Horoscopes, tarot cards, zodiac signs, psychics, and so on–humans will do anything to get a sense of who they are, and listen to anything that helps them understand who they are as a person. Whether you’re into the aforementioned astrological practices, I think it’s time to add Spotify Wrapped to the list. It seems the anticipation for the day the music streaming app releases a colorful and visually-appealing summary of your year in music grows more rapidly each year, but why is that? Could it be that we are putting more and more stock into what our Spotify Wrapped says about us, hoping they’ll give us insight into who we are?Â
Spotify Wrapped was launched in 2015, originally displayed on the app as the “year in music” feature until it was rebranded as the Spotify Wrapped we know and love in 2016. Attitudes towards Spotify Wrapped and specifically whether it should be shared on one’s social media has fluctuated over the years. There was a time when the decision to post your Spotify Wrapped was up for intense debate, with some considering it “cringe,” and others feeling it was the perfect opportunity to show off their superiority in obscure music listening. Both arguments hinged on the fact that your Spotify Wrapped unveiled something intimate about you, and that it was a legitimate decision about whether to reveal it or not. Thankfully (as someone who loves posting hers), it seems that the vitriol leveled at posting your Spotify Wrapped has subsided recently and society has decided that it’s actually ok to share the zany animations on your story. In 2024 especially, Spotify users have been itching to see their end-of-the-year summaries.
What is the obsession with Spotify Wrapped, and why does it seem like this year we need it more than ever? Spotify Wrapped is marketed perfectly from the time it is released to the air of secrecy around it. By being released around the holidays, Spotify Wrapped is almost like an early Christmas gift, and is slowly cementing itself as a true holiday time tradition. The secrecy and personalization of the feature also contributes to the frenzy. It feels like something made just for you (which I guess it is), and as I said, is becoming a looking glass into our souls. In season one of one of my favorite shows, The Wilds, one of the characters jokes about Spotify, revealing to her that although she thought she mostly listened to rap, she was actually an avid Pink fan. Music is a form of self-expression, and at the end of the day Spotify Wrapped is user data in a pretty package. However, in such a chaotic and tumultuous world, it can be nice to have cold, hard data help us with some self-reflection.