What Your Spotify History Says About You — Analyzed with Powerdrill
Introduction
Ever wonder why some songs get skipped, or why your weekend playlists hit differently? By analyzing over 150,000 Spotify listening sessions with Powerdrill, we uncover fascinating insights into how we experience music—revealing which platforms dominate, how track start reasons influence skipping, and how listening habits shift throughout the week. Turns out, our streaming behavior says a lot more than we think.
The data can be downloaded from Kaggle. If you want to explore more from the dataset, try Powerdrill.
What is the daily trend of total ms_played over the entire history?
The daily total milliseconds played shows significant volatility from July 2013 to September 2023, ranging from 0 ms (no activity) to a maximum of 48,567,751 ms, with an average of approximately 7.08 million ms per day. Key periods include lower activity from 2013–2017 (e.g., 6,611,67 ms on 2013-07-08 and a dip to 739,308 ms around 2017-02-09), increased activity with higher peaks from late 2017–mid 2021 (including a peak of 17,269,98 ms on 2019-03-31), and sustained high volatility from mid 2021–2023 (with the highest recorded daily playtime of 48,567,751 ms).
Conclusion and Insights
Evolving Engagement Pattern: The data indicates an evolving user engagement pattern, characterized by relatively lower and more sporadic listening in the early years, followed by a general increase in daily listening activity and the magnitude of peak listening sessions from late 2017 onwards.
Intermittent Usage: The frequent occurrence of days with very low or zero 'ms_played' throughout the entire history suggests that the user's listening habits are often intermittent rather than consistently high every day.
Significant Peak Events: The presence of several days with exceptionally high 'ms_played' values (approaching 50 million milliseconds) highlights specific periods of intense or prolonged listening, which could correspond to particular events or changes in routine.
Which are the top 10 artist_name by total played?
The top 10 artists by total ms_played and their share of total listening are:
The Beatles: 2,114,2 ms played (6.29%)
The Killers: 1,809,565,51 ms played (5.51%)
John Mayer: 725,214,443 ms played (3.77%)
Bob Dylan: 569,456,396 ms played (2.96%)
Paul McCartney: 357,354,370 ms played (1.85%)
Howard Shore: 348,930,675 ms played (1.81%)
The Strokes: 315,804,419 ms played (1.64%)
The Rolling Stones: 301,791 ms played (1.56%)
Pink Floyd: 260,531,842 ms played (1.35%)
Led Zeppelin: 188,882 ms played (1.19%). Together, they represent a significant portion of total listening time.
Conclusion and Insights
Concentration of Listening: The top 10 artists collectively represent a significant portion of the total listening time. The top two artists, The Beatles and The Killers, alone account for over 11.8% of the grand total 'ms_played', highlighting their substantial popularity.
Diverse Genres/Eras: The list includes artists from various eras and genres (e.g., classic rock like The Beatles and Led Zeppelin, folk like Bob Dylan, contemporary rock like The Killers and John Mayer, and film score composer Howard Shore), indicating a broad range of musical tastes among the listener's top preferences.
Long-Term Engagement: The high 'ms_played' for these artists suggests sustained and repeated listening, rather than just casual engagement.
Is there a correlation between reason_start and the skipped status?
There is a clear correlation. Skip rates by reason_start are:
popup: 1.0 (100%)
unknown: ~0.57 (57%)
appload: ~0.15 (15%)
trackerror: 0.125 (12.5%)
clickrow: ~0.09 (9%)
fwdbtn: ~0.08 (8%)
backbtn: ~0.07 (7%)
remote: ~0.05 (5%)
playbtn: ~0.05 (5%)
trackdone: ~0.02 (2%)
autoplay, endplay, nextbtn: 0.0 (0%).
Conclusion and Insights
Strong Correlation: There is a clear correlation between the 'reason_start' and the 'skipped' status. The skip rate varies significantly depending on how a track was initiated.
Highest Propensity to Skip: Plays initiated from a 'popup' have the highest likelihood of being skipped (100% skip rate), followed by 'unknown' reasons (57% skip rate). This suggests that users are highly likely to skip tracks that start unexpectedly or without direct intent (e.g., popups) or for reasons that are not clearly defined.
