Why Your Spotify Popularity Score Matters (And How to Improve It) 

Every Musician wants their music to be heard worldwide and appreciated by fans of the genre. But the question remains: How can one tell whether their music is being streamed, by how many people, and how much at what time? These stats often determine an artist’s growth, engagement, popularity, and so much more. If you’re looking to dive into the possibilities of using these stats to your advantage, then keep reading the blog for insights.

We’ll be taking a look at the following:

1. What is Spotify’s Popularity Score?
   
   
2. What Do the Spotify Popularity Index Numbers Mean?
   
   
3. How is The Spotify Popularity Score Calculated?
   
   
4. How to Improve Your Spotify Popularity Score?
   
   
5. Where to Check The Spotify Popularity Score?
   
   
6. How Important is The Spotify Popularity Score?
   
   

What is Spotify’s Popularity Score?

Ever noticed how some songs just seem to take over your Spotify feed? That’s thanks to something called the Spotify Popularity Score. It’s kind of like a behind-the-scenes rating system that tracks how much love a song or artist is getting right now. The more people are listening, sharing, and coming back to a track, the higher the score goes. It’s not about lifetime plays but about who’s trending this week. So if your favorite artist suddenly blows up, you’ll probably see their score climb too. The popularity score is ever-changing and can be moulded to help advantage the musicians.

What Do the Spotify Popularity Index Numbers Mean?

You must be wondering what these numbers mean. Well, each popularity score is specific to a period, and hence, it can keep on changing as time goes on. These numbers, each from different tiers, can give one an insight into how their track is performing in the current scenario.

Here’s what the numbers mean:

• 0-20: Not much traction yet. These are often new releases or songs with very few plays.
  
  
• 21-40: Some activity, but still pretty low in visibility. Maybe a niche artist or an older track without recent buzz.
  
  
• 41-60: Decent popularity. These tracks are getting steady listens and starting to show up in more playlists.
  
  
• 61-80: Pretty popular! These songs are being streamed a lot, likely featured in editorial or algorithmic playlists.
  
  
• 81-100: Top-tier hits. These are the viral songs, chart-toppers, or mega-popular artists everyone’s talking about right now.
   

To sum it up, the higher these numbers are, the more popular the track stands in today’s time. For example, tracks like Bohemian Rhapsody have an all-time high popularity score, since they have remained popular throughout the years, even years after it’s release. However, tracks that generally get famous through TikTok trends, Social Media can die down after the trend dies, hence resulting in a great popularity score only for the time they were famous during, other than that, their score can remain anywhere from not popular to decently popular.

How is The Spotify Popularity Score Calculated?

 Spotify doesn’t publicly share its exact formula for calculating the popularity score, but here’s a solid idea of what goes into it:

• Recent Streams Matter the Most: 

  Spotify focuses more on recent listening activity rather than total plays over time. A song that got 1 million streams last year but barely any now won’t score as high as a newer song blowing up this week.
  
  

• Consistency of Plays:

  If a track keeps getting played over and over by lots of people, it’s seen as more popular. One-day spikes help, but steady streaming gives better results.
  
  

• User Engagement:
  

  It’s not just about hitting “play.” If people are adding a song to playlists, liking it, saving it, or sharing it, that boosts the score, too.
  
  

• Reach and Diversity:

  The score also considers how widespread the listening is. If a song is being played by a wide range of users across different regions or demographics, that’s a big plus.
  
  

• Platform Behaviour:

  Spotify’s algorithms play a role, too. If a song gets featured on curated playlists (like RapCaviar or Today’s Top Hits) or is being recommended by Spotify’s AI, it likely helps push the score higher.
   

So in short: it’s a mix of how many people are listening, how often they’re listening, how recently they’re listening, and how deeply they’re engaging with the track with saves and additions to playlists, etc.

How to Improve Your Spotify Popularity Score?

If you're an artist or managing one and want to boost your Spotify Popularity Score, here are some real, actionable ways to make that number climb:

• Drive Recent Plays:

  The score heavily depends on recent streaming activity. So, focus on keeping the momentum going after a release. Tease it on social media, build hype, and encourage fans to stream early and often.
  
  

• Get on Playlists: 

  
  
  
  Landing on playlists, especially big ones like Discover Weekly, Release Radar, or editorial lists, can send your streams soaring. Start with smaller, niche playlists, and pitch your tracks through Spotify for Artists before release day.

  If you’re starting out, you can also submit to Playlist curators through services like SubmitLink, OneSubmit, and our platform GreaseRelease as well. Your song can be placed on playlists with thousands of listeners and followers, noting full well, in a playlist specific to your genre and niche.
  
  

• Promote Smartly on Social Media:

  Use platforms like Instagram, TikTok, YouTube Shorts, and X to share snippets of your song, behind-the-scenes content, or short videos that encourage listeners to check out the full track on Spotify. The power of a good Social Media presence is often undermined, but it can help you gain credibility and build a loyal fan base that can drive engagement, saves, likes etc. Artists like berlioz, Esha Tewari have grown massive cults and gained loyal listeners through a strategic social media approach.
  
  
  
  

• Release Consistently: 

  Artists who drop music regularly tend to stay in the algorithm’s good books. Regular releases keep fans engaged and maintain streaming activity even if it's a short single or remix.
  
  

• Engage your Core Fans:

  Your early fans are gold. Email lists, Discord servers, replies under posts, or even DMs can be a way to activate your base when something new drops. A strong day-one push can boost streams and start triggering algorithmic playlists.
  
  

Where to Check The Spotify Popularity Score?

You can’t view the Spotify Popularity Score directly on Spotify, but several third-party tools make it easy to track. Platforms like MusicStax, SubmitHub, Artist Tools, Chartmetric, and Viberate are some platforms you can check out. Your song or artist's popularity, typically represented as a score from 0 to 100. These tools are especially useful for independent artists and marketers who want to monitor performance, spot trends, and make informed decisions to boost their reach on Spotify.

How Important is The Spotify Popularity Score?

While it can be helpful to take these statistics into considering your approach to get more reach and engagement, we need to remember that it is just a metric. NO matter how much calculations go into getting the popularity score right, it can never cover the sentiment and hard work that goes behind making a track. Even if your song isn’t great on the popularity score, it can be great at expressing your growth, skills, and range as a musician. Use these tools if you may, but just know art is always subjective, and the popularity score isn’t a complete metric that decides how good your track really is.

We at GreaseRelease have a bunch of curators on our network who are looking for new & exciting music to push on their massive playlists. If you make music and want to reach a wider audience, check out our submission platform and get a chance to reach millions of listeners! Submit your tracks now!