listeners in specific audience segments \u2013 and based on real streaming behavior \u2013 they\u2019re effective at moving listeners down the funnel,\u201d Spotify says, noting that listeners who see a Marquee or Showcase are twice as likely to become super listeners during a campaign than those who don\u2019t.<\/p>\n

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The engagement stage<\/strong> is about maintaining the fan base an artist has built \u2013 and that, Spotify says, is about new releases and new events.<\/p>\n

The platform recommends that artists keep their profile pages fresh with new merch and clips. New additions of tour dates help artists appear in the Concerts Near You and Live Events feeds, and in personalized concert recommendations.<\/p>\n

And, of course, new releases matter: Spotify says artists see an 18%<\/strong> spike in super listeners after a new release.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s something powerful about knowing who\u2019s showing up the most consistently. These are the fans who stay engaged, spread the word, and support artists across the board,\u201d said Claudia Zamora<\/strong>, Product Marketing Manager, Music Promotion at Spotify.<\/p>\n

Those who closely follow the music business will no doubt be eager to see how Spotify addresses super listeners in its long-awaited \u201cMusic Pro\u201d tier<\/a> \u2013 and whether that tier proves to be a boon for artists looking for a broader audience, and better earnings, in the streaming economy.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/i><\/a><\/figure>Chartmetric<\/a> is the all-in-one platform for artists and music industry professionals, providing comprehensive streaming, social, and audience data for everyone to create successful careers in music.<\/em><\/span><\/strong>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Spotify may have just identified the ‘super-superfans’ who truly drive an artist’s career<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":46,"featured_media":192731,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[108,124425,134451],"class_list":["post-236990","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-spotify","tag-stat-of-the-week","tag-super-listeners"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/236990","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/46"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=236990"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/236990\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/192731"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=236990"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=236990"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=236990"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}