Christmas came early for all Spotify music lovers.
Every year, around the end of November/beginning of December, Spotify creates a Spotify Wrapped for all of its listeners. Essentially, it gathers data on the music you listened to throughout the whole year and analyzes it to create your very own Spotify Wrapped. I don’t know about you, but it’s one of my favorite times of the year.
Music plays a deeply important role in my life; it has an importance that’s hard to even put into words. It’s the thing I tie to memories. It brings upon a sense of peace and allows me to be in my own world at times. My emotions become embedded in these songs and therefore hold a special meaning when I go on to listen to them again… and again… and again. It’s the one thing that can be there for you in the happy times, the sad times and even the angry times.
In your Spotify Wrapped, you get an entire slideshow beginning with “Welcome to Your Wrapped.” First comes your top 5 genres; mine included Pop, Rap, Modern Rock, Indie Pop and Alt Z, with a total of 41 different genres listened to. It goes on to tell you the type of music you listened to in the morning, afternoon and in the night after hours. My morning started with “Hype Lit Confident”, followed by seizing the day with “Sad Boi Hopeless Romantic Heartache”, and finally ending by embracing the night with “Relaxing Calm Melancholy.”
The statistics are some of my favorite parts of the detailed overview. My total play time was 36,838 minutes. I honestly thought my play time would be higher since I always have music incorporated in everything I do… I aspire to be one of the people who surpass 70,000 minutes. Even still, apparently my play time is more than 86% of the other listeners here in the United States. The amount of songs I totaled came out to be 1,752 songs and 979 artists. Typically, when I find a song I love, it leads me on a never ending journey to the artists page where I discover more and more of their music. It intrigues me how talented these artists are. I feel as though I create connections with the artists and I think that’s what makes it that much more special. My top artist for the year of 2022 ended up being Giveon, which is no surprise to anyone that knows me. I spent a total of 2,761 minutes listening to him and ended up being amongst the top 0.05% of Giveon listeners this year. Your Spotify Wrapped will go on to tell you your “listening personality.” I got labeled as a Voyager, with the words “exploration,” “newness,” “loyalty,” and “commonality” being associated with it. Spotify never fails to amaze me because I feel like this musically defines me to a tee.
My favorite thing to see is my top 5 artists and songs. My top 5 artists were Giveon, Noah Kahan, ODIE, J.Cole and Montell Fish. I knew Giveon and Noah Kahan would be top two and am pleasantly surprised by my other results. My top 5 songs were Scarred by Giveon, Power Trip by J.Cole (ft. Miguel), North Face by ODIE, No Role Modelz by J.Cole, and Story by ODIE. I will say I am quite surprised none of Noah Kahan’s songs made it in the top 5 as he was listened to constantly. He is one artist I connect with on a whole other level… his lyrics and energy never cease to amaze me. I’ve even met him twice.
My music taste is often different from many of my friends as I tend to listen more to new and rising artists. I wouldn’t say I necessarily gatekeep artists… but maybe I do. I like watching these small talented artists grow personally and in their music as they also go on to grow in popularity.
All in all, I’m grateful to Spotify for being able to capture these special moments. Go check out your Spotify Wrapped for some much needed nostalgia!