At this point, Spotify Wrapped Day might as well be declared a national holiday for anyone born after the year 2000.
Typically toward the end of November, Spotify releases individual “Wrapped” slideshows to each of its users, backed by the beats that served as their soundtrack for the past year. The app provides your most-listened-to songs and artists, your most popular genre, and some creative illustrations of your favorite ways to listen.
Spotify Wrapped Day is traditionally marked by peers sharing their listening habits on social media and comparing them to one another. Did their friend listen to “pov: indie” or “dark pop” more? Was “rap” or “electronic” at the top of their chart? Everyone gets a peek at each other’s lives that they’d otherwise be oblivious to: how they choose to paint their background of sound.
Music, for some, serves as a reflection of how they view themselves and the world around them. To others, it’s a piece of art. Songs offer short glimpses into who an artist is and what they choose to create; similarly, listeners choose that music because it embodies the sound they need at that time. Bad days are soothed by the cathartic melancholy of despairing lyrics, just as joy can be enhanced by the good vibes of groovy tunes.
Asking around the school, the students of Derry reported really enjoying music and using it as a source of comfort. Several students said that music served as an escape for them and has soothed them through rough patches.
“It’s always been there,” Trenton Marshall says. “Finding new artists, too, especially indie artists, is great; they’re able to express themselves more since they’re not as mainstream. I can better relate to them.”
Another student responded, “Not to sound like a hippie, but I genuinely love music, whether it’s listening or playing it myself. Personally, I think we all tend to listen to music that matches our mood. I genuinely think there isn’t a single person who doesn’t listen to music.”
Using music to describe parts of individual identity that can be difficult to put into words is a unifying occurrence. Donning concert t-shirts and humming choruses without even noticing, having a connection to bands and playlists is common. Just like the Marvel or Harry Potter fans of the world, finding relatability in bands fosters a sense of community and selfhood in people. Being able to connect to lyrics or chord progressions and feeling like artists and fellow listeners have felt the same way helps them understand their own lives a little better.
Art is in the eye of the beholder, and being able to listen to a million different types of music en masse allows people to customize what, when, and how they experience songs and creators. When Spotify Wrapped comes along, a culmination of all their year’s choices, it gives them a way to say, “Look, this is who I am. This is what I love.”
It allows them to showcase a part of their identity otherwise hidden by the privacy of earbuds, to tell the people around them what kind of art they like best.
In the same thread, sharing the music they enjoy also opens up a sense of vulnerability and the ability to be judged. Unconventional artists or strange songs posted to public stories give the opportunity for judgment. To fall outside of social norms invokes the chance that people will poke fun, but it also means that someone might slide up and say, “Hey, you like Will Wood too?”
Ultimately, Spotify Wrapped allows people across ages, countries, and cultures to share how they choose to spend a part of their year and what kind of art they like to surround themselves with. Spotify Wrapped Day allows everyone to share a little part of themselves with those around them and to know each other a little bit better.
