When Nov. 30 rolled around, I readied myself for the most important day of the year: The Spotify Wrapped was being released.
At least that’s what I thought. Instead, I was stuck waiting for an extra four days, meandering through life and growing less patient by the minute. Why was it taking so long? How long does it take to compile a list of analytics, it’s all AI now these days, isn’t it?
But just as I was starting to lose hope, I got to wake up on Dec. 4 and spend the next hour in bed analyzing not only my own Wrapped, but everyone else that posted on their Instagram story. Here’s how my year fared out.
Minutes Listened
Prediction: 93k minutes
Actual: 97k minutes
In my prediction article, I said that I wasn’t going to make it close to 100k minutes. Depending on how ‘close’ you’d call another 50 hours of listening time, I was closer to the number than I thought. In a way it’s not all too surprising, I’ve always been known for listening to music all the time. I have a feeling that next year my minutes are going to tank even more (you know, with a 9-5 job), so this is the last time I’ll see the minutes this high.
Most Listened-To Song
Prediction: “Slow It Down” by Benson Boone
Actual: “Slow It Down” by Benson Boone
Let’s be honest, I knew 200% this was going to be my top song. Ever since I heard it in May while riding in a driverless car, it’s stuck with me and has been listened to 400 times this year. The craziest thing is that I was expecting to have more that 400 streams on this song. I’m a serial song repeater, so I’ve likely listened to all my top songs more than 300 times. It was a closer race than I thought this year!
Top 5 Listened-To Songs
Prediction:
“Slow It Down” by Benson Boone
“Sharpest Tool” by Sabrina Carpenter
“Death Wish Love” by Benson Boone
“I Knew It, I Know You” by Gracie Abrams
“Country” by Racoma
Actual:
“Slow It Down” by Benson Boone
“One Bad Day” by Spacey Jane
“Anyone But You” by Still Woozy
“Salt and the Sea” by Gregory Alan Isakov
“I Knew It, I Know You” by Gracie Abrams
Speaking of a closer race, my top songs were the most wrong they’ve ever been. I was right on the first and fifth song, but the other three were songs that I completely left out of the running. I couldn’t believe that I had listened to “Salt and the Sea” so many times, considering it being such a long song. Along with that, I couldn’t even remember at what time of year that song was popular. With “Anyone But You,” I find that a bit embarrassing because it’s from a movie soundtrack, but I guess Still Woozy knows how to make good songs. While “One Bad Day” wasn’t in the running, I recognize that it should’ve been. I listened to that song nonstop last semester.
Top 5 Most Listened-To Artists
Prediction:
Gracie Abrams
Benson Boone
Noah Kahan
Palace
Sabrina Carpenter
Actual:
Gracie Abrams
Taylor Swift
Sabrina Carpenter
Noah Kahan
Glass Animals
Once again, I was completely taken out of left field with Taylor Swift and Glass Animals. Those are both artists that I love dearly, but I never thought I listened to them enough this year to make the cut. It’s one of those things where they never had a listening period in the year, but I always listened to them transiently throughout. As for Gracie Abrams, Sabrina Carpenter, and Noah Kahan, this was not surprising at all, I just wish I had gotten the order right. Overall, my music taste definitely represented the ‘average girl listener,’ but I’m fine with this—at least everyone else understands how good all this music is.
Top Genre:
Prediction: Pop, Indie Pop, Folk-Pop
Actual: ???
This was the first year that Spotify Wrapped didn’t feature your most listened-to genre. I have mixed feelings on this—on one hand, there were so many genres that were starting to meld together and it was difficult to know what fit where, but on the other hand I felt that was a crucial part to the Wrapped. I want to know about the music I listen to, that’s what this whole campaign is about, right?
My Music Evolution
April: Boujee Football Rap
May: Pink Pilates Princess Hollywood Pop
October: Pumpkin Spice Acoustic Pop Indie Folk
This was the new feature that was released this year, likely as a replacement of the top genre. It explores the different listening habits through the years, which was pretty interesting; however, I can’t help but wonder how customized this truly is. I’ve seen a lot of other Spotify Wrapped that have the same listening descriptions for the same months, so this doesn’t feel very curated to me. Maybe I just have a very basic listening taste—but if that’s the case, then I want Spotify to find something that makes me feel more special.
Conclusions
I love Spotify Wrapped and it’s still one of my favorite events of the year, but I can’t help but be slightly disappointed this year. I feel like they didn’t release anything out of the ordinary from past years, and the new yearly feature felt pretty lame to me. Along with that, other music companies like Apple Music and Amazon Music are releasing their own version of wrapped, which are now way more sophisticated than what Spotify has done. I want to know exactly how much I’ve listened to all my top songs, not just my number one. I want to see the other artists I’ve listened to, more than a top 5. I’m a pretty loyal customer of Spotify—I’m likely to never switch from them—but I hope to see more with Wrapped next year. Especially in the age of AI, this should be easier than ever.