Apple Music for Artists Glossary: Complete Guide | Dynamoi
Definition
•
Updated
Apple Music for Artists Glossary: Complete Guide
Practical definitions of key Apple Music for Artists metrics and tools so artists and labels can turn plays, Shazams, and Radio Spins into real-world decisions.
This is a definitions-first reference for Apple Music for Artists. We focus on the terms that should be understood by artists, managers, and labels managing content on Apple Music.
Core Apple Music for Artists metrics
Plays
A play is recorded when a listener starts your song and it runs for more than 30 seconds. Plays include listening on Apple Music as well as Apple Music radio stations that are generated from songs, artists, or editorial stations. Treat this as your basic "how much listening happened" counter across the catalog you control.
Average Daily Listeners
The average number of unique listeners per day over the selected date range. This is your steady audience size, not just one viral spike. Use it to see whether new releases and campaigns are growing your core listeners week over week.
Listening Now
Real-time and 48-hour view of how many fans are currently playing your music. The widget shows current listeners plus Maximum Listeners and Average Listeners over the last 48 hours. Offline plays are not included until the device reconnects. Watch this when you drop a track, get press, or play a show to see the immediate response.
Purchases
Song and album sales from the iTunes Store, attributed to your catalog. Helpful for understanding where superfans still buy downloads alongside streaming, and for labels tracking recoupment or bonus clauses that include download revenue.
Shazam Count
The number of times your song is recognized by Shazam or apps that use Shazam technology. It is one of the cleanest signals of organic curiosity, especially for background plays in shops, bars, radio, or social clips where listeners had to pull out a phone and ask, "What is this?"
Video Views
Counts when a listener watches one of your music videos in Apple Music for more than 30 seconds. Think of this as the visual counterpart to Plays. A title with strong Video Views but modest audio Plays might be a candidate for more visual content or shorts.
Audience, geography, and trends
Places
City, state, country, and region breakdown of your listeners and radio activity. Use this to spot real pockets of demand, plan tour routing, prioritize press regions, or decide where local versions of artwork and subtitles are worth the effort.
Trends
The analytics view where you compare Plays, Average Daily Listeners, Purchases, Shazam Count, Radio Spins, Video Views, and more over time. Filters include geography, catalog, and release date. It is the right place to answer questions like, "Did this campaign move real fans in Mexico, or was it just noise?"
Radio Spins
Counts how often your songs are played on more than 40,000 tracked terrestrial and digital radio stations in over 200 countries and regions. Apple Music Radio live stations are excluded. Use Spins to line up radio promo with digital campaigns, and to understand which songs programmers trust most.
Playlists, editorial, and discovery
Editorial Playlists (Apple Music)
Playlists curated by Apple’s editorial team, such as Today’s Hits or Rap Life. Placement here can expand reach fast, but should be treated as the reward for good music and momentum, not the entire marketing plan.
Personalized Mixes
Individual mixes like New Music Mix, Favorites Mix, Chill Mix, Get Up Mix, and others that refresh regularly. Heavy presence here usually means fans do not just try you once, they keep coming back without needing to search.
Access, teams, and permissions
Apple Music for Artists access
Free analytics and profile tools for primary artists and their teams once the profile is verified. This is where you claim your artist page, update your image, and see how music is performing day to day.
Roles and permissions
Apple provides role-based access so labels, managers, and marketers can see data without taking over the profile. Typical roles include full admin access, analytics-only access, or profile editing. Use these levels to give partners what they need while keeping ownership with the artist or label.
Useful distinctions for Apple campaigns
Plays vs Radio Spins
Plays are on-demand listening and Apple Music radio stations; Radio Spins measure airplay across thousands of non-Apple terrestrial and digital stations. Both matter, but they tell different stories.
Pre-add vs Pre-order
Pre-adds happen inside Apple Music libraries and playlists. Pre-orders live in the iTunes Store and usually unlock pre-adds plus early track downloads. You often need both wired correctly for a clean release week.
Motion Artwork vs other short-form visuals
Motion Artwork is designed for Apple’s full-screen playback surfaces. It has different technical and creative rules from short-form loops on other platforms, so plan separate assets instead of recycling one clip everywhere.
