Apple Music introduces 'Listening Now' feature for artists: real-time listener analytics

Apple Music for Artists has introduced a "Listening Now" feature, providing artists with real-time data on listening analytics. This new tool provides artists with real-time data on listener counts, enabling them to adjust their release strategies promptly based on the live analytics.

The feature presents a detailed view of listening trends from the past 48 hours. Additionally, artists can obtain a snapshot of their top-six most played back songs under the "Top Songs Now" section.

For privacy reasons, there is a minimum listener threshold required to display "Listening Now" analytics: Apple has not specified the exact number for this threshold, but has advised artists that they may encounter gaps in their data reporting periods when the threshold is not met.

Furthermore, the listener count does not include plays that occur when a listener is offline, so this exclusion could potentially impact the accuracy of the real-time data.