Spotify unwrapped | Graphic by Rose Taylor | The Wright State Guardian
Spotify Wrapped has become a beloved annual tradition, giving millions of users a personalized glimpse into their year in music. However, this year’s edition has left many fans feeling underwhelmed—marking a rare misstep for the music streaming giant.
What is Spotify Wrapped?
Spotify Wrapped had its first active year back in 2015, making this the 10th year of wrapped. The app keeps track of all a user’s data, including their top artists, top songs, amount of time spent listening and more.
At the end of each year, usually around the beginning of December, the app will release this information to each user in a personalized slideshow.
Marc Hazan, the Vice President of partnerships and marketing at Spotify spoke on the development of the experience.
“Spotify Wrapped has become deeply ingrained in the lives of music fans worldwide. What started as a look back at the music and audio that defined the year has become a global cultural phenomenon in its own right,” Hazan said.
Public opinions
Spotify Wrapped is an event that millions of people have come to look forward to each year. However, many people were not happy with the wrapped this year.
In past years, there have been people changing the designs, transitions and finer details of the slideshow. However, this year the slideshows were created by AI.
By taking away the personal touch, these slideshows fell flat, leaving many users disappointed. In addition to this, there were many categories included in years past that were not included this year.
Chris Syeh, a Spotify user, shared why he was not happy with the slideshow this year.
“There are too many pages and not enough information. If you’re going to make that many pages to tap through, make sure the information is interesting and relevant, not just a waste of time,” Syeh said.
With the inclusion of AI in this year’s Spotify Wrapped, the transition from page to page was not nearly as smooth as it was in past years. More time was spent waiting for the AI videos to finish than reading actual data.
Conner Townsend, another Spotify user, shared what he would like to see differently from Spotify Wrapped in future years.
“I would like it if it came out sooner, like it used to. Also, I think it would be better if it was more personally created with more in depth information about my listening. I don’t like the AI,” Townsend said.
Overall, most people were underwhelmed by Spotify Wrapped, especially after all the advertisements and teasers from the app beforehand. Fans are hoping for better in 2025.
