Why Analytics Matter for Artists
Music data is everywhere, but without context, it’s just noise. A strong analytics strategy helps artists understand the story behind the numbers: what’s driving growth, what isn’t working, and where to focus next.
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With over 713 million monthly active users on Spotify (Q3 2025), artists are operating in an increasingly crowded and measurable landscape. Clear insights help artists make smarter decisions, save time and resources, and stop guessing in the dark.​​
Below is a case study applying these ideas to a real-world example, using Chartmetric data to analyze King Princess and 100 comparable artists.
Why This Case Study Matters
This analysis on artist King Princess:
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Shows how data can help increase the reach and success of an artist
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Highlights KP's social reach and engagement compared to similar artists
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Demonstrates what’s working for her peers at different career stages
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Examines how genre and audience size influence career trajectory
How Artists Can Use Analytics
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Evaluate the success of a tour or release
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Understand streaming performance and audience growth
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Compare their performance against a similar artist
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Identify where to focus marketing and promotion
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Support strategic decisions with data, not guesswork
Case Study: King Princess
This case study examines 100 comparable artists to King Princess using Chartmetric data, and explores how audience reach and genre patterns influence an artist’s career progression.​​
For the full experience, check out on desktop. Tableau dashboards don't display well on mobile.
Independent analysis using public data. Not affiliated with the artist or team.
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Dashboard 1: Genre Analysis
How does genre breadth and choice influence relative success among comparable artists?
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In this dataset, ​Indie Pop and Bedroom Pop demonstrate strong potential to produce Superstars.​
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Although Pop and U.S. Pop are among the most frequent genres, they do not lead to Super-stardom.
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All Superstars in this dataset are tagged to 3 genres: This may suggest that artists experiment musically as they progress in their careers.
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While reaching Superstar status demands more versatility or crossover appeal, sticking to two specific genres may help artists reach mid-level success.​
Dashboard 2: Audience Analysis
How do platform mix and social scale differ across career stages?
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TikTok Followers do not always become Spotify listeners: Developing artists typically have more TikTok followers than Spotify monthly listeners.
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TikTok is more important than IG at early stages: Until reaching Superstar status, artists commonly have a larger following on TikTok than Instagram, highlighting TikTok’s younger audience and powerful ‘For You’ page algorithm.
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Youtube has the lowest impact across all career stages, suggesting artists should focus on other social platforms.
Dashboard 3: Chartmetric Ranking
How useful is Chartmetric ranking for understanding artist growth and positioning?
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When only looking at raw Chartmetric scores, ​ Developing and Mid Level artists can look similar.
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Percentiles, calculated from social and Spotify stats, can help show relative audience size, but differences remain subtle at lower levels.
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Rankings are most useful for spotting top performers or tracking growth over time, rather than strictly categorizing early and mid-career artists.
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*Think of rank percentile as a “class ranking” for audience size: if an artist is in the 70th percentile (Rank Percentile: 0.7), their audience is larger than 70% of comparable artists.
Extended Analysis
For a deeper methodological breakdown with social and genre recommendations on pages 3 and 8,
view the full research document below:
About Zoe
I mix data, strategy, and a love of music to help teams understand audiences, trends, and growth.
Formerly an analyst in the finance industry at First Eagle and Deerfield, I built reports, analyzed complex datasets, and presented insights to senior leadership.
Now, I'm exploring ways to apply that same rigor to the music world, turning charts into strategies that actually make a difference.
Connect with me on Linkedin
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