Discover which of your links are actually driving engagements (Streams and Add to Library events) on Apple Music, and which countries and cities those engagements are coming from. You can now match your off-platform campaigns with on-platform behavior and cut down on budget burners.
| How to see Apple Music Streaming activity Apple Music Streaming Insights are available when Apple Music is placed #1 on your landing pages, or, when you drive fans directly to Apple Music content using direct-to-service links. |
Apple Music Streaming Insights explained
The “Streaming” overview shows how many Apple Music "Streams" your link has led to. You’ll also be able to see the number of “Adds” that indicates the number of “Add to Library” actions that have resulted from your link. This metric is a crucial signal of fan engagement, as it indicates their intention to return and stream the track again.
Click on “Apple Music” to see a more detailed breakdown of your streams by product, country, and city.
Products
This first bar graph shows a quick overview of key metrics and how often they happened relative to each other.
The next two tables show Stream and Add to Library actions taken on specific named tracks.
“Known tracks from direct links” are actions taken on tracks your link points to directly (inside linked album, single or playlist).
Example: A fan clicks on theweeknd.co/starboy, goes to Apple Music, and starts listening to The Weeknd’s Starboy album.
“Known tracks by same artist” are actions taken on tracks that your link does not point to, but by the same artist as the content you linked to.
Example: A fan clicks on theweeknd.co/starboy, goes to Apple Music, and starts listening to The Weeknd’s After Hours album.
“Others” represents the remaining events (Streams and Add to Library) that either did not hit the privacy threshold, or took place outside of the direct product/same artist product.
Countries and Cities
Under “Countries” and “Cities”, you can get a detailed picture of your worldwide fanbase. Use it to make informed decisions about your geo-targeting or how you route your next tour.
Daily, weekly, and monthly reports
When 10 or more Apple Music users have taken the same action (e.g. streamed one of your releases) within a reporting period (daily, weekly, and/or monthly), you’ll see them in your Linkfire Insights.
Note: Apple Music data is updated daily, not instantly—so don’t worry if you don’t see immediate changes in your streaming numbers.
FAQs
What is the difference between “Streams” and “Adds”?
“Streams” show how many Apple Music streams your link has led to. “Adds” indicate the number of “Add to Library” actions that have resulted from your link. This metric is a crucial signal of fan engagement, as it signals their intent to return and listen more in the future.
What are “Known tracks from direct links”?
A "Known track from direct link" is a song, album, or playlist that your Linkfire link directly points to. You'll see the track names listed in your Linkfire Insights.
Example: A fan clicks on the album link theweeknd.co/starboy, goes to Apple Music and starts listening to songs on the Starboy album.
What are “Known tracks by same artist”?
A “Known track by same artist” is a song streamed from the same artist’s catalog through your Linkfire link. These do not include “direct product” streams.
Example: A fan clicks on theweeknd.co/starboy, goes to Apple Music, and starts listening to The Weeknd’s After Hours album.
What are “Indirect products”?
An “Indirect product” is any song streamed or added that is not by the artist your link points to.
Example: A fan clicks on theweeknd.co/starboy, goes to Apple Music, and starts listening to a Drake album.
Note: If a user navigates away from the “direct product" but then comes back to it later through a different inventory reference (playlist, album, etc.), this stream will be counted as an “indirect product.”
How long is the window for reporting on streams?
Fans' streaming activity is tracked for 30 minutes, starting from the moment they click through to Apple Music from your Linkfire link.
Are all Apple Music streams reported?
A song needs to be streamed for over 30 seconds on Apple Music to be reported (similar to the way that royalty payouts are triggered).
What reporting do I have access to?
You have access to daily, weekly, and monthly Apple Music reporting via your Linkfire Insights.
Why does my number of “Streams” or “Adds” not add up over different time periods?
Apple Music data is updated daily, weekly, and monthly. Also, actions are only reported if they are taken by at least 10 different Apple Music users within that reporting period. For example, if your track is added to five different users’ libraries every day for a week, each individual day will report 0 Adds, while the full week will report 35 Adds.
This is the reporting schedule:
- Daily reporting: Data is reported and delivered daily. The previous day (00h-24h in UTC) is reported by the following day around 18 UTC. That means the Apple Music streaming events are 18-42 hours delayed relative to when they took place.
- Weekly reporting: The StartOfPeriod for weekly files will always fall on a Friday. This means that the weekly reporting period is from Friday to Friday. However, if you’d like to review the data from Tuesday to Tuesday, it is recommended you review the daily reports delivered during that period.
- Monthly reporting: The StartOfPeriod of monthly reports will always fall on the first day of the month.This means that monthly reporting periods are from the 1st of the month to the 1st of the next month. For example, a monthly report can be delivered for the period May 1 - June 1, but not for May 10 - June 10. If you’d like to look at the data from May 10 - June 10, it is recommended you review the weekly and daily reports delivered during that period.
Please note that Linkfire’s Apple Music Streaming Insights are available to all Linkfire customers on paid plans.