Be careful who you listen to—it may come back to bite you.
The release of Spotify Wrapped every year is like your best friend’s birthday in Grade seven—it’s a scramble to post on your social media for all to see. I wish I could say I was exaggerating about the scale of this phenomenon, but I’m not. Spotify Wrapped is a big deal. For those of you who live under a rock or are sadly on the dying ship of Apple Music, Spotify Wrapped is a clever marketing strategy in the form of a music report card, emerging yearly in late November or early December, to let listeners see their top artists, genres, and songs of the year.
Every other Instagram story is a screenshot of people sharing who their top artist of the year was, how many minutes they spent listening to music or their top five most played songs. Unless of course, you belong to the other crowd—those who strive to keep their statistics a secret, fueled by embarrassment or shame. Playing “Boomerang” by Jojo Siwa ironically starts to feel a little too real when it’s your number one song of the year.
Spotify Wrapped takes the randomness and disarray of the listening experience and packages it into a neat, entertaining slideshow full of random facts drawn from your data.
As we roll into 2025, it’s crucial to that Spotify is always watching. Traditionally, Spotify collects data from Jan. 1 until the fall season of the same year, meaning the clock has already begun. I’m not exempt in this cultural phenomenon either and I’m slightly concerned that “Dancing Through Life” from Wicked might be my Top Song of 2025.
Not only does it expose your guilty pleasures to your peers, Spotify Wrapped can inspire intense competition. The campus cool kids who walk around constantly with headphones will secretly compare whether or not they have more minutes than those who post. Posers who walk around in Nirvana and Pearl Jam T-shirts will fight for their life before revealing Juice WRLD as their number one artist. The numbers don’t lie.
Spotify Wrapped can function in a strategic manner for interpersonal relationships as well as a way of using music to scope out compatibility with various new people in your life. I have a tendency to avoid those with Morgan Wallen as their top artist. No offence intended—I’m just not the girl you’d want if you’re looking for a date to Tumble Tuesday.
On a more serious note, Spotify Wrapped can also solidify a connection between fans and their favourite artists.
This year, my number one artist was Clairo. I’ve always deeply ired Clairo’s work, but having her as my top artist of the year made me reflect on the ways in which her music had ed me throughout the year and years prior. I know just the exact song of hers to do my makeup to before a night out, to sob to, to dance to, and more.
Having statistics about our listening habits can lead us to a new level of introspection about our musical and lyrical likes and dislikes. Going through the yearly playlists Spotify creates each year of our top 100 songs can show us our musical growth. It shows us how we express ourselves through different melodies and notes. It also reminds us how often we subconsciously rely on music to get us through depressing break-ups, hours of readings, raging parties, or to lull us to sleep.
On the flip side, Spotify Wrapped can serve as an unsettling reminder that our data is always being tracked and watched. Even our guilty pleasures, like the Hamilton soundtrack or the Glee covers. It’s odd to how much of our interests and pleasures can be traced through our phones and virtual footprints. Beyond solely our likes and dislikes, Spotify knows exactly when we pause our music to the exact brand of headphone we are using.
This slightly invasive level of surveillance begs the question of how much more Spotify can find out .
Let this serve as a reminder that even in the privacy of your own home, you’re not truly alone—Spotify is watching, ready to expose you at the first opportunity.
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