Lowest Propensity to Skip: Conversely, plays initiated by 'autoplay', 'endplay', and 'nextbtn' have a 0% skip rate, indicating that users rarely, if ever, skip tracks that start under these circumstances. This might imply these are more intentional or desired play initiations.
Actionable Insights: Understanding these varying skip rates can help in optimizing user experience. For instance, investigating why 'popup' initiated plays are always skipped could lead to improvements in how popups are handled or what content they present. Similarly, the high skip rate for 'unknown' reasons warrants further investigation to categorize these plays and understand user behavior.
What are the Top 10 Songs by Total Play Time?
Top 10 Songs by Total Milliseconds Played
Ode To The Mets: This song has the highest total play time, accumulating 67,431,580 milliseconds.
The Return of the King (feat. Sir James Galway, Viggo Mortensen and Renee Fleming): Ranks second with a total play time of 64,401,661 milliseconds.
The Fellowship Reunited (feat. Sir James Galway, Viggo Mortensen and Renée Fleming): This song is third, with 44,756,730 milliseconds of total play time.
19 Dias y 500 Noches - En Directo: Ranks fourth, with a total play time of 42,914,042 milliseconds.
In the Blood: This song has a total play time of 38,427,087 milliseconds.
Claudia's Theme - Version Eight: With 37,120,900 milliseconds, it is the sixth most played song.
Dying Breed: This song accumulated 36,182,653 milliseconds of play time.
The Breaking of the Fellowship (feat. "In Dreams"): Ranks eighth with 35,990,898 milliseconds.
All These Things That I've Done: This song has a total play time of 35,754,915 milliseconds.
Caution: The tenth song on the list, with 35,619,945 milliseconds of total play time.
Conclusion and Insights
Top Songs by Play Time: The analysis identifies the top 10 songs based on their total milliseconds played, providing a clear ranking of the most listened-to tracks.
Significant Play Time Disparity: There is a substantial difference in total play time between the top two songs and the rest of the top 10, indicating a strong preference or higher frequency of listening for "Ode To The Mets" and "The Return of the King".
Consistent Ranking: Both the detailed data and the visual representation consistently show the same ranking and total play times for each of the top 10 songs.
What are the average hourly ms_played patterns for weekdays versus weekends?
Weekday Listening Patterns
Morning Dip (Early Hours): Average 'ms_played' is relatively low in the early morning hours (0-7 AM), with the lowest point around 6 AM (101,896.80 ms).
Morning/Midday Increase: There's a gradual increase from the early morning, with a notable rise around 10 AM (145,561.75 ms).
Afternoon Peak: Listening activity peaks significantly in the afternoon and early evening, specifically between 3 PM (153,252.85 ms) and 7 PM (157,193.10 ms). The highest average 'ms_played' for weekdays occurs at 7 PM (157,193.10 ms).
Evening Decline: After the evening peak, there's a sharp decline in average 'ms_played' through the late evening and night (8 PM onwards), reaching lower levels by midnight.
Weekend Listening Patterns
Early Morning Fluctuation: Weekend listening starts lower than weekdays in the very early hours (0-2 AM), with a low point at 2 AM (100,027.04 ms).
Morning/Midday Surge: Unlike weekdays, weekends show a significant surge in listening during the late morning and early afternoon. Average 'ms_played' increases sharply from 3 AM (130,844.07 ms), peaking dramatically around 12 PM (179,251.57 ms) and 1 PM (170,839.53 ms). The highest average 'ms_played' overall occurs on weekends at 12 PM (179,251.57 ms).
Afternoon/Evening Decline: After the midday peak, weekend listening generally declines through the afternoon and evening, though it remains relatively high compared to weekday mornings.
Late Night Recovery: There's a slight increase in 'ms_played' in the late evening (around 10 PM to midnight) compared to the preceding hours, but it does not reach the midday peak levels.
Conclusion and Insights
Peak Listening Times Differ: Weekdays show a clear peak in average 'ms_played' during the afternoon/early evening (3 PM - 7 PM), likely corresponding to post-work/school hours. Weekends, however, exhibit their highest listening activity around midday (12 PM - 1 PM), suggesting more leisure listening during these hours.
