Skip Risk is SongScore's prediction of how likely a listener is to skip a track within the first 30 seconds — the critical window where Spotify's algorithm evaluates listener engagement.
Skip Risk is driven by four audio signals: intro length and energy (long, low-energy intros accumulate skips), vocal clarity (a buried vocal increases skip probability), genre predictability (unexpected genre shifts in the first 15 seconds confuse listeners), and energy curve stability (a sudden drop in energy after an initial peak triggers skips).
A Skip Risk score below 30 is excellent and indicates strong first-impression retention. A score between 30 and 60 is moderate — the track will retain some listeners but lose others before the 30-second mark. A score above 60 indicates a high probability of early skipping, which significantly damages algorithmic recommendation potential.
Skip Risk is the inverse of listener retention. Reducing Skip Risk is one of the highest-leverage pre-release improvements an artist can make, because the first 30 seconds determines whether Spotify's algorithm considers the track recommendation-worthy.