The highly anticipated Spotify Wrapped season is back, offering users a chance to reflect on their music consumption over the past year and share their listening trends with friends on social media. Launched this Wednesday, Spotify’s annual personalized end-of-year streaming data has also sparked a wave of posts from users revealing their top tracks and artists of 2024.
This year, Spotify introduced an exciting new feature called “music evolution,” which enables users to track how their musical preferences have shifted throughout the year. Similar to the previous feature, “daylist,” it provides users with personalized insights that outline their distinct musical tastes during various phases. Additionally, users can discover their longest listening streaks for favorite artists, adding a unique touch to their Wrapped experience.
A trend noted among users is the celebration of their “pink pilates princess” phase, a term coined to describe a music preference that resonates particularly within the LGBTQ+ community. This playful nomenclature adds a fun dimension to personal listening habits.
In another innovative move, Spotify launched a personal AI-generated podcast that summarizes users’ listening habits. This podcast utilizes Google’s Notebook LM technology, which has gained popularity for crafting engaging summary podcasts that mimic real human hosts based on individual listening histories.
While many users enthusiastically welcomed these new features, some expressed disappointment, calling for a return of last year’s “sound towns,” which paired users with cities reflecting their music tastes. This a reminder that while innovation is celebrated, nostalgia for past features persists in the user community.
Spotify also shared its list of the most-streamed global artists, podcasts, and authors of the year. Notably, Taylor Swift claimed the top artist position with an impressive haul of over 26.6 billion streams, thanks to her successful Eras Tour and her latest album, “The Tortured Poets Department.” The Weeknd and Bad Bunny followed in second and third place, respectively, while Drake, despite controversies surrounding him, maintained his standing as the fourth most-streamed artist. Billie Eilish completed the list in fifth place.
In terms of song popularity, the most-streamed global track was Sabrina Carpenter’s “Espresso,” achieving over 1.6 billion streams. Meanwhile, the contentious track “Not Like Us” by Kendrick Lamar, which has incited debates around streaming metrics, claimed the second spot in the U.S. with nearly 928 million streams.
The podcast realm saw familiar heavyweights dominating the charts, including “The Joe Rogan Experience,” “Call Her Daddy” by Alex Cooper, and “This Past Weekend with Theo Von.” Each host made headlines for interviewing prominent political figures, highlighting the intersection of entertainment and current events.
Additionally, Spotify released its inaugural global audiobooks list, following its introduction of 15 free hours of audiobook content for Premium subscribers last year. Author Sarah J. Maas prominently featured on the list, taking the top and third spots with her titles “A Court of Thorns and Roses” and its sequel, “A Court of Mist and Fury,” respectively.
Overall, Spotify Wrapped continues to be a yearly highlight for music lovers, facilitating both reflection and connection in a time where shared experiences can create community. As users dive into their music habits, there’s hope that these innovative features will enhance the platform’s engagement and bring even more joy to its audiences.