It's the 1st week of December, and music lovers have been waiting attentively for Spotify Wrapped to drop with all the latest info of their year in tune. Now it's here, I thought it would be a good time to provide a review of—well, a review.
(Although, if you're a stats.fm user, you'll know exactly what was in store).
Let’s dive into Spotify’s annual report, shall we?
Spotify Wrapped is back with its signature musical slideshow, giving users like me a fun little snapshot of our year in music. It’s packed with insights, showing how your listening habits have shifted, which songs stuck with you, and which artists defined your vibe. Of course, since Spotify loves to keep a user's favourite tracks on heavy rotation, you probably won’t be too surprised by what pops up.
My minutes were down this year by about 70%—it’s just been one of those years. My podcast mentioned this as a comparison, suggesting maybe there was a deeper reason behind the fall-off, so thanks a lot Spotify HQ.
Case in point: my top songs? Unsurprising. Anyone who knows me could have predicted this slide a mile off. (Maybe not Ariana Grande though!)
That being said, Spotify Wrapped 2024 isn’t just about stats—it’s also about giving a narrative behind the listening journey, which our old friend Spotify is usually pretty good at. It This year, however, it fell victim to the ever-growing trend of AI, and gave some pretty unique names for different phases, such as "Pink Pilates Princess Strut Pop" phase for March (don't ask) or “Rainy Gothic Days” era in October. As usual, these names were quick to be memed on social media. Either way, Wrapped is doing what it does best—getting people talking. Just last year, 66 million people shared their stats.
Spotify did unveil a new feature, however—an AI-made podcast to summarise your year-to-date. It came across as a bit lackluster, almost like ChatGPT regurgitating your Wrapped in a slightly different format. Here's what a few users had to say about it:
Last year, Spotify got creative with a feature called "Sound Town," where it matched your music taste to real-world places, which went down really well. It seems they've swapped this feature out for DJ: Wrapped, which originates from the release of an AI DJ in 2023. So much AI.
Fortunately, Wrapped 2024 did continue with the tradition of rewarding top listeners with a thank you from their favourite artists, one of my personal favourites being from Foreigner, who I was lucky enough to see live in 2022.
Overall, it's certainly not perfect, as some features miss the mark, and the reliance on AI can feel impersonal—but at its core, it is a reminder that even in a world of algorithms, our connection to music remains.
So, what does your Wrapped say about you this year? Did you also have a "Victorian Tavern Soundtrack" phase?
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