Madison Long
Life Editor
Once December rolls around, most college students aren’t just anxious for winter break. Spotify sends a notification, and everyone in ten yards whips out their phones to check their annual Spotify Wrapped – the data collection showcase of your daily crashout and study music that you’ll skip through on at least ten different Instagram stories.
The music algorithm tracks your favorite songs, artists, and tastes, all culminating in a shareable story and, at the end, a playlist with your favorites. This year, the categories were minutes listened, listening age, listening club, and archive, and top songs, artists, albums, and genres.
“If my Spotify were a dating profile, the red flag would be all of the super sad songs or the amount of songs from the Living Tombstone,” says Abi Davis, a junior majoring in accounting.
According to Spotify, the average listener enjoys around 114 minutes of audio per day, which is a rough calculation of 36,252 minutes — tracked from January 1 to November 15, the projected timeline Spotify uses.
Personally, I was severely under, at 13,861 minutes. Davis averaged 25,581 minutes, while other students, Owen Ennis (44,349) and Scooter McLane (89,967), were above the mark.
All three had a variety of mixed artists – Davis listened to Peach Pit, Chloe Moriondo, and Conan Gray; Ennis went the Indie Pop route with some Malcom Todd, Taylor Swift, Lana Del Rey, Charli XCX, and Clario; McLane had mostly rappers with Tyler the Creator, Kanye West, Travis Scott, and Kendrick Lamar.
“I listen to music while I run, so it would be fun to see a category that tracked what song or songs I listened to while getting my best song,” says Ennis, a senior studying dietetics.
Some new categories this year included the personalized Listening Club. In addition to receiving a club, members also get a role to show how they listen to music, including specialist, scout, curator, archivist, and loyalist, among others.
Cloud State Society, where peace and house plants thrive. Grit Collective, the “Fight Club” of Spotify Wrapped. Club Serotonin is based solely on good vibes. Full Charge Crew: high energy, zero chill. Cosmic Stereo Club, the home for bean bag lovers and interstellar travelers. Soft Hearts Club, where tears and therapy are a must.
According to music education major Elan’i Gorostiza, Spotify Wrapped is not “biblically accurate,” as she thought her 71,738 minutes were too low. Other listeners also share this opinion, taste-wise, expressing their surprise and shame on Twitter and Instagram.
While Spotify does its best to represent an accurate version of your music taste with settings that have made it for parents to take out their child’s favorite song from consideration or to only count a song towards the wrapped statistics if it’s been listened to for at least 30 seconds, the wrapped statistics don’t take into account half of November and any of December. Background listening, Spotify’s DJ feature, or short songs might skew the numbers as well.
“I was really surprised about my top 5 songs, I don’t believe they were correct,” says McLane, “but I guess that goes to show that I definitely had a phase this year.”
Another new feature this year was the ability to compare your music taste with your friends’ through the “Wrapped Party” feature. Fun additional categories share your rarest listen – Charmaine Lowe beat our party with “Belly look in the mirror (Cousins)” from the “Summer I turned Pretty” soundtrack – the most and least compatible pair in your group, and a personalized award – I won the Forever Young award for listening to the most kids’ music.
If you’re looking for a new song to listen to while studying, consider some of these top favorites from McLane, Ennis, and Davis. If you’re into chill vibes, pick “Veridis Quo” by Daft Punk or Clairo’s “Charm” album. If you’re feeling into some more upbeat tunes, listen to Steve Lacy’s “Bad Habits” or “Silk Chiffon” by MUNA.
To finish out your Wrapped, listen to a special message from your top artist. Some take this a little more seriously, like Taylor Swift, who promoted her new docu-series on the Eras Tour. Others took the opportunity to roast their listeners.
“Somebody told me you have listened to ‘Wishbone’ more than anything else this year, and for that I have to say, I’m so sorry about the life-altering situationship that I’m just going to assume you’re still currently surviving,” says Conan Gray. “Sucks, glad I was here for you. Better luck next year.”
