On December 1st, one thing permeates the conversational strata- who was your top artist this year? What were your most played songs? Our Instagram stories fill with musical statistics that validate our month-long stints listening to Bo Burnham or that one TikTok song over and over. Spotify Wrapped is a cultural phenomenon that’s here to stay. After all, music is intrinsic to our identities, what we share with others and the soundtrack to our own little movies. So how does Spotify Wrapped work exactly? And how does this year’s Wrapped compare?
Spotify Wrapped evolved from the platform’s “Year in Music” feature in 2015 to its more comprehensive and engaging format in 2017. Wrapped relies on algorithms to collect data on users’ most loved music. The algorithm tracks the music you listen to generate the statistics we share. The app supposedly uses data from January 1st to October 31st, and the rest of the year up to December 1st is likely used to analyze this data. Spotify is notorious for its alarmingly accurate algorithm, that gives recommendations to users that emulate their music tastes with ease. I am an avid listener of my Discover Weekly playlist, which manages to introduce me to my new favorite songs every Monday.
While I’m generally an advocate against the mass collection of user data and digital surveillance, something about Spotify Wrapped has managed to sway me. It’s a genuinely engaging digital trend that gives insight into the tastes of our closest friends and shows us patterns in our own listening behavior. It helps some of us feel pride in our individuality or our dedication to our favorite artists. Some of us feel embarrassed at our stats, some of us are reluctant to share because of their inaccuracy or accuracy. Either way, December 1st marks a day in which many of us realize our most vulnerable moments with music have been perceived by a third party we don’t quite understand. Yet, many of us don’t seem to mind.
2021 has been a unique year. We are still in a pandemic, reeling from immense political turmoil, and experiencing a post-vaccinated world. As we continue to experience heartache and healing, music is one of our most powerful coping mechanisms. This year’s Spotify Wrapped gave us insight into our country’s listening trends and collective experiences. It comes as no surprise that Olivia Rodrigo’s song “drivers license” and her album “SOUR” won the most listened to song and album of the year. “The Joe Rogan Experience” was also the most listened to podcast in the U.S and globally.
This year also included some new features, including our “music aura” and some fun new genre categories I’ve never heard of. While I have no idea how Spotify arrived at this conclusion, I suppose I can say my year in listening has a “hype” and “wistful” vibe.
All in all, Spotify Wrapped allows us all to reflect on our relationship with music and the way we believe our listening defines us. So, I implore you to keep sharing even your most embarrassing statistics and your less known top artists. These moments of vulnerability keep the digital zeitgeist flowing and show us windows into our human behaviors. Yes, even if your top genre was midwestern emo.