As the year ends, many of us like to look back on the previous year. Something that has taken advantage of that is Spotify Wrapped. Launched in 2016, Spotify Wrapped has continued to grow in popularity and notoriety. Personally, since 2021, I have looked forward to December when my music data is made into a cool animation. As this year's Wrapped did not lead up to the expectation of the years prior, I am interested to note other platforms who took inspiration from rapped and how its data influences people.

Around the time of 2019-2020, many services made their own versions of Wrapped. Many services did not take on to the wrapped format until 2021-2022. All of these recap systems take the data from the previous year and summarize it into something that is enjoyable for the user. Services like Spotify, only take data until the end of October or the start of November. They then put out the recap at the end of November or start of December. As a result, the months toward the end of the year are not included in the Wrapped. In comparison to Apple, which have their recaps year-round, Wrapped falls behind when it comes to having a conclusive understanding of your data year-round All these services show your top five artists, top five songs, and the complete listening time of your top artist and overall listen time. 

This year, Spotify Wrapped was disappointing compared to the previous years. Many features from years prior have been lost. Features such as the top five genres and special concepts like where in the world people listen to music like you were lost. Something that was added this year was an AI categorization of the biggest changes in your music taste in certain months. These changes were not liked by the community. It felt like a downgrade from years prior and felt like less effort was put in. Something else that people noticed was strange in their Wrapped where the top rankings were not what they truthfully listened to the most. This is similar to the case in 2018 where many people complained about the results of the wrap. Citing the issue of some songs or artists being boosted in their rankings. Making artists and songs that were not listened to as much jumping to become part of the rankings.

Spotify, being a giant in the music streaming industry, adds to how popular Wrapped is. With the large reach of the Wrapped it affects peoples listening habits. It makes it easy to compare your results to others, changing how you would truthfully be listening to music. In my case I sometimes would play one of my favorite artists on mute to have a higher listening time and have them in the spot as my top artist. 

Some users find this information to be fun and interesting, while others find it to be embarrassing. Using this information though it can make it easier to find people who listen to music you do and build a community. With the population of people who post their Spotify Wrapped, there is bound to be someone you know who listens to music like you. Leading to more connections to be formed and better knowledge in one area of someone's life. 

All of this information lets you seek validation in the music you listen to. It makes you feel good about how much time you listen to your favorite artist. Getting to see how high of a percentage you are as a fan only ups that feeling. Spotify Wrapped has taken a place in society where every December expect an onslaught of Spotify Wrapped content. So as you drink a cup of hot cocoa, scrolling through the ranking of your friends reflect on how this event became a tradition.