Millions of tracks on streaming platforms have never been played

45.6 million tracks were not listened to, even once, on music streaming platforms in 2023. — Photography santypan/Getty Images/AFP Relaxnews

The success of streaming platforms is based on the fact that they allow music lovers to listen to millions of tracks whenever and wherever they like. On paper, this sounds like a tempting proposition. But in reality, many of the songs available on Spotify, Apple Music and others are rarely – if ever – actually listened to.

Luminate, a specialist in music industry data analysis for over 30 years, has examined this phenomenon in the latest edition of its annual report, seen by the specialist website, Music Business Worldwide. This company found that 45.6 million tracks were not listened to once on music streaming platforms in 2023. This represents almost 25% of the music catalogs of Spotify, Apple Music, Deezer and the likes.