Does Spotify Count Plays On Repeat? (What Counts As A Stream)

Does Spotify count plays when a song is streamed on repeat? What exactly counts as a stream, and is it a good idea to stream your own music on repeat?

I cover all of this and more in this article, but first, does Spotify count streams on repeat?

Spotify counts streams on repeat as long as that song has been listened to for 30 seconds or more before the song is played again. Spotify will count streams on repeat, as streams are not counted based on what song was streamed previously.

So if someone listens to one of your songs for at least 30 seconds, and then listens to it again for at least 30 seconds, then that would count as 2 streams.

Does Spotify Count Streams On Repeat In 2022?

Spotify does count streams on repeat. So long as a song has been listened to for 30 seconds, it counts as 1 stream, regardless of what song was played before.

With that in mind, should you and everyone you know just stream your music on repeat all night long to increase your royalties?

Absolutely not, and I explain why later on in this article.

But if you want to learn more about how Spotify pays artists, and what determines your royalty percentage, then check out my article here.

What Counts As A Play On Spotify?

So what actually counts as a “stream” on Spotify?

According to Spotify themselves…

A song stream is, “Counted when someone listens for over 30 seconds.”

Do Spotify Streams Count On Mute?

I've seen some articles say that Spotify streams on mute do not count, but this just isn't true.

According to Spotify,

“The minutes on mute will be counted towards listening stats. The app does not have the capabilities to track volume levels on the hardware it's running, so the mute will not affect the stats.”

Elena, Spotify Community Moderator

Additionally, from my own testing, streams do count while on mute.

By the way, if you're wanting to organically increase your Spotify streams without paying for ads or expensive playlist submission tools…

Then check out my guide here on 22 different tips for growing your Spotify streams for free.

Do Spotify Streams Count If Downloaded?

Spotify streams do count when played while downloaded. The next time the Spotify app is connected to the internet, the streams will be counted. For example, if you are listening in your car and you do not have data on, when you get back to wifi, or have your data active, Spotify will count the streams.

So if users are listening to your music offline, you will still earn royalties for these plays.

Spotify keeps track of offline playback by storing the data within the app.

Once the app re-connects to the internet (required at least once every 30-days), the saved data is sent Spotify servers where your listening stats are taken into account.

Could I Earn Royalties On Spotify By Streaming My Own Music On Repeat?

So if streams count when on repeat and even muted…

Could you just stream your own music on repeat all night long?

Technically you could, but this is a very bad idea, as Spotify is on the lookout of suspicious activity like this, and it violates their user guidelines.

Spotify states that:

“artificially increasing play counts or follow counts, artificially promoting Content, or other manipulation including by (i) using any bot, script or other automated process, (ii) providing or accepting any form of compensation (financial or otherwise), or (iii) any other means.”

Spotify User Guidelines

Repeatedly streaming a song on mute could be seen as “artificially increasing play counts” and could result in that song's streams being taken away, or that song being removed completely.

You DO NOT want this.

Plus, even if you did stream a song on repeat for, say, 10 hours a day, 7 days a week…

If your song is 4 minutes long, you're only looking at an extra 1,050 streams a week, or about $4 a week, or roughly an extra $200 a year.

That's not worth it.

Of course, it's okay to stream music on mute from time to time.

If you mute Spotify and leave it running for hours, that's find as that's something a real human might do every once in awhile.

I've done this myself before on accident, and I am indeed a real human.

But when you start doing this every day, or extremely frequently, this can get Spotify's antenna up.

There are better ways to increase your Spotify streams.

In fact, here is a guide I created with 22 tips for increasing your Spotify streams for free.

But if you want to know my absolute favorite strategy for growing your streams and hacking the Spotify algorithm (in a natural and organic way)…

Then grab my free Spotify Playlist Placement Guide here.

How Does Spotify Detect Fake Streams?

First off, what exactly does Spotify consider a fake stream?

For Spotify, “artificial streaming” is when a human isn't listening to a track but multiple plays are generated. This is especially a violation if these streams are generated in exchange for payment.

Spotify looks at thousands of data points and can compare them to other users' listening behavior and can use this data to figure out if any behavior is organic or artificial.

For example, if a user-generated playlists features a claim to offer huge stream increases in exchange for payment, Spotify will remove these playlist, and all the streams that came from it.

In short, Spotify has access to mountains of data, and they can see what the fingerprint of legit streams looks like compared to the fingerprint of fake streams.

So don't take short cuts and actually grow your streams the right way, like with this strategy.

Can Spotify Take Away Streams?

Yes, Spotify can take away streams if they are deemed to be fraudulent.

If Spotify will remove streams if they detect that the streams are coming from:

• Artificially increasing stream counts
• Bots
• Click farms
• Deactivated accounts

The Fastest Way To Grow Your Spotify Streams For Free

Ultimately, the fastest way to grow your Spotify streams is to get your songs on many different playlists. Each playlist add boosts your song in the eyes of the Spotify Algorithm.

Not only that, but the more playlists you get on, the more streams, saves, and additional playlist adds you will get.

And as you increase these positive indicators, the Spotify algorithm will start to promote your music more, placing your music in algorithmic playlists, and even eventually landing you on editorial playlists.

This is how you can hack the Spotify algorithm.

But it all starts with getting your music on user-generated playlists, which you can learn how to do here by downloading my free guide.

I hope you got value from this post on what Spotify does and doesn't count when it comes to streams.

If so, feel free to share, and let me know in the comments below…

What other questions do you have about growing on Spotify?