Whether you’re new to Mixcloud or a long-time user, no doubt you’re curious about who your listeners are, and what type of content they love the most. With a Pro subscription you can access a wealth of insight on the performance of your profile with in-depth Mixcloud Stats, giving you fresh ammo when planning your next show. But even more so, as a Pro member you get to see where your listeners are based (from the country down to the city), where they’ve discovered your shows and even a list of your top listeners.
In this article, we speak to two creators actively using Mixcloud Stats to find their communities. Mr Brunch (pictured right above) is a Manchester-based DJ, producer and former military veteran who has been active on Mixcloud since 2019, posting weekly mixes across Downtempo, Ambient and House. Meanwhile, London’s Ms Skyrym (pictured left aboove) has been serving mixes on Mixcloud for over 10 years, consisting of Pop, Classical, Chillout and many more genres, sharing music she genuinely loves. Scroll down for the discoveries they’ve made using Mixcloud Stats.
Tell us a bit about your journey with music and the content you’re making on Mixcloud right now?
Mr Brunch: I’ve been on Mixcloud since 2019 and I’ve had a set of Technics 1210s since 1993. Played at a lot of private parties and functions back then. I was working in IT in London after serving in the military for 22 years. I kind of forgot about the music side of things. But I was later diagnosed with PTSD from my time in the military.
So I quit my job, moved back in with my mother and in 2019, a friend suggested I get my decks back out, use Mixcloud and get ranked in the charts with famous people like John Digweed. I joined and was hooked straight away. I live-stream once a month for my subscribers, release early bird mixes exclusively to them for a few days. Weekly mixes for the rest of my followers. It’s been so much fun getting to know the community online and in real life. I know it sounds like a cliché but music really has saved my life.
Ms Skyrym: I’ve been on Mixcloud since 2012, so over 10 years now and over 600 mixes. I started my journey largely because I’ve listened to music all my life. But traditional radio was starting to annoy me. The shows and DJs were great but I just wanted to listen to different types of music. When I started my Mixcloud journey, it took me a while to figure out what I wanted to do. I started out with Trance music and started to build a following that way. I loved the idea of playing playlists that I curated with no interruptions. However, I realized early on that that was for other people’s benefit instead of mine. I realized this is more about me and what I like.
The Ms Skyrym page started out with Trance and dance music then I went into chill and now it can be anything. It just depends on what I’m feeling and my mood, what I feel like over the course of the week. Now it’s very Indie and Acoustic Pop. I can go between different genres in a single playlist or there might be a theme. I’m not genre orientated; I’m all about creating that musical experience of whatever I’m actually trying to express. Most recently I’ve created the ‘Ms Skyrym Voyages’ and ‘Ms Skyrym Sounds’ series. There, I explore different aspects of creative expression through music. There are no limitations on what I’m producing and curating and that’s the same for the many collaborators I’ve had like The Poet, Derek Hall, Kevin Allen. We’re guided by the music.
Tell us about how you’re using Mixcloud Stats? What are they showing you?
Mr Brunch: I probably check my Stats every hour after I’ve released a mix. Checking for minutes played by each user. Not so much plays because I get a feeling that, if one of my mixes is 60 minutes long, some of my listeners are completing the mix then going back to it. So I take note of those people and try to make more mixes in that style. A lot of my supporters like Funky House so I’ll try to post those kinds of mixes. Many love the more Downtempo/Ambient stuff so I’ll do that too. I’ll rotate those with Organic House, Progressive House, more Hard House and Deep Tech House. Once I know who likes which mix, I send reminders to them when that mix is out to let them know. I use my Stats to engage with the people who are actually listening.
Ms Skyrym: I use Stats quite a lot and they’re actually very helpful to me for different reasons. One, for finding the geographical locations of where my listeners are. Also to determine when to upload. If I upload a mix at 11 o’clock on a Friday night, I know that’s probably going to hit a US audience first. But, if I upload at 5am on a Saturday morning, I know that my listeners in Asian countries will hear it first. So I can schedule an upload at the best time that would take in as much territory and listeners as quickly as possible.
I don’t dictate to myself when I have to upload a mix, but it does help me understand when and where. The ‘where’ is interesting as well, understanding the countries where people listen from. I mean, Ukraine, Russia and countries all over the world keep coming back time and time again to listen. It’s phenomenal. It is the best thing about music. But also the platforms that they use to listen on, whether that’s the Mixcloud website or a mobile phone or an app. You start to think, are they on the go? Are they at their desk listening? That’s useful information as well even if it doesn’t necessarily influence the content.
From looking at your Mixcloud Stats, did you find any surprises about where people are listening to your content?
Mr Brunch: When I see that a mix has been liked and reposted a few times and I then check my Stats and see that they haven’t listened to the mix. If I didn’t have Stats, I would definitely have a different concept of how many people are listening. On my social media channels I’ve taken screenshots of all the different countries that are listening. It’s really awesome being able to communicate with these people.