Use this glossary as a quick translator when you are looking at an Apple Music for Artists screenshot and trying to decide what actually changed, and whether it is time to tweak a campaign or simply release more great music.
Definition
•
Updated
Apple Music for Artists Glossary: Complete Guide
Practical definitions of key Apple Music for Artists metrics and tools so artists and labels can turn plays, Shazams, and Radio Spins into real-world decisions.
This is a definitions-first reference for Apple Music for Artists. We focus on the terms that should be understood by artists, managers, and labels managing content on Apple Music.
Core Apple Music for Artists metrics
Plays
A play is recorded when a listener starts your song and it runs for more than 30 seconds. Plays include listening on Apple Music as well as Apple Music radio stations that are generated from songs, artists, or editorial stations. Treat this as your basic "how much listening happened" counter across the catalog you control.
Average Daily Listeners
The average number of unique listeners per day over the selected date range. This is your steady audience size, not just one viral spike. Use it to see whether new releases and campaigns are growing your core listeners week over week.
Listening Now
Real-time and 48-hour view of how many fans are currently playing your music. The widget shows current listeners plus Maximum Listeners and Average Listeners over the last 48 hours. Offline plays are not included until the device reconnects. Watch this when you drop a track, get press, or play a show to see the immediate response.
Purchases
Song and album sales from the iTunes Store, attributed to your catalog. Helpful for understanding where superfans still buy downloads alongside streaming, and for labels tracking recoupment or bonus clauses that include download revenue.
Shazam Count
The number of times your song is recognized by Shazam or apps that use Shazam technology. It is one of the cleanest signals of organic curiosity, especially for background plays in shops, bars, radio, or social clips where listeners had to pull out a phone and ask, "What is this?"
Video Views
Counts when a listener watches one of your music videos in Apple Music for more than 30 seconds. Think of this as the visual counterpart to Plays. A title with strong Video Views but modest audio Plays might be a candidate for more visual content or shorts.
Audience, geography, and trends
Places
City, state, country, and region breakdown of your listeners and radio activity. Use this to spot real pockets of demand, plan tour routing, prioritize press regions, or decide where local versions of artwork and subtitles are worth the effort.
Trends
The analytics view where you compare Plays, Average Daily Listeners, Purchases, Shazam Count, Radio Spins, Video Views, and more over time. Filters include geography, catalog, and release date. It is the right place to answer questions like, "Did this campaign move real fans in Mexico, or was it just noise?"
Radio Spins
Counts how often your songs are played on more than 40,000 tracked terrestrial and digital radio stations in over 200 countries and regions. Apple Music Radio live stations are excluded. Use Spins to line up radio promo with digital campaigns, and to understand which songs programmers trust most.
Playlists, editorial, and discovery
Editorial Playlists (Apple Music)
Playlists curated by Apple’s editorial team, such as Today’s Hits or Rap Life. Placement here can expand reach fast, but should be treated as the reward for good music and momentum, not the entire marketing plan.
Personalized Mixes
Individual mixes like New Music Mix, Favorites Mix, Chill Mix, Get Up Mix, and others that refresh regularly. Heavy presence here usually means fans do not just try you once, they keep coming back without needing to search.
Access, teams, and permissions
Apple Music for Artists access
Free analytics and profile tools for primary artists and their teams once the profile is verified. This is where you claim your artist page, update your image, and see how music is performing day to day.
Roles and permissions
Apple provides role-based access so labels, managers, and marketers can see data without taking over the profile. Typical roles include full admin access, analytics-only access, or profile editing. Use these levels to give partners what they need while keeping ownership with the artist or label.
Useful distinctions for Apple campaigns
Plays vs Radio Spins
Plays are on-demand listening and Apple Music radio stations; Radio Spins measure airplay across thousands of non-Apple terrestrial and digital stations. Both matter, but they tell different stories.
Pre-add vs Pre-order
Pre-adds happen inside Apple Music libraries and playlists. Pre-orders live in the iTunes Store and usually unlock pre-adds plus early track downloads. You often need both wired correctly for a clean release week.
