Spotify Dataset Analysis

Author

Collin McNeil

Published

January 28, 2026

Introduction

This report analyzes a dataset of popular songs from Spotify

The goal of this analysis is to explore patterns in the data and understand how musical features relate to one another and song popularity.

Data Overview

The Spotify dataset contains the following variables:

  • streams_mill: Number of streams in millions
  • released_month: Month the song was released (1-12)
  • mode: Musical mode (Major or Minor)
  • key: Musical key (12 different keys)
  • bpm: Tempo in beats per minute
  • danceability: Danceability score (0-100)
  • energy: Energy level (0-100)
  • liveness: Likelihood of live performance recording

Visual Analysis

Musical Characteristics: Live vs. Studio Recordings

The visualization below compares musical characteristics between live performances (liveness ≥ 50) and studio recordings (liveness < 50). Live recordings may exhibit different energy patterns, streaming performance, and musical features compared to their studio-produced counterparts.

This comparison shows notable differences between live and studio recordings. Studio recordings show higher mean streaming numbers, suggesting greater commercial success. The musical characteristics show comparable values.

Summary Table Analysis

Major vs. Minor Mode Comparison

The table below compares songs in major and minor keys across several dimensions. Musical mode can influence the emotional tone of a song, and this analysis examines whether mode correlates with other musical features or streaming success.

Summary Statistics by Musical Mode
mode Number of Songs Avg Streams (millions) Median Streams (millions) Avg BPM Avg Danceability Avg Energy
Major 547 536.37 303.22 123.0 65.2 63.5
Minor 401 484.11 273.01 121.8 69.3 65.3

Major mode songs outnumber minor mode songs in the dataset. Although major slightly outperforms minor, both modes show similar average streaming numbers, suggesting that musical mode alone is not a very strong predictor of commercial success. Minor mode songs show slightly lower danceability on average, which aligns with the typically more somber or emotional quality of minor keys.

Top Streaming Songs

The interactive table below displays songs sorted by streaming numbers, allowing exploration of the most popular tracks and their characteristics. Use the search and filter features to identify patterns among top performers.

Conclusion

This analysis reveals several interesting patterns in the Spotidy dataset. Studio recordings dominate both the dataset and streaming performance, with live recordings representing a small number of recordings. The comparison between major and minor modes shows that while mode influences certain musical characteristics like danceability, it does not appear to significantly impact streaming success.

The most popular songs span a wide range of musical keys, tempos, and characteristics, suggesting that commercial success is multifaceted and not solely determined by individual musical attributes. Both highly danceable tracks and more subdued songs can achieve significant streaming numbers, reflecting diverse listener preferences on the platform.