Spotify Wrapped through the years
By Hadley Cress ‘27
Photo of 2023 Spotify Wrapped
Photo by Deniz Avci.
Catlin Gabel School (CGS) is a small school and yet there is still a wide diversity of music throughout the community.
Violet Bouwes-van Nood is a CGS senior who mostly listens to more “mainstream” music like Taylor Swift, Sabrina Carpenter, and Kanye West. However, over the years her music taste has changed. In middle school, she listened to a lot of boy bands before shifting to “bands no one had heard of” sophomore year.
Bouwes-van Nood listens to music on Apple Music which offers a play on Spotify's “Spotify Wrapped”. She often listens to music when she goes for walks or when driving. For her, music is more of an individual activity than a social one.
Senior Amare Kaainoa listens to a lot of different kinds of music, right now her top artist is Lauren Hill. She gets her music taste from many different people, such as her friends, one of whom introduced her to European Scandinavian folk music, and her dad who listened to a lot of 70s rock.
For her, she views music as a social activity and enjoys listening to music with friends. Kaainoa incorporates music into her life in many ways, one of which is working at a music store.
Both of these students have listened to different music over the years, which has been compiled into wraps. So how does Spotify do it and how has it evolved over the years?
The first variation of Spotify Wrapped was created in 2013 and called “Year in Review”. It wasn’t the official Spotify Wrapped until 2016. Since then, Spotify Wrapped has evolved over the years, incorporating new components to keep it fresh.
In 2017 Wrapped, Spotify added new features such as top genre, top 5 artists, number of minutes listened, and a playlist of top songs. In 2018, along with the information from previous years, Spotify made a display that was more colorful and in an easier-to-share format that was intended to be put on social media.
When Spotify Wrapped added this easy way to share one’s results on social media in 2018 it brought more attention to the program because of all the media attention it would receive. Nearly 60 million Spotify Wraps were shared on social media in 2021.
2019 was the year the Spotify Wrapped feature was finally added to the app. It was previously only available through the website.
“Each year they … add a new … piece of information that they give you which is cool,” said Kaainoa.
In 2022, artists recorded videos for their top listeners, thanking them for supporting them.
Spotify Wrapped has been around for 8 years and yet, by adding new components annually, it retains its novelty and provides exciting content to look forward to.
In an interview, Kaainoa said she had used Spotify since around 2012, but Spotify Wrapped still feels new to her.
To make Spotify Wrapped, Spotify collects data over the year until a few weeks before its release on the first week of December.
For songs to count towards their top songs, they have to be played for at least 30 seconds. To figure out someone's top songs, data is collected on how many times they listen to them. Top podcasts are based on how many different people listen to them.
To create a CGS Wrapped, a survey was done. It included top artists, the total number of minutes listened to, and the top genre.
The CGS community is full of music lovers. The school isn’t big but there is no shortage of diversity in music tastes. As 2023 ends, look back on your music, see how it’s changed, and compare it to the overall CGS Wrapped.