These FAQs provide answers to questions we have received since announcing changes to Teacher income in this update on 27th June. Please read the article first before reviewing these FAQs.
What does Return Rate mean?
A Return Rate refers to a course or track's effectiveness at bringing listeners back to Insight Timer the following day. For example, if 100 people listen to a track today, and 80 of them return to Insight Timer tomorrow, the track’s Return Rate is 80%.
Does the listener have to listen to the same track when they return?
No, they simply need to return to the app the following day and complete an activity. Activities include things like listening to a track (any track), listening to a course, journaling, joining a live event, using the timer, or checking in.
How do you calculate the additional amount I receive?
The additional amount you receive each month all comes down to how effective your content is at bringing people back to the app when compared to other, similar content. To ensure this is done fairly, we take the following steps:
Organize content by type: First, we organize all the tracks into 5 categories— Guided, Sleep, Music, Kids, and Non-English. We do this for Free Content and Paid Content (courses included here) separately. This way, each track is only compared to others in its own category.
Calculate the Average Return Rate for Each Category: Next, we find out the average return rate for each category. For instance, the average return rate for Free Guided Tracks might be 76%.* (*This is just an example number.)
Identify Above-Average Tracks: If your track’s return rate is higher than the average in its category, it qualifies for a bonus. This bonus is the additional amount you’ll receive, reflecting how well your track performs compared to similar ones.
So, if your tracks consistently bring people back to Insight Timer, you’ll earn extra each month. The higher your return rate compared to others in your category, the more you’ll earn.
Why are there different categories?
We group content by type to keep things fair and support diversity. Different types of content naturally have different return rates—for example, music often brings people back more than guided tracks, while kids’ content can see lower rates than both. By grouping similar types of content, we can ensure teachers who create valuable but niche content are compensated fairly, helping to keep a wide variety of content on the app.
How much money is allocated to the Return Rate fund?
We allocate 25% to 30% of all teacher income to the Return Rate fund. This number may change over time.
Where do I find my Return Rate?
A Return Rate percentage appears next to each track inside the Teacher Dashboard.
What does “Excellent, Great, or Good” mean?
We use three quality tiers—Excellent, Great, and Good—to show how your content performs compared to others in the same category (Guided, Sleep, Music, Kids, or Non-English). Since each category has its own benchmarks, a “Great” rating in one category might only qualify as “Good” in another. This also extends to free versus paid content.
For example, an 80% score for a free Guided track might constitute a “Good” rating, but the same score for a paid Guided track might not achieve the same tier, and therefore not be eligible for a bonus.
On your dashboard, you'll find one of these Quality Tiers next to each eligible track:
Why do some of my tracks not show a return rate on the dashboard?
We require each track to have been played by a minimum number of unique users before we can calculate a Return Rate. Tracks without a Return Rate have not reached this threshold.
How do I improve my Return Rate?
Understanding what drives higher Return Rates is not an exact science. As we learn more, we will share our findings with you here. So far, we have seen that:
Teachers who actively engage with their students and encourage them to return to their practice frequently, tend to have higher Return Rates.
Tracks that encourage regular daily practice tend to have higher Return Rates. For example, Daily Gratitude, Morning Affirmations, Intention Setting practices.
Adding Tips to descriptions that guide students on how to use the track can help boost Return Rates. For example, “To turn your practice into a habit, listen to this track every day for 30 days”
Teachers who promote Insight Timer via their own external channels tend to have higher Return Rates. (Conversely, Teachers who encourage listeners to leave Insight Timer, naturally tend to have lower Return Rates).
Should I remove tracks that have a low Return Rate?
No. Tracks with low Return Rates do not adversely impact your Return Rate because we do not calculate an average Return Rate for each teacher. Tracks with lower Return Rates can still generate meaningful income from plays - they just won’t be eligible for additional bonuses.
Should I continue to reply to my community?
Yes. Teachers who continue to actively engage with their listeners will benefit from higher Return Rates.
What is the Teacher Assistance Fund?
The Teacher Assistance Fund was a pool of money - $550,000 - that was set aside to assist teachers who were negatively impacted, financially, by these changes. This fund lasted for three months (July, August, and September 2024) and is now finished.
How does the Teacher Assistance Fund work?
Over three months in July, August, and September 2024, teachers who received less income (when compared with their average subscription income from March, April, and May) were compensated by the Teacher Assistance Fund with a 100% offset.
How do I know if I am negatively impacted by the new changes?
Your July, August, and September invoices would have included a contribution line item from the Teacher Assistance Fund if you were negatively impacted by the new changes.