Apple Music provides a number of listening statistics, but it takes a bit of trickery
The end of the year is often an opportunity to take stock, rankings, Tops of all kinds. Spotify, for example, lets you share ratings of the most popular songs, artists, albums, and genres. A very popular feature, judging by the number of these Tops that we currently find on social networks. Unfortunately, if you use Apple Music, this function is missing.
This is not quite true. If Apple Music does not allow you to view this kind of data so easily, or even to share it with relatives, the service has a number of statistics. So without further ado, here is how to view your listening statistics.
How to Use Apple Music Replay to Find Out Your Listening Stats
Apple seems to want to hide this kind of data from you, so much so that it is impossible to access these figures from Apple Music applications. This requires going to Apple Music on the web. Here is how to do it:
- Go to the Apple Music Replay page and authenticate with your Apple ID.
- On the Apple Music Replay page, click the “Get Your Replay Mix” button.
- Wait a few moments for Apple to generate your stats for the year. Once the process is complete, you will be able to see all your information: number of hours spent listening to music, most played songs, etc. Scroll down to find out more. Unfortunately, there is no share button, so you will have to take screenshots and do it manually.
Aside from the most listened to songs and the total listening time, Apple Music allows you to see the most listened to artists and the number of hours spent listening to each of them.
Third-party applications for more statistics
If sharing is important to you, know that there are third-party applications that allow you to access your Apple Music statistics in a much nicer interface. There is a downside though: these apps don’t have access to your listening history. In other words, they don’t start working until the moment you install them.
This means that you will not be able to have any information on the periods dating from before the installation. In other words, install one now and you will have your statistics for next year, in a much more detailed and sympathetic way than what Apple offers.
PlayTally
PlayTally takes a similar approach to the Apple Watch. It offers a section called Trending, where you can see the music you listen to most often and identify your listening habits. There are also rewards, again Apple Watch style, when you hit certain milestones, like listening to a certain number of songs. Some rewards are even pretty stupid. There is one, for example, if you listen to “Never Gonna Give You Up”.
Snd.wave
Snd.wave is free and has a different look to PlayTally, focusing more on listening minutes, with graphics that might appeal more. Snd.wave also gives access to well-designed sharing functions. The permanent Premium version at $5.64 gives you access to more data, shows more detailed graphics and even reminds you of songs you used to listen to regularly in the past.
Hopefully Apple realizes that users are also interested in the social aspect of a music streaming service, but until then, it’ll have to do with what’s out there, whether it’s staying on Apple Music only or through a third-party application. And if you’re still not satisfied, consider switching to the competition.