How to link to MP3 files for best user experience & best tracking

• A client would like us to track clicks on an MP3, so I've set up Google Tag Manager and an Event. But, it's not working.

  Right now, it's just a file in their media folder being distributed via email and other sources. The client doesn't want to put it on a page, which would require two clicks for the user to get to it.

  So, I'm wondering, does the MP3 have to be a link on a page of the website for Google Tag Manager and Google Analytics to record the clicks?

  If so, and I put it on a page that's not linked to any other pages of the site, would clicks from emails and other sources where they've distributed the URL of the media file then be picked up by tracking?

Answer:

Yes, there has to be an HTML page with a link that points to the MP3 file in order for the Analytics Javascript to be executed.

No, clicks from emails would not be counted UNLESS they are setup as tracking clicks in some fashion. For example, traffic coming from a direct link in an email to https://domain.com/uploads/2019/09/file.mp3 would not be counted.

The actual server log files, assuming they are available to you, are the only place where you could download that data.

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