Spotify reveals new data on “Super Listeners”
The most powerful people in music? Super listeners. Spotify explains who they are, why they matter, and how artists can connect with them.
In a music industry increasingly dominated by fleeting trends, viral moments, and algorithmic discovery, Spotify is placing its focus on something deeper: sustained connection. Today Spotify released new data and tools to help artists understand a powerful, loyal, and highly engaged segment of their audience, one Spotify now refers to as their “super listeners.”
These fans aren’t just casual streamers or passive playlist skimmers. They’re showing up regularly, going deep into catalogs, buying merch, attending shows, and sharing music with others. According to Spotify’s latest findings, super listeners make up just 2% of an artist’s monthly audience but drive a staggering 18% or more of total streams, and their influence doesn’t stop there.
“Artists are surrounded by so many different types of fans, and that’s a great thing,” says Claudia Zamora, Product Marketing Manager, Music Promotion at Spotify. “But there’s something powerful about knowing who’s showing up the most consistently. These are the fans who stay engaged, spread the word, and support artists across the board. Here at Spotify for Artists, we call them super listeners, and we want to help artists not only identify them but create more of them.”
With streaming becoming more saturated than ever, Spotify’s data reinforces that long-term artist success increasingly depends on quality over quantity and on building deep relationships with the right listeners.
Spotify defines super listeners as the most active and intentional segment of an artist’s audience. These are fans who have actively sought out an artist’s music, not through passive exposure or algorithmic playlists, but through direct engagement. That includes streaming music from the artist’s profile page, release pages, or saved library within the last 28 days.
While super listeners typically make up a small slice of total monthly listenership, they far outpace the average user in both depth and frequency of engagement:
- One super listener streams as much as 20 passive (programmed) listeners.
- They drive over 18% of total monthly streams despite being only 2% of the audience.
- They account for 50% of all ticket sales driven through Spotify’s live integrations.
- They spend over $25 per artist on merch and live shows within a 30-day window.
- They’re 9x more likely to share music with friends, helping artists grow through word of mouth.
- More than half of them continue streaming an artist six months after discovery.
These fans are loyal, intentional, and active participants in an artist’s journey, and according to Spotify, understanding and nurturing this group may be the most powerful thing artists can do in 2025.
To help artists make sense of their audience, Spotify introduced the concept of the Fan Funnel, a framework for understanding how listeners move from initial exposure to deep engagement.
At the top of the funnel are potential and programmed listeners such as users who either haven’t streamed the artist in a long time or who’ve only encountered them via Spotify’s editorial and algorithmic playlists. These listeners may have discovered a single song but haven’t yet connected with the broader catalog or brand.
In the middle are previously active listeners, people who have actively streamed the artist in the past but haven’t returned in the last 28 days. These are fans worth re-engaging, as they’ve already shown a capacity for intentional listening.
At the bottom are the active listeners, divided into light, moderate, and super listeners. These fans are returning regularly, streaming from active sources, and are most likely to convert into long-term supporters across streaming, touring, and merchandise.
Importantly, this funnel isn’t linear. Some fans may bounce between stages discovering a song via a playlist, falling off, then re-engaging during a release cycle or campaign. Spotify’s tools are built to help artists track these behaviors in real time and respond accordingly.
Tools to build Super Listeners
Here’s how creators can use Spotify for Artists’ latest features to engage listeners at every stage of the funnel:
1. Audience Analytics
The new Audience Segments tab shows exactly how your fans break down: programmed, previously active, light, moderate, and super listeners. You can view engagement trends across time, identify drop-off points, and see where you’re converting casual fans into active ones.
You can also use the Source of Streams data to understand how people are finding your music, whether from editorial playlists, your artist page, fans’ libraries, or new releases.
2. Marquee & Showcase Campaigns
Spotify’s Marquee and Showcase tools let artists promote new releases and catalog tracks to targeted audience segments. These campaigns have proven especially effective in turning light and moderate listeners into super listeners.
In fact, Spotify reports that fans who see a Showcase or Marquee campaign are 2x more likely to become super listeners during the campaign window.
3. Countdown Pages
For upcoming releases, Countdown Pages give artists a dedicated space to hype the drop, with pre-save options, exclusive visuals, and more. These pages drive concentrated excitement among fans already invested.
According to Spotify, 24% of listeners who pre-save via a Countdown Page are super listeners, and over one-third of them stream in the first week after release.
4. Concert Integrations & Merch
Spotify’s Live Events Feed, Concerts Near You, and integration with ticketing partners help connect super listeners to IRL opportunities to support artists. Keeping your tour dates and merch updated on your profile helps fans take the next step beyond streaming.
In 2023 and 2024, the conversation around music fandom shifted heavily toward the “superfan economy.” Platforms like Patreon, Bandcamp, and even TikTok began positioning themselves as the place where artists could build meaningful connections and earn directly from their biggest supporters.
By providing artists with real-time insights, targeted marketing tools, and clearer visibility into audience behavior, Spotify is encouraging a new kind of strategy, one that prioritisesretention over reach, engagement over virality, and real connection over metrics.The truth is, virality doesn’t always translate into fandom. A song that explodes on TikTok might bring millions of plays, but those listeners can vanish just as fast. What Spotify’s data shows is that the foundation of a lasting career is built not on fleeting moments, but on sustained, meaningful engagement.