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Spotify popularity score: what it is and how to raise it

Spotify gives every track, album and artist a popularity score from 0 to 100, based mostly on how much it's played right now. It isn't in Spotify for Artists, most free checkers lost access to it in February 2026, and the thresholds you read about are rules of thumb, not Spotify's rules. Here's what is known, and what actually raises it.

By Plastic · Updated 15 October 2026 · 5 min read

In this guide
  1. What the popularity score is
  2. Where to see your popularity score
  3. What's a "good" popularity score?
  4. What raises your popularity score
  5. What doesn't work: bought plays
  6. Questions

What the popularity score is

Spotify describes the score in its developer documentation:

  • It runs from 0 to 100, with 100 the most popular.
  • It's based mostly on the total number of plays, and recent plays count for more: a song played a lot now scores higher than one played a lot last year.
  • Every track is scored on its own. The same song on a single and on an album gets two separate scores.
  • Artist and album scores are worked out from their tracks' scores.
  • It isn't live. The score can lag real listening by a few days.
Spotify popularity score explained: two songs with the same number of plays: one played mostly months ago has a low popularity score, one played mostly now has a high score

So the score isn't a grade of your music. It measures how much your songs are being played right now, compared with everything else on Spotify.

Where to see your popularity score

  • Not in Spotify for Artists. The dashboard shows streams, listeners, saves and playlist adds, but not the popularity score.
  • Most free checkers lost access in February 2026. Spotify removed the popularity field from its Web API for apps in development mode, the kind most small tools run on. Some checkers stopped working; others still show numbers read before the change.
  • A few checkers still show it. Artist X-Ray is free and needs no account: search for an artist and it shows their popularity score and the score of each of their top 10 songs. SubmitHub has a checker too, with a free account. Wherever you look, the score moves every few days, so check it again after a release or a push.

What's a "good" popularity score?

Spotify doesn't publish one. Promotion services share rules of thumb from what they've seen: around 20, songs start showing up in algorithmic radio; around 30, they start reaching new listeners through Release Radar and Discover Weekly. Spotify hasn't confirmed these numbers, but they may well reflect how the algorithm behaves, so they're a useful rough guide.

What Spotify does confirm is that your own followers don't depend on any score:

  • Your followers get your new release in their Release Radar. Pitch the song in Spotify for Artists at least 7 days before release day, and that's the song they get. No score needed.
  • Each listener gets one song per artist a week, for up to 4 weeks if they haven't heard it yet.

So: followers are guaranteed, and a higher score may bring strangers too. Rather than chase one number, compare yourself with artists in your genre with an audience your size, and watch whether your score rises after a release or a push.

Spotify popularity score and Release Radar: one question, "Who gets my new song in Release Radar?", with two answers: Spotify's rule, "your followers, always: pitch it in Spotify for Artists at least 7 days before release", and an unconfirmed rule of thumb, "new listeners, when the algorithm picks you: promoters see it start around a popularity score of 30"

What raises your popularity score

Because the score follows recent plays, anything that gets real people playing your songs now raises it, and it falls when they stop. In practice:

  1. Release regularly. A new song is played most in its first weeks, and each release lifts your artist score again.
  2. Pitch every release 7 days ahead, so your followers find it in Release Radar on release day.
  3. Grow saves and followers, not just plays. Spotify says its recommendations learn from what people listen to, save and skip, and who they follow (more in our Spotify algorithm guide). Listeners who save a song come back to it, and followers get every next release.
  4. Run ads for your song. You can on Instagram, TikTok and Spotify. People who tap an ad chose to listen, so they save the song and follow you. Their plays keep coming after the ad ends.
  5. Put the best part of your song in the ad. People decide in the first second. The best part isn't always the chorus, so try a few parts and keep the one that brings the most listeners for the money.
How to raise your Spotify popularity score: a song's popularity over eight weeks: one line spikes on release day and fades; a second line, with ads and saves, fades much less

Find the part of your song that brings listeners.

Clips makes the ad for every part, from one song.

Four ads of one song, one per part, one marked as an example of the part that brought the most listeners; then those listeners save the song, follow, and get the next release in their Release Radar

What doesn't work: bought plays

Services that sell streams or "guaranteed" playlist placement break Spotify's rules, and Spotify says they "aren't legitimate". When it confirms artificial streams, it can withhold the royalties, take the plays off your public counts, remove the song from its playlists, and charge your distributor a fee per track in flagrant cases. Bought plays never save or follow, so even before Spotify catches them they build nothing.

Questions

Is the popularity score in Spotify for Artists?

No. Spotify for Artists shows streams, listeners, saves and playlist adds. The popularity score came from Spotify's developer API, which most small apps can no longer read since February 2026.

Why did my popularity score drop?

The score follows recent plays, so it falls as a release gets older and fewer people play it. It also lags real listening by a few days, so a quiet week shows up a little later.

What's the popularity score of a new song?

It starts low and rises as people play it. Because it updates with a delay, give it a few days after release before you read anything into it.

Does the popularity score control the algorithm?

Spotify hasn't said so. Its own explanation of recommendations names listening, saving, skipping and following, plus what similar listeners do. The popularity score rises with the same plays, so the two tend to move together.

Can I see other artists' popularity scores?

Yes, with a third-party checker such as Artist X-Ray, which shows any artist's score and their top songs'. Compare artists of a similar size in your genre rather than chasing one number.

Sources

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