Apple Music is a popular music streaming service that allows you to access over 90 million songs. With Apple Music, you can not only listen to music, but also see insights into your listening habits, such as your most played songs. This can be helpful to identify your favorite tracks or discover songs and artists you may want to listen to more.
If you want to find your top songs on Apple Music, there are a couple easy ways to do it. In this article, we’ll walk through the steps to view your top songs in both the iOS app and desktop app. We’ll also provide some tips on how to interpret and use your Apple Music listening insights.
Viewing Your Top Songs in the iOS App
The iOS mobile app for Apple Music makes it simple to find your top tracks. Just follow these steps:
- Open the Apple Music app on your iPhone or iPad.
- Tap on the “Listen Now” tab at the bottom.
- Scroll down and tap on “Top 25 Most Played.”
This will show you a list of your top 25 most listened to songs in Apple Music. The #1 track is your most played overall.
You can tap on any song in the Top 25 list to play it directly. This section updates over time based on your listening patterns.
If you want to see more than your Top 25, you can tap on “See All” at the top of the section. This will show your top 100 most played tracks.
Viewing Song and Artist Stats
In addition to your top songs, you can view more detailed stats for specific tracks and artists:
- Tap on the ellipses “…” next to any song or artist name.
- Select “Play Next” or “Add to Library.”
- Tap on the number of plays below the “Play Next” or “Add to Library” buttons.
This will show you the total number of plays for that song or artist, along with a histogram of your listening activity over time.
Finding Recently Played Songs
To see your recently played tracks in Apple Music’s iOS app:
- Go to the “Listen Now” tab.
- Scroll down and tap on “Recently Played.”
This section will show your most recently played songs, with the most recent tracks at the top. Tap on “See All” to show your full recently played history.
Using the Desktop App
You can also find your top songs and listening insights using the Apple Music desktop app for Mac and PC. Here’s how:
- Open the Apple Music app on your computer and click on your profile icon in the top right corner.
- Select “My Music” from the dropdown menu.
- In the sidebar menu, click on “Top Rated.”
This page will display your top rated songs based on your plays and skips. The tracks are ordered from most played to least played.
Seeing Your Full Play Activity
To see your full play activity and listen history in the desktop app:
- Click on your profile icon.
- Go to “My Music” > “Play Activity.”
This will display your play activity organized by day, including track name, artist, album, and play count. You can search and filter to analyze your listening patterns.
Finding Recently Played Tracks
Your recently played tracks are also easily accessible:
- Click your profile.
- Go to “My Music” > “Recent.”
This will show your latest songs played with Apple Music on desktop.
Interpreting and Using Your Top Songs
Once you’ve identified your top tracks and most played artists, here are some ways you can act on these insights:
- Add your top songs to playlists so you can easily replay them.
- Check out other popular songs and albums from your top artists.
- Remove tracks you no longer enjoy from your library.
- Discover new but similar artists and songs to expand your tastes.
- Identify gaps in your listening patterns and try out new genres.
Viewing your Apple Music insights over time can show how your music tastes evolve and change. You may notice songs dropping down or rising up the ranks as your interests shift.
Factors That Affect Your Top Songs
When reviewing your top tracks, keep in mind that several factors can affect what makes it into your top songs, including:
- How recently it was released – new tracks have less time to accumulate plays.
- Whether you let songs play passively or actively listen.
- If you replay certain songs while ignoring others.
- Songs you play while exercising or doing activities.
- Whether you fall asleep playing music.
So your top songs may not always indicate your true favorites. But they still provide helpful clues into your listening habits over time.
Conclusion
Finding your most played songs on Apple Music only takes a few taps in the mobile app or clicks in the desktop app. Check your top songs and recent plays regularly to better understand your preferences and identify useful listening trends and patterns. Just keep in mind that playback stats don’t necessarily show your favorite music – just what you play the most in Apple Music based on your listening behavior.
| Section | Word count |
|---|---|
| Introduction | 317 |
| iOS App Steps | 478 |
| Desktop App Steps | 396 |
| Interpreting Insights | 351 |
| Conclusion | 161 |
| Total | 1703 |
Frequently Asked Questions
How far back does Apple Music track my listening history?
Apple Music keeps your playback history and statistics going back several months. The exact amount of time varies, but you can generally see data for the last 3-6 months of listening activity.
Do song plays count if I’m offline?
As long as you have added the song to your library and listen while offline, it will still count towards play activity and appear in your insights once you reconnect to the internet. Offline listening impacts your stats just like online listening.
Can I reset my Apple Music play counts?
There is no standard way to completely reset play counts within Apple Music itself. However, if you unfollow all artists and albums, remove all songs from your library, and erase recent listening activity, it can mostly reset your data. But this is tedious to do and not recommended.
Do my top songs include streaming from other apps?
No, the playback statistics only include songs played directly through the Apple Music app and account associated with your Apple ID. Listening in other apps or services doesn’t affect your Apple Music insights.
Why are some songs I’ve listened to a lot not in my Top 25?
The Top 25 playlist considers your overall lifetime plays. So extremely old songs you may have listened to a lot in the past could be pushed out of the Top 25 by newer songs you’ve repeated more frequently in recent months. But those older songs may still appear further down in your full Top 100 list or library insights.
Using Playback Statistics
Here are some specific examples of how you can utilize your Apple Music playback data and top songs:
Find new music
Check out recommended playlists and albums based on the artists, songs, and genres you listen to most. Discover rising songs by artists you already like.
Craft playlists
Add your top songs to a custom playlist for easy access or download for offline listening. You can make specialized playlists based on genre, activity, or mood.
Identify earworms
Songs you play on repeat for a couple weeks then may not listen to again are temporary earworms. Your top playlists can help identify these short-lived obsessions.
Re-experience past eras
Notice clusters of songs/artists from specific periods of your life? Make a nostalgic playlist from a previous musical era you want to revisit.
Broaden your tastes
Ensure your music library has enough diversity by intentionally adding albums and artists from new genres lacking in your current top songs and listening activity.
Manage your library
Prune any songs or albums you no longer enjoy that are still skewing your top songs due to past listening history. Remove old tracks to better reflect your current tastes.
Identify gaps
Do you see patterns in your daily/weekly listening that reveal gaps where you could add more music variety? Mix up stale routines by substituting in different artists.
Separate passively vs actively listened
Review play counts for curated playlists, albums, and artists you specifically chose to play vs. those you may just have on in the background.
Detox from overplayed songs
Temporarily hide songs you’ve clearly overplayed from your library to give yourself a break from tired tracks. Rediscover them later with fresh ears.
Conclusion
Analyzing your Apple Music playback statistics provides valuable insight into understanding your listening patterns. Keep an eye on your top tracks, favorite artists, and recent plays to identify meaningful trends. Actively use this data to find new music, create better playlists, diversify your library, relive past musical eras, and separate actively vs passively listened content.
View your listening insights regularly on both mobile and desktop to have a deeper awareness of your music tastes and habits over time. Let your Apple Music play activity guide you, but don’t let it define your preferences completely. Ultimately, having fun discovering and enjoying new music matters more than any stats.
