How monthly listeners are calculated

Monthly listeners is the number of unique accounts that played at least one track by the artist in the last 28 days. It is not a total play count, and the two numbers do not have to move together.

A rolling 28-day window

The window is not a calendar month. It runs 28 days back from today, so every day the oldest day falls out and a new one comes in. That is why a number drops sharply exactly 28 days after a big release: the launch-week listeners have left the window.

One person counts once

• A fan who listens 500 times counts as 1, the same as someone who listened once.
• Two accounts belonging to the same person count as two listeners, because the count is per account.
• A play under 30 seconds does not count that person at all.

So monthly listeners measures reach, not loyalty. Dividing streams by listeners tells you more about loyalty.

What pushes it up

1. Editorial playlists. One large placement can add hundreds of thousands of listeners in days.
2. Algorithmic playlists such as Radar and Discover Weekly. Slower, but they stick longer.
3. A track catching on in short video. It arrives fast and leaves fast.
4. A new release, which lifts catalogue listening too, not only the new track.

Why it falls overnight

The usual reason is falling off a playlist. Removal of artificial streams, availability changes in a country, and artist profile merges can also pull it down. A single drop says very little on its own. A 90-day curve says a lot.

How popradar uses it

We read the number once a day per artist and store it as-is. Rankings apply no weighting. The Spotify chart on an artist page shows the raw 90-day series, so you can tell a one-day dip from a real decline.