A sudden change in streams feels personal. A jump makes you think the song has finally broken through, a drop makes you think people stopped caring. Usually the explanation is more ordinary, and you can find it in a few minutes if you know where to look.
First, check that the change is real
Before looking for causes, make sure you are comparing the right things.
Distributor reports come per reporting period, and partner reports don't all arrive at the same moment. In the CULT dashboard, for example, every report shows its source and period, so you can see whether a "drop" simply means one platform's data for that month is not in yet. A report covering a shorter period, or a platform that sends late corrections, can also make two periods look very different.
Platform tools have their own quirks. Most count with a delay of a day or two, and the last few days on a chart are often incomplete. Look at whole weeks rather than single days, and compare each platform with itself.
Playlists: the usual suspect
On most streaming platforms, playlists explain the biggest jumps and drops. Your song can be added to or removed from:
- algorithmic playlists, such as personalised mixes and radio, which rotate songs all the time based on how listeners react;
- editorial playlists, which editors update regularly, often weekly;
- listener and curator playlists, from a friend's list to a large independent one.
When a song leaves a big playlist, streams fall sharply overnight. That is not a verdict on the song; every playlist placement ends at some point. Check the playlist section in the platform's artist tools, which usually shows which playlists brought streams and when that changed.
If streams from algorithmic playlists drop, look at what happened just before. A new release often pulls attention away from the previous one, and that is normal.
Short videos and viral moments
A sudden rise in one or two countries often comes from short-video platforms. Someone uses fifteen seconds of your song in a video, others copy the idea, and people start searching for the full track.
The signs of this kind of jump: growth concentrated in one country or city, lots of new listeners who haven't heard your other songs, and people talking about one specific part of the song. Search for your song's sound in short-video apps to find where it started.
What to do: make your own videos with that exact part, thank the creator who started it and put the song front and centre on your profiles. Expect the wave to fade when the trend passes. Some of the new listeners will stay, most won't, and that is how these waves usually work.
Keep in mind that a video using your song is not the same as a stream. Short-video platforms report that use separately from plays on streaming services, so a viral clip can bring a lot of attention and only a modest rise in streams.
Seasons, holidays and the calendar
Listening shifts with the calendar. Summer songs rise in June and fade by autumn. Holidays change routines: during Ramadan, listening in many countries moves to different hours; around New Year, people play familiar songs and party music; and the start of the school year changes when students listen.
Before you worry about a drop, compare it with the same period last year. If your streams dipped then too, the calendar is probably the reason.
Your own activity counts too. A drop often follows a quiet month on your social media, and a jump often follows a live show, an interview or a post that travelled. Check your own calendar as well as the platform's charts.
When a jump looks too good: artificial streams
Not every jump is good news. Sometimes streams come from bots or from services that sell plays, even if you never paid for anything: an unknown playlist may add your song together with hundreds of others so that its own activity looks natural.
Warning signs:
- a large number of streams from a city or country where you have no audience;
- many streams from very few listeners;
- a jump from playlists you don't recognise, with odd names and followers you can't trace;
- streams that keep coming at the same level day and night.
Platforms remove artificial streams, can hold back income and, in repeated cases, take the release down. If you see these signs, don't share the numbers as a success. Tell your distributor what you found, and if a suspicious playlist added your song, you can ask the curator to remove it. And never pay anyone who promises streams.
A five-minute check when numbers change
- Is the period complete, and are all platforms included?
- Which platform and which country changed?
- Did the song enter or leave a playlist?
- Is someone using the song in short videos?
- Is there a holiday or seasonal effect compared with last year?
- Does anything look artificial?
Most of the time, one of these answers explains the change. Write it down next to the date, so that the next time you see a similar curve you recognise it straight away.