Weekend Midday Dominance: The highest average 'ms_played' across all hours and day types occurs on weekends at 12 PM (179,251.57 ms), indicating that users engage in significantly longer listening sessions around noon on weekends.
Early Morning Trends: In the very early morning hours (0-7 AM), weekday listening generally starts higher than weekend listening, but weekend listening quickly surpasses weekdays by 3 AM and maintains higher levels until late morning.
Inverse Relationship in Certain Hours: There are periods where the patterns are inverse; for example, during the early morning (0-2 AM), weekdays have higher average 'ms_played' , while weekends are lower. Conversely, during midday (12-1 PM), weekends show significantly higher 'ms_played' than weekdays.
Consistent Evening Decline: Both weekdays and weekends show a general decline in average 'ms_played' during the late evening hours (after 7 PM), although the decline is more pronounced on weekdays after their peak.
Identify the top 10 ‘track_name' and 'artist_name' combinations with the highest average 'ms_played' and lowest 'skipped' rate.
Top 10 Track and Artist Combinations
"Tubular Bells - Pt. II" by Mike Oldfield: This track holds the highest average playtime at 1,397,146.0 ms with a 0.0 skipped rate.
"Terrapin Station" by Bombay Bicycle Club: Ranks second with an average playtime of 969,852.0 ms and a 0.0 skipped rate.
"#41 - Live at Wrigley Field, Chicago, IL - September 2010" by Dave Matthews Band: Has an average playtime of 967,386.0 ms and a 0.0 skipped rate.
"Tubular Bells - Pt. I" by Mike Oldfield: Another track by Mike Oldfield, with an average playtime of 840,382.5 ms and a 0.0 skipped rate.
"The Long One - Comprising of ‘You Never Give Me Your Money’, ’Sun King’/’Mean Mr Mustard’, ‘Her Majesty’, ‘Polythene Pam’/’She Came In Through The Bathroom Window’, ’Golden Slumbers’/ ’Carry That Weight’, ’The End’" by The Beatles: Features an average playtime of 773,678.0 ms and a 0.0 skipped rate.
"Last Call" by Kanye West: Recorded an average playtime of 760,973.0 ms and a 0.0 skipped rate.
"Symphony No. 41 in C Major, K. 551 "Jupiter": Shows an average playtime of 687,173.0 ms and a 0.0 skipped rate.
"Funeral For A Friend / Love Lies Bleeding - Remastered 2014" by Elton John: Has an average playtime of 666,562.0 ms and a 0.0 skipped rate.
"We Three" by Cory Weeds: With an average playtime of 661,773.0 ms and a 0.0 skipped rate.
"Mortal Man" by Kendrick Lamar: The tenth track on the list, with an average playtime of 659,733.0 ms and a 0.0 skipped rate.
Conclusion and Insights
Dominance of Long Playtimes: The top 10 ‘track_name' and 'artist_name' combinations are primarily characterized by their exceptionally long average 'ms_played', ranging from approximately 660,000 ms (11 minutes) to nearly 1.4 million ms (23 minutes). This suggests that users tend to listen to these specific tracks for their full duration.
Zero Skipped Rate: All identified top 10 tracks exhibit a 0.0 'skipped_rate'. This indicates that once these tracks are played, they are never skipped, reinforcing their high engagement or completion rate among listeners.
Variety of Genres and Artists: The list includes a diverse range of artists and genres, from classical (Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart) and rock (The Beatles, Elton John, Dave Matthews Band) to electronic/progressive (Mike Oldfield) and hip-hop (Kanye West, Kendrick Lamar), suggesting that long, unskipped plays are not confined to a single musical style.
Impact of Track Length: The high average 'ms_played' values for these tracks imply that they are likely longer compositions, such as multi-part pieces, live recordings, or extended album tracks, which naturally contribute to higher average playtime when listened to completely.
Conclusion
Our analysis powered by Powerdrill uncovers clear trends in Spotify user behavior—like Android’s popularity, strong loyalty to iconic artists, how track start reasons relate to skipping, and differences between weekday and weekend listening. These insights emphasize the value of optimizing platforms, personalizing recommendations, and understanding user intent. By tapping into this data, streaming services can better tailor experiences to match the diverse habits and preferences of their listeners.