There are many big events during the year for people to look forward to. These events often represent the end of a year-long journey as a result of months of hard work and often spark widespread excitement. Sports fans look forward to the Superbowl, movie fanatics have the Oscars, and there are countless other events to look forward to during the year, but for music fans, the biggest day of the year is the day Spotify Wrapped is released.
Spotify uses an algorithm to put together listeners’ top songs, artists, and other musical favorites as a result of a year of listening. These Wrapped lists are then communicated to listeners via their app sometimes at the end of Nov. or the beginning of Dec. and are available to any Spotify subscribers. This year they were released on Wed., Dec. 4, 2024.
In a survey answered by 16 OH students, 100% of respondents said that they look forward to their Spotify Wrapped every year.
The shock over results varies from listener to listener. Some people can predict their results to a tee, but others are more surprised.
“I think I do a pretty good job at predicting. Last year, I had Big Thief, The Backseat Lovers, and Fiona Apple in my top three and I still never shut up about those artists,” said senior Abby Geers, “this is the first year I think I’ve been stuck on what it will feature.”
Respondents to the survey also agreed on the varying predictability of Spotify Wrapped. In fact, 75.1% of them said that they are usually either partially or fully surprised with their results at the end of the year.
The information from Wrapped, surprising or not, is welcomed by students. It can give them new information about their listening habits that they may not have known.
“I like it because you can see which artist is your top one, it’s just nice to know, and it’s fun,” said junior Michelle Peralta.
There are also other apps where students can get their listening feedback year-round on a much more regular daily or monthly basis. Students will use sites and apps like Reciptify or stats.fm to look at what their top artists and songs may be at the time. But nothing is quite as all-encompassing as Spotify’s yearly recap.
Among its positive consequences, a seemingly common concern about the impact of Wrapped involves its accuracy and how that affects listeners’ activity. For many people, Wrapped is a way to share with people the epitome of their music taste, so when the results are surprising or reflective of a time when they may have liked the music they no longer listen to it makes people less likely to share.
Since people may worry about what will show up on their recap at the end of the year, they may purposefully listen to different music to make it more appealing to themselves or others, but this is also not always the case.
In regard to Wrapped affecting listening activity, 81.3% of respondents to the student survey said that Spotify Wrapped does affect how they listen throughout the year, but only 12.5% of those who said “Yes” said that they would restrict certain music as a result. So, even if the recap does make students more aware of what they are listening to it does not make it any less authentic.
Spotify Wrapped is an opportunity for everyone to look back on their music taste at the end of the year and offer a window into people’s personalities.
“It’s fun to reflect what you’ve been listening to all year. Music can play such an important role in your personality, [so] it’s exciting to see it all wrapped up into a playlist,” said Geers.
I am a senior at OH and so excited to be a Managing and Opinions Section Editor this year! I love working on 42Fifty, but I am also very involved in band and numerous honor societies here. Looking forward to doing great work this year!
I love to read and write poetry, I'm a first year reporter in 11th grade. You can contact me by emailing 42Fifty@sd308.org and putting my name in the subject line. We welcome comments on our articles and feedback on our publication!