Motion Artwork vs other short-form visuals
Motion Artwork is designed for Apple’s full-screen playback surfaces. It has different technical and creative rules from short-form loops on other platforms, so plan separate assets instead of recycling one clip everywhere.
Use this glossary as a quick translator when you are looking at an Apple Music for Artists screenshot and trying to decide what actually changed, and whether it is time to tweak a campaign or simply release more great music.
Apple Music Radio (Live)
Live radio stations such as Apple Music 1, Apple Music Hits, and Apple Music Country. Spins here are tracked under Radio Spins, not Plays, so you can separate live broadcast performance from on-demand listening.
Track Grouping
Apple groups multiple versions of the same recording under a single track group for analytics. Remasters, radio edits, and deluxe-edition copies roll up into one view while still preserving individual credits and ISRCs. This lets you see how a song performs as a whole rather than chasing numbers across twenty versions.
Promotional and creative tools
Pre-adds (Apple Music)
Let fans add an upcoming release to their library or playlists before it drops, so it appears automatically on release day. Pre-adds are usually tied to an iTunes Store pre-order and at least one advance track. Think of this as the Apple Music version of a pre-save: it concentrates first-day listening and Release Day buzz.
Milestones and Shareables
Auto-generated achievements such as first million Plays, top Shazam cities, editorial playlist adds, and more. In the app you can turn these into branded cards for social or email. They are not just vanity screenshots; use them to show partners, press, and collaborators that a song is working.
Motion Artwork
Short, looping animated artwork that follows Apple’s Motion Album Artwork guidelines. The animation should extend and react to the cover, not cut away to unrelated footage. Delivered correctly, it makes your releases feel native in Apple Music and gives fans a premium, cinematic feel on mobile.
Set Lists
A feature that lets you turn a show’s set into a playlist directly in Apple Music for Artists on the web. Helpful for routing fans from the live experience to your recorded catalog, and for reminding labels which songs are truly core for the audience right now.
Audio formats and quality
Spatial Audio with Dolby Atmos
Immersive multichannel mix format supported by Apple. To qualify, you need a true Atmos mix from stems or multitracks; simple upmixing from stereo is not allowed. Done well, Atmos can signal quality, win editorial attention, and give superfans a new way to experience your catalog.
Apple Digital Masters
Apple’s mastering and delivery program focused on preserving dynamic range and fidelity when encoding to AAC. Following the guidelines means your masters translate more reliably to Apple’s ecosystem and sound closer to what left the studio.
Analytics views and where to find things
Overview, Trends, Places, and Your Music
The Measure section in Apple Music for Artists brings your main views together:
Overview: topline Plays, listeners, milestones, and recent highlights
Trends: deeper comparisons over time across Plays, Average Daily Listeners, Shazams, Purchases, Radio Spins, and Video Views
Places: maps and tables that show where fans and radio activity are concentrated
Your Music: song, album, playlist, and video breakdowns
Use these together to connect storylines. Example: see a Shazam spike in one city, then confirm whether Plays, Radio Spins, and ticket sales respond in the weeks after.
Listening Now detail
Tapping Listening Now gives a 48-hour graph with maximum and average listeners plus a Top Songs Now list. It is the fastest way to check, "What is moving people right this second?" during release week, a TV placement, or a big playlist add.
Data refresh and time zone
Apple Music for Artists data is displayed in UTC and typically refreshes daily, with some metrics taking up to 48 hours to fully settle. Build this delay into label reports so you do not overreact to first-day noise or undercount a successful weekend.
IDs, metadata, and credits
ISRC
The 12-character code that identifies a specific sound recording. Apple uses ISRC to track Plays, Radio Spins, and Video Views, and downstream partners use it to calculate recording royalties. Treat it as the anchor ID for each master across services.
ISWC
The identifier for the composition, used on the publishing side. It ties the song itself (melody and lyrics) to the right writers and publishers, separate from the recording.
UPC / EAN
Barcodes for releases such as singles, EPs, and albums. They represent the product as a whole rather than a single track. Labels use them for catalog management, finance, and chart reporting.
