Spotify Wrapped Elicits Self-Reflection
I have an ETLU Spotify Wrapped personality – how about you?
The familiar frenzy of Spotify Wrapped clogs up everyone’s Instagram feed when December rolls around. And though people complain about it, the feature itself prompts an unexpected opportunity for both introspection and discovery.
Throughout the year, people naturally forget that their music streams will be collected, analyzed and assessed for final judgment. And it seems to be a shared experience among listeners to be shocked or confused at the results of their Wrapped playlist – or just a flat out denial that someone could have listened to the Jonas Brothers that often.
“Speaking from experience, it just makes you question what you were doing all year if Yung Gravy was in your top 5 songs,” junior Apple Music user Annika Sodergren said.
Nonetheless, embarrassment can inspire our audial growth. If Spotify Wrapped is viewed from a perspective of self-reflection, it is a valuable feature to understand the self and grasp a greater appreciation for the arts.
PhD Mental Health Clinician Shainna Ali urges individuals to use Spotify Wrapped as a tool to reflect on mental wellness. She writes how people “may often overlook opportunities to use music, or features such as Spotify Wrapped, to benefit their mental health.”
Offering different prompts, Ali poses questions of how one can identify if their most listened to podcasts align with their goals and interests, or how top tracks can be associated with new experiences, mental wellness and life changes throughout the year.
“My music taste varies by the situation I am in. Specifically, I find that in the fall I am usually in new situations and meeting new people, which means new music,” said junior KSCU DJ Maggie Kiechler. “It is super cool to think about when I first heard the song and the memories from the year I associate it with.”
Thus, Spotify Wrapped becomes a tool for self-analysis and a mechanism by which users can see their evolving music taste throughout the year and compare it to previous years.
Spotify Wrapped also identifies users’ music tastes and categorizes it. This feature allows users to easily discover more artists from their favorite genres or rediscover old songs. Consequently, this develops a user's preferences and exposes them to new forms of music and reminds them of their past favorites.
“I find that if I had not listened to a song or artist on my [Spotify] Wrapped for a long time, it feels really nostalgic hearing it again which I really appreciate,” Kiechler said.
It’s more than just a collection of favorite songs, artists and albums – it’s a way to learn more about yourself, reflect on your experiences and changes over the past year and explore new sounds that can make it onto your 2023 Spotify Wrapped playlist.