Top Active Playlist Listeners | Dataford Interview Questions

Spotify-like service SoundWave wants to identify highly active listeners. Write a SQL query to find users who listened to more than five distinct playlists during the 30-day period ending on September 15, 2026.

Output

Return one row per qualifying user with columns user_id, display_name, unique_playlists, and total_listens.
Include only users with more than five distinct playlists in the period. Count every listening event in the period, including repeated listens to the same playlist.
Sort by unique_playlists descending, then total_listens descending, and finally user_id ascending. Listening events outside the fixed 30-day period are excluded.

Schema

users

Column	Type	Description
user_idPK	INT	Unique user identifier
display_name	VARCHAR(100)	User-facing display name

playlists

Column	Type	Description
playlist_idPK	INT	Unique playlist identifier
playlist_name	VARCHAR(150)	Playlist title

listens

Column	Type	Description
listen_idPK	INT	Unique listening event identifier
user_id	INT	User who listened
playlist_id	INT	Playlist associated with the listening event
listened_at	TIMESTAMP	Timestamp of the listening event

Your question is Top Active Playlist Listeners. Start with the requirements and the three tables in the Question tab.

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Problem