co:brand provides daily sound data for songs in your catalog. We update a variety of sound metrics throughout the day, both in aggregate and at the country level. This article answers common questions about Creates data, country analysis, and how to best use these metrics to track engagement and growth.
What is the difference between Creates and Lifetime Creates?
Lifetime Creates reflects the total number of videos that exist for a sound at a given point in time. This value is never negative, but it may decrease over time as videos are removed by users or through standard platform processes.
Creates measures the change in Lifetime Creates between two points in time. Because it reflects a delta, this value can be negative if the total number of videos has decreased compared to a previous point.
Why doesn’t Lifetime Creates equal Creates when the window is set to All Time?
co:brand stores Creates data with a 1-year lookback. To understand the total number of videos ever created using a sound, refer to Lifetime Creates on the current date.
Within the 1-year window, Creates and Lifetime Creates will still not match. This is expected. Creates measures the change between two points in time and does not include the initial reference point in the dataset.
What causes videos to be deleted at scale?
It’s not always possible to determine the exact reason why videos are removed over time. In many cases, deletions happen naturally. Users may choose to remove their own content for personal or creative reasons.
However, if you notice a broader decline in Lifetime Creates, some removals may be the result of standard platform processes. Social platforms regularly update and enforce their policies to maintain content quality, safety, and rights management. This can include actions related to evolving content guidelines, automated systems that detect inauthentic or non-compliant activity, or the use of audio and media that may not meet current licensing requirements.
These types of changes are a normal part of how platforms operate and are applied across large volumes of content over time.
Why does my Creates data for today change throughout the day?
When viewing Creates for the current day, the value is compared to the same time on the previous day - not the prior day’s final total.
This approach provides a more accurate view of real-time growth. If comparisons were made only against end-of-day totals, early-day performance would appear artificially low.
Here is an example in practice:
On January 1 at 9am, 24h Creates show +1,000. Later in the day, the same metric is only +500.
How this can be interpreted:
This does not mean 500 videos were deleted on January 1. It means the 24-hour difference in the morning was greater than it was later in the day. The song grew proportionately fast during the day on December 31st, then stabilized. That is what makes the comparison window seem greater in the morning, compared to the evening, on January 1st.
For analysis and presenting data, we recommend contextualizing the data against the reference point, i.e. 24 hours compared to the same time prior day.
Why doesn’t co:brand data match TikTok or Instagram?
There are several common reasons for differences:
Expected data delay
co:brand updates TikTok data approximately every 6 hours and Instagram data about once per day. Because metrics are not real-time, some lag is expected compared to native platform values.
Regional edge caching
There is no single global “true” count of videos. Social platforms distribute content across regions to improve performance. As a result, users in different locations may see different video counts at the same time.
Counting methodology (sounds vs. songs)
On TikTok, even when viewing a specific sound, the displayed count on Mobile devices shows all matched sounds to the song. co:brand, by contrast, shows individual sound performance and aggregates those sounds. Differences can occur when sounds are classified differently by each platform.
Mobile vs. desktop differences
Platforms may display different values across devices and update them at different times. co:brand uses mobile data consistently, as desktop values can lag, especially for newer sounds.
Why doesn’t co:brand match my internal tools or other platforms?
Different tools operate on different data pipelines and update schedules. Variations can also result from differences in:
Sound matching methodologies
Regional data sources
Refresh frequency
As a result, some discrepancies between platforms are expected.