Does looking at your Stats give you a different perspective about your content?
Ms Skyrym: Yes but probably for a different reason actually. One of the Stats tracks how long people listen and I don’t know how I ever feel about it. When I record or upload a mix, the listener count is at 100% at the start, and then it starts to taper off. I wasn’t sure when I first discovered that particular statistic, if that was a reflection of my mixes or if people were listening the whole way through, but discovered that they’d listen to maybe the first minutes or so, or partly and just taper off. For a while I thought, ‘do I need to do something with my mixes?’. But I didn’t allow myself or my mixes to be influenced by that statistic because based on the number of times people were coming back to listen, they were listening right through and doing it multiple times.
Have you used your Stats to change your content in any way? If so, how?
Mr Brunch: When I first started on Mixcloud, my mixes would be quite generic and include everything I liked. If I had a mix that started mellow, my Stats would tell me that it would have lower engagement, as opposed to Progressive House at the end. So this made me split between all the genres to where, now, I do mixes that are exclusively chill vibes and everyone who likes that portion will listen. I use the playlist section of my page for the different genres. Each tab will have all the mixes I do for that genre so I can separate them out. I use short descriptions for each mix but with a message that will say ‘look out for track at 54 minutes’ to keep people listening.
Ms Skyrym: Not really because I think if I deviate from what I’m doing too much. The music loses its magic for me. It loses something. It’s not so much about what I think people want to hear, it’s about what I want to hear and if people relate to and like that, they will listen. They listen for the experience of finding something new. It’s like going to a museum.
“If I didn’t have Stats, I would definitely have a different concept of how many people are listening to my mixes.” – Mr Brunch
Tell us a bit about the community you’ve built on Mixcloud; what role do they play and how has Stats allowed you to find your fanbase?
Mr Brunch: It’s engagement in a more personal way. If I see someone who’s listened to my show a few times, I’ll listen to their content too and put them on a playlist I have called ‘check out this artist, you must have a listen’. I’ve built up my community by everyone listening to each other and engaging. They support me because they like my vibes and I like theirs. Sometimes if someone likes my mix, I look at their followers and if they like music similar to what I’m playing, I’ll send them a link to my mix.
I do a lot of advertising for their stuff through Mixcloud Posts and messages and those few minutes really help build my community. That’s why I only follow 500 people; I try to engage with all of them. You make friends that way too; now I’ve got friends in America, Canada, Mexico. I’ve gotten bookings through my page. Music connects people; we are the messengers and through it, I’ve met so many cool people. Mixcloud is great for that.
Ms Skyrym: I can’t say I have a huge social media following; I have a Facebook Page and the people in it are Ms Skyrym advocates, fellow mixers and DJs in many instances. I’ve met a few of them in the flesh, in the US, which I’m incredibly grateful for. There is this invisible community on Mixcloud that listens to what I upload and engages with my mixes on the profile. I have to send a big shout out to Guido’s Lounge Cafe who is brilliant and listens religiously. Even building relationships with other content creators and DJs who contribute to my profile like The Poet.
What we do is all about promoting the music and supporting everyone involved. With this community, whether we ever see each other, it doesn’t matter. If there’s a DJ/mix I like, I go back to them and vice versa, leaving comments on Posts. There is that culture; I think it’s a culture more than a community.
How do you plan to use your Stats in the future?
Ms Skyrym: I’d love to do a Ms Skyrym tour. I remember I was in Egypt working and I got into the car on the way to the office and the driver was listening to my mix! He had no way of knowing, that was just incredible. I don’t know if I can have that same thing going to other countries but I would love to try. Places like Japan and the US where I know they’re listening. But essentially exploring new opportunities within the Mixcloud community.
Mr Brunch: I’d love to travel as long as my plane ticket is paid for!
What’s next for you?
Mr Brunch: I plan to do more collaborative live streams with the people I engage with and have the stream on my profile while I promote them on my profile. Just a lot of working together with people. I’m starting a degree in Electronic Music Production from Manchester University in September and before that, I play at In The Fields Festival in July and other really exciting gigs.
Ms Skyrym: Well, last year marked a decade of Ms Skyrym, but I actually have no idea what to do or how to celebrate. But I’m also planning on publishing a book called Sight of Endeavour early next year. Fingers crossed all goes well. Writing has brought a different dimension to my profile over the last couple of months. I plan on bringing on more guest mixes from people who haven’t been on before, which is good for me but also for them. Hopefully Bruce Haydn soon. I have been wondering how to expand the profile more and get into more countries. But for now, I’ll be trying to bring on more collaborators to my profile.
Want to access your Stats? Upgrade to Pro and gain a wealth of insight today.
Check out this guide on how to use Mixcloud Posts to build your community.