Active listening is practice.
Active listening means centering the music in your attention, and then listening for understanding. I find it helpful to ask questions, and to listen multiple times for different things: arrangement, tone, form, harmony, etc.
This type of active listening is an essential part of developing your craft, and as such it should be counted as practice time when you log your practice.
Indeed, I think the students who are way ahead of their peers musically can primarily trace their advantage back to formative listening as young people.
It makes that big a difference.