Audiobook platforms currently have no way to measure how often listeners revisit books, despite re-listening being a common practice. This gap makes it hard for users to track their favorite audiobooks or discover titles others find worth replaying. It also means publishers miss valuable insights about which books maintain long-term appeal.

The Core Idea: Making Re-listening Visible

One approach could be introducing a "times listened" tracker in audiobook apps. This would:

• Automatically count completed listens when users finish most of a book (for example, over 80% of it)
• Show personal re-listen stats privately in user profiles
• Create community features like "Most Replayed Books" lists from aggregated, anonymized data
• Allow optional sharing of personal stats with friends or reading groups

The data would work similarly to how music services track song replays, but adapted for longer audiobook formats with checks to prevent artificial inflation of numbers.

Potential Benefits and Implementation

For users, this could enhance discovery of high-quality content and help track their own habits. Publishers might use the data to identify books with lasting appeal, while platforms could improve recommendations. A staged rollout could start with basic personal tracking before adding social and community features.

The concept builds on existing tracking infrastructure while addressing a need current platforms like Audible and Goodreads don't specifically cover regarding repeat listens. The main challenges would involve privacy considerations and ensuring accurate counting, which could be solved through opt-in settings and careful definition of what counts as a complete listen.