Song Credits
The credits section in Apple Music that lists writers, producers, and other contributors. Accurate credits help collaborators get paid and discovered, and they make it easier for fans and industry contacts to trace who did what across your catalog.
Apple Music Radio (Live)
Live radio stations such as Apple Music 1, Apple Music Hits, and Apple Music Country. Spins here are tracked under Radio Spins, not Plays, so you can separate live broadcast performance from on-demand listening.
Track Grouping
Apple groups multiple versions of the same recording under a single track group for analytics. Remasters, radio edits, and deluxe-edition copies roll up into one view while still preserving individual credits and ISRCs. This lets you see how a song performs as a whole rather than chasing numbers across twenty versions.
Promotional and creative tools
Pre-adds (Apple Music)
Let fans add an upcoming release to their library or playlists before it drops, so it appears automatically on release day. Pre-adds are usually tied to an iTunes Store pre-order and at least one advance track. Think of this as the Apple Music version of a pre-save: it concentrates first-day listening and Release Day buzz.
Milestones and Shareables
Auto-generated achievements such as first million Plays, top Shazam cities, editorial playlist adds, and more. In the app you can turn these into branded cards for social or email. They are not just vanity screenshots; use them to show partners, press, and collaborators that a song is working.
Motion Artwork
Short, looping animated artwork that follows Apple’s Motion Album Artwork guidelines. The animation should extend and react to the cover, not cut away to unrelated footage. Delivered correctly, it makes your releases feel native in Apple Music and gives fans a premium, cinematic feel on mobile.
Set Lists
A feature that lets you turn a show’s set into a playlist directly in Apple Music for Artists on the web. Helpful for routing fans from the live experience to your recorded catalog, and for reminding labels which songs are truly core for the audience right now.
Audio formats and quality
Spatial Audio with Dolby Atmos
Immersive multichannel mix format supported by Apple. To qualify, you need a true Atmos mix from stems or multitracks; simple upmixing from stereo is not allowed. Done well, Atmos can signal quality, win editorial attention, and give superfans a new way to experience your catalog.
Apple Digital Masters
Apple’s mastering and delivery program focused on preserving dynamic range and fidelity when encoding to AAC. Following the guidelines means your masters translate more reliably to Apple’s ecosystem and sound closer to what left the studio.
Analytics views and where to find things
Overview, Trends, Places, and Your Music
The Measure section in Apple Music for Artists brings your main views together:
Overview: topline Plays, listeners, milestones, and recent highlights
Trends: deeper comparisons over time across Plays, Average Daily Listeners, Shazams, Purchases, Radio Spins, and Video Views
Places: maps and tables that show where fans and radio activity are concentrated
Your Music: song, album, playlist, and video breakdowns
Use these together to connect storylines. Example: see a Shazam spike in one city, then confirm whether Plays, Radio Spins, and ticket sales respond in the weeks after.
Listening Now detail
Tapping Listening Now gives a 48-hour graph with maximum and average listeners plus a Top Songs Now list. It is the fastest way to check, "What is moving people right this second?" during release week, a TV placement, or a big playlist add.
Data refresh and time zone
Apple Music for Artists data is displayed in UTC and typically refreshes daily, with some metrics taking up to 48 hours to fully settle. Build this delay into label reports so you do not overreact to first-day noise or undercount a successful weekend.
IDs, metadata, and credits
ISRC
The 12-character code that identifies a specific sound recording. Apple uses ISRC to track Plays, Radio Spins, and Video Views, and downstream partners use it to calculate recording royalties. Treat it as the anchor ID for each master across services.
ISWC
The identifier for the composition, used on the publishing side. It ties the song itself (melody and lyrics) to the right writers and publishers, separate from the recording.
UPC / EAN
Barcodes for releases such as singles, EPs, and albums. They represent the product as a whole rather than a single track. Labels use them for catalog management, finance, and chart reporting.
Song Credits
The credits section in Apple Music that lists writers, producers, and other contributors. Accurate credits help collaborators get paid and discovered, and they make it easier for fans and industry contacts to trace who did what across your catalog.
