Spotify Wrapped Brings Music Lovers Together
December 19, 2019
“Spotify Wrapped” is an end-of-year tradition by the popular streaming service Spotify that compiles data collected on users to reveal trends in their music listening habits. It allows users to see what artists, songs, and genres they listened to most that year, and they can even view how many minutes they spent listening to music.
“I listen to music on Spotify all the time, and seeing my Spotify Wrapped is one of my favorite parts of the year. Sometimes I see artists and genres that I listened to way more than I would have thought and it’s funny. As someone who loves music and has a pretty versatile taste, it’s fun to see what I listen to the most,” said Maria Garcia Gil (‘20).
Samantha Cuttle (’20) proudly shows off her Spotify Wrapped data. “My favorite part of Spotify Wrapped is how they make playlists of your top songs from each year, it’s really fun to look back on,” said Anna Warnke (’20). Cuttle’s top artist of the year was the score composer for the film “Moonlight.”
While Spotify Wrapped has always been an exciting reveal for habitual music listeners, the 2019 edition of Spotify Wrapped set it apart from all others because of the fact that 2019 marks the end of the decade- therefore, Spotify allowed people to see top music data from the decade as a whole, not just 2019. For example, viewers could see what songs and artists they listened to the most from the decade, in addition to what songs and artists they listened to the most specifically that year.
“My top artists this year were Post Malone, Ariana Grande, Blackbear, Juice Wrld, and Chelsea Cutler. This kind of sums up my favorite music that I listen to when I’m driving around or hanging out with friends. But I was really surprised by the amount of time I’d spent listening to Ariana Grande, because I definitely thought Blackbear would have been ahead of her. I really enjoyed being able to look back on my top artists and think about good memories from my decade,” said Joely Barkett (’20).
In addition to the extra data used in this year’s Spotify Wrapped, it also included an engaging slideshow-esque graphic so that listeners could visualize their listening data. The fun visuals and easy shareability allowed for the rapid spread of Spotify Wrapped across all social media platforms, as viewers were soon excitedly sharing their listening data.
Senior Carmen Harrell’s Spotify Wrapped featured many pop rap artists. She said, “I wasn’t really surprised by any of my top songs or artists, I honestly could have guessed that it would be those five.”
Some students, like Kara Petitt (‘20), found her Spotify Wrapped-filled feed redundant. She said, “Spotify Wrapped is a cool idea, but I got really tired of seeing it everywhere after a while. I use Apple Music so I don’t really get to participate in it and don’t feel like seeing it everywhere. It was fun to see at first, but I got annoyed after a while once everyone started posting theirs.”
However, others, like Emelia Drell (‘22) enjoyed being able to look at others’ music listening data. “I love listening to music and am always looking for new stuff, so I really liked how everyone was posting their Spotify Wrapped online and allowing others to see what artists and genres they like. Not only did I get some good music recommendations from it, but it’s honestly just entertaining to see what types of people listen to what types of music.”
Whether you love seeing posts of peoples’ Spotify Wrapped or hate it, it’s notable to mention the care taken by Spotify to compile all of their users’ data into an entertaining visual and breakdown. And, although many may not realize it, the music we listen to really does define our decade- it certainly did for Carmen Harrell (‘20), who said, “My most listened to artist of the decade was The 1975, which makes sense. I definitely listen to them more than any other artist, and it’s nice to know how long their music has been a part of my life.”