This year, on December 3, the music streaming service Spotify released users’ highly anticipated yearly listening summary, known as “Spotify Wrapped.” In recent years, Wrapped’s shareability has been the driving force behind its skyrocketing popularity. Just this year, according to Tech Crunch, Wrapped 2025 attracted over 200 million users in the first 24 hours, making it the most successful Wrapped yet.
Since its creation, this type of “year-in-review” campaign has become widely adopted across different digital platforms, with competitors like YouTube’s “Recap,” Apple Music’s “Replay,” and Amazon Music’s “Delivered” embracing the hype. A tradition that began in 2015, Spotify Wrapped has dutifully included classic features such as a user’s top artists, while also creating a unique experience tailored for each year. This year is no different, and I’ll be going over what has and has not changed for this year’s Wrapped experience, as well as how viewing my listening “year-in-review” helps me welcome the new year.Â
One of the most notable changes that Wrapped has undergone this year is stepping away from the AI-centered concept they released last year for Wrapped 2024. It received immense backlash online after using generative AI to deliver users a horde of new “hyper-personalized” experiences, including DJ, Wrapped, AI Playlist, and the Spotify Wrapped AI podcast. For Wrapped 2025, Spotify adopted a retro style rather than hyper-digital, inspired by the mixtape culture of the 90s and early 00s. Following this return to a more human feel, the only part of Wrapped 2025 enhanced by AI is the listening archive, where users can see their most memorable days of streaming.Â
Spotify’s head of creative, Jeremy Wirth, told ADWEEK, “Wrapped is part of culture, so criticism is part of it. The way people receive it is out of our control, but we listen to fans and try to tailor it to them. If people aren’t happy, we fail.” This complete 180 in how the campaign uses AI shows how the company’s marketing team heard and internalized the anti-AI feedback they had received and was able to put out a better-received product the year after.
Other new aspects of Wrapped 2025 include users’ “listening age,” which allows them to share with others how the music they listen to connects with different generations. In sometimes hilarious ways, a user’s listening age and physical age don’t align, leading to younger listeners being identified as twenty years older in terms of what music they enjoy. The day Wrapped was released, I remember seeing the Grammy Award-winning, 26-year-old artist Laufey post on her Instagram story that she had a listening age above 80!Â
The classic elements included in this year’s Spotify Wrapped include a breakdown of how many minutes a user listened to overall, their top songs and artists, top genres, and a possible thank-you message from one of their top artists. Along with “listening age” being a new feature, this year also introduced a user’s top albums, top audiobook genre, fan leaderboards, clubs, and the visually stimulating top artist sprint.
Along with featuring users’ top audiobooks and podcasts, Spotify continues to highlight newer app features with author and podcast creator thank-you clips, in a similar fashion to their established artist clips. This upcoming year, I’ll definitely have to take a mental note to engage with more podcasts and audiobooks so next year’s Wrapped is even fuller.Â
Behind sentiments like this is what Wrapped and other “year-in-review” campaigns are about. While it is true that these hyper-successful campaigns bring in more company revenue and app traffic, they also allow users to look back at how they use streaming as individuals, rather than another indistinguishable username among millions more. Personally, this brings me another level of knowing myself and reflecting on the past year’s interests and events.
As someone who likes to make a new playlist each month, being able to listen back through them is like appreciating who I was at that time while embracing the changes that have helped me become a more experienced individual.
Spotify Wrapped, for me, gives a sense of closure to this year and allows me the retrospection and gratitude I need to fully embrace the new year.
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