Anticipation fills the room as news of the release spreads. Friends rejoice in shared top artists and hit songs. Personalized creator messages are sent out to loyal fans from artists. Years are characterized by their music choices.

Spotify Wrapped is a summarization of the listening habits of users who use the app Spotify throughout the year. It can be accessed directly on the homepage or in the top menu annually in early December or late November depending on the year. It includes categories such as minutes listened and amount of genres sampled, as well as top artists.

This year’s graphics and overall design took inspiration from early internet aesthetics and the chaotic nature of the human experience blending more with online elements through sharp angled patterns. It created a very pleasing arrangement with bright pops of color and pixelated shapes which contrast last year’s kaleidoscope designs.

It definitely catches one’s eyes with the bold flashy shapes, but it does feel like the theme potentially got lost in trying to maintain the aesthetic. It would have felt more consistent to see more early 2000s elements put into the overall design.

However, an issue commonly faced is one for those who do not have a subscription to Spotify Premium. Because of this, songs are often shuffled with other similar, popular songs that one does not add. This may skew a user’s Spotify Wrapped information and provide results that the user may not necessarily enjoy, or be accurate.

So, while Spotify Wrapped is technically free, the results face serious inaccuracies due to not having Spotify’s premium service. If the data did not include songs not directly chosen by the user, it would be easier to see what one’s true rankings are.

A new feature included in this year’s Spotify Wrapped is the “sound town” which matches listening habits to an area where those artists are most prevalently listened to. This addition seems to unite listeners in all areas with a central “hometown” providing a sense of community for people with similar music tastes.

These areas span worldwide, connecting these shared tastes across continents with more than 1,300 possible towns to match with. This provides an opportunity for Spotify users to discover new places they might want to travel to for the new year.

Overall, the 2023 Spotify Wrapped supplied an opportunity for users to unify and discover their year’s listening habits. This event is always exciting to look forward to, and it is an excellently timed end–of–year reflection.