Glossary / Streaming

Industry terms

Saves

A save is when a listener adds a song or album to their own library, a strong sign they want to hear it again.

Also called: Spotify saves, library adds, liked songs

By Aulto · Last reviewed

Why do saves matter?

They show intent. A stream can be passive; a save is a choice. Streaming services treat saves as a signal of real interest when deciding what to recommend.

How do you get more saves?

Ask for them, especially early: on release day and in the first week. A pre-save turns into a save automatically on services that support it.

What's a good number?

Compare your saves to your listeners over time rather than to other artists. A rising share means more of your listeners are becoming fans.

Example

An artist ends release-day stories with "save it so you don't lose it" and sees saves per listener rise on that song.

  • Pre-save

    A pre-save lets a fan sign up for a song or album before it comes out, so it reaches them the moment it is released.

  • Algorithmic playlist

    An algorithmic playlist is made automatically for each listener from what they play, like Spotify's Release Radar and Discover Weekly.

  • Monthly listeners

    Monthly listeners is the number of different people who played an artist's music on Spotify in the last 28 days.

  • 30-second rule

    On Spotify, a play counts as a stream once someone has listened to a track for 30 seconds or more.

  • DSP

    DSP (digital service provider) is the industry's name for streaming services and digital stores, like Spotify, JioSaavn, Apple Music and YouTube Music.

  • Editorial playlist

    An editorial playlist is a playlist picked by a streaming service's own team of editors, as opposed to one generated by its algorithm or made by users.

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