Overview
Engagement metrics provide deep insights into how listeners interact with your tracks. Unlike play counts (which just tell you how many plays), engagement metrics tell you how listeners engage—how long they listen, whether they complete your track, and where they drop off.
Availability: Engagement metrics are only available on individual track insights (/backstage/tracks/{id}/insights). They require per-play analysis and are not aggregated at the album or artist level.
Why Engagement Matters
| Metric Type | What It Tells You |
|---|
| Play Count | How many times your track was started |
| Engagement | How listeners actually experience your track |
- Misleading titles or covers (people click but don’t stay)
- Weak intros that don’t hook listeners
- Structural issues in the track
High engagement means listeners find your content valuable and are more likely to:
- Return for future releases
- Share your music
- Purchase or license your tracks
Engagement Overview
The Engagement Overview section appears at the top of track insights.
The Four Key Metrics
Avg Listen Duration
Avg Completion Rate
Total Listen Time
Completed Listens
Icon: Clock (blue)What it measures: The average time listeners spend on your track.How to read it:
- Compare to your track length (shown in the badge)
- If it’s low relative to track length, listeners are leaving early
- Example: “0:49” out of “3:06” means listeners hear only 26% on average
Progress bar: Shows duration as % of track length Icon: Checkmark (color varies by level)What it measures: Percentage of your track that listeners complete on average.How to read it:
- 100% = listeners finish the entire track
- Lower percentages indicate where listeners stop
- Badge shows retention level (Excellent/Good/Fair/Poor)
Progress bar: Shows completion percentage Icon: Bar chart (purple)What it measures: Cumulative listening time across all plays.How to read it:
- Shows overall engagement volume
- Useful for understanding total impact
- Example: “4h 23m from 85 plays”
No progress bar — This is a volume metric, not a percentage Icon: Trending up (green)What it measures: Number of plays that reached >80% completion.How to read it:
- The gold standard for engagement
- Higher percentage = more engaged audience
- Example: “12 completed (14.1% of all plays)”
Progress bar: Shows completed listens as % of total plays
Quality Badge
The header displays an overall engagement rating that summarizes your track’s performance:
Badge Levels
| Badge | Color | Criteria |
|---|
| High Engagement | Green | ≥80% completion AND ≥80% of track listened |
| Good Engagement | Blue | ≥60% completion AND ≥60% of track listened |
| Moderate Engagement | Yellow | ≥40% completion OR ≥40% of track listened |
| Low Engagement | Red | Below 40% on both metrics |
The badge considers both completion rate AND average listen duration relative to track length. A 3-minute track with 1:30 average listen time and 50% completion shows “Moderate Engagement.”
Retention Levels
The Avg Completion Rate card shows a retention level badge:
| Level | Completion Rate | Badge Color | What It Means |
|---|
| Excellent | ≥80% | Green | Listeners love your track |
| Good | 60-79% | Blue | Strong engagement |
| Fair | 40-59% | Yellow | Room for improvement |
| Poor | < 40% | Red | Needs attention |
Listen Duration Chart
An interactive bar chart showing how long listeners engage with your track over time.
Chart Elements
| Element | Description |
|---|
| Header | Clock icon, trend badge, average duration |
| Bars | Each bar = average listen duration for that day |
| Bar Height | Taller bars = longer average listen time |
| Bar Colors | Color-coded by completion rate |
| Footer | Track length, best day, avg completion, total plays |
Bar Colors (Completion Rate)
| Color | Completion Rate | Meaning |
|---|
| Green | ≥70% | Excellent — listeners hear most of the track |
| Amber/Yellow | 40-70% | Good — engaged but drop off before end |
| Red | < 40% | Needs attention — listeners skip early |
Trend Calculation
The trend percentage indicates whether engagement is improving:
- Your selected date range is split in half
- Average listen duration from the first half vs second half
- The percentage change is shown as the trend
| Badge | Example | Meaning |
|---|
| Green (+15%) | +15% | Engagement improved recently |
| Red (-25%) | -25% | Engagement declined recently |
| Orange (0%) | 0% | Stable — no significant change |
A negative trend doesn’t necessarily mean your track is bad. It could indicate a shift in audience (e.g., new listeners discovering via short-form content).
- Average Duration (e.g., “1:23”)
- Completion Rate (e.g., “65%”)
- Play Count (e.g., “12 plays”)
- Date
Mobile: Tap any bar to show tooltip. Tap again or outside to dismiss.
Completion Breakdown Chart
A grid showing how much of your track listeners complete, broken into five categories.
Categories
| Category | Icon | Range | Weight | Description |
|---|
| Completed | ✓ (green) | >80% | 100 pts | Heard almost all |
| Mostly | ◉ (blue) | 60-80% | 70 pts | Strong engagement |
| Half | ○ (amber) | 40-60% | 50 pts | About half |
| Partial | ⊘ (orange) | 20-40% | 30 pts | Lost interest |
| Skipped | ⏩ (red) | < 20% | 10 pts | Skipped early |
Quality Score = (Completed×100 + Mostly×70 + Half×50 + Partial×30 + Skipped×10) / Total Plays
Score = (10×100 + 5×70 + 3×50 + 1×30 + 1×10) / 20
= (1000 + 350 + 150 + 30 + 10) / 20
= 1540 / 20
= 77 (Good)
Quality Score Ratings
| Score | Rating | Meaning |
|---|
| 80-100 | Excellent | Listeners love your track |
| 60-79 | Good | Solid with room to improve |
| 40-59 | Fair | Many listeners drop off |
| 20-39 | Needs Work | Most leave early |
| 0-19 | Poor | Almost everyone skips |
Insight Messages
The footer displays context-aware insights based on your data:
| Insight | Condition | Message |
|---|
| Excellent | >60% completed | ”Excellent engagement! Keep doing what works.” |
| Many skip early | >40% skipped | ”Many listeners skip early. Consider a more engaging intro.” |
| Drop off late | More mostly/half than completed | ”Listeners engage but drop off. Strengthen your outro.” |
| Mixed rates | No clear pattern | ”Mixed completion rates. Analyze drop-off points.” |
Interpreting Engagement Data
Common Patterns
| Pattern | Likely Cause | Action |
|---|
| High skips | Weak intro | Strengthen first 15-30 seconds |
| Drops at 50% | Energy dip in middle | Review track structure |
| Drops near end | Weak outro | Add stronger closing |
| Consistently high | Great content | Keep your current approach |
| Declining trend | Audience fatigue | Consider new releases |
What Affects Engagement
| Factor | Impact |
|---|
| Track intro | First 15-30 seconds are critical |
| Energy flow | Consistent engagement keeps listeners |
| Track length | Longer tracks face more drop-off |
| Genre expectations | Match what listeners expect |
| Audio quality | Poor quality drives listeners away |
Tips for Improving Engagement
Hook them early
Start with your strongest element. Don’t save the best for later—many won’t hear it.
Maintain energy
Avoid long quiet sections or energy dips that give listeners an exit point.
Optimize length
Match your track length to genre expectations. Shorter is often better for engagement.
Strong outro
Give listeners a reason to finish. A weak ending leads to early exits.
A/B test intros
If engagement is low, try releasing alternate versions with different intros.
Data Availability
Engagement tracking is being rolled out progressively. Tracks with plays before the feature launch may show “Engagement tracking coming soon” with a note about the pre-tracking play count.
Next Steps
