Last week, we entered the last month of the year. It is a month to reflect, get together, and share presents, stories, and experiences. December is known for the three S’es which are a traditional part of the 12th month.
I will let you think…
You probably already guessed two of them: Sinterklaas (here in the Netherlands) and Santa Claus.
You might have guessed the third one already, too: Spotify Wrapped.
Every year, Instagram is divided into two camps: those who love seeing other’s Wrap Ups, and those who dislike them a lot and shout about how much no one cares from their online rooftops. (I will not start the discussion about how telling others that it is not something anyone cares about, actually makes it very clear everyone cares about it, but some in a negative way and others in a positive.)
I belong to the first group. I love seeing the Wrap Ups from others and I also enjoy looking into mine. Personally, I think the music I listened to that year says so much about how I experienced that year: what hyped me up on one hand and got me through it on another. For me, I think music says so much about us, about our feelings and character. It is a way of showing your true colors. Since I like seeing other’s Wrap Ups, I also share mine. To make the metaphor of ‘showing your true colors’ more concrete: out of the color options for the layout that Spotify gives you (orange, purple, yellow, green, dark purple, and black), I chose orange :-).
The very last slide of the Wrapped Up on Spotify gives you the option to share a summary of your Wrapped, including the number of minutes you listened to music on Spotify, the Top 5 artists you listened to, and the Top 5 songs you listened to that year.
To me, Spotify seemed like the most real social medium (I consider Spotify a social medium since you can add friends and see what your friends listen to, also in real-time), since I listen to what I like and want to hear at that moment. But then, a friend of mine told me about this friend she spoke to who turns on ‘Private Session’ on a regular basis when she listens to music other people might find awful or ‘not cool’. I never thought about doing this, even though I do know this function exists. It made me wonder about how real this social medium actually is, as I find it hard to make a guess about how many people use this function on a regular basis. If that is the case, Spotify Wrapped is everything but a realistic representation of the music someone enjoys listening to (and getting to know someone better via the music that appears in their Spotify Wrapped becomes hard, if not undoable).
It made me wonder: how many of you knew this function called ‘Private Session’ (which means that Spotify does not register what you listen to during this session and won’t include the music you listen to during that session in your Wrapped) and how many of you use it regularly?
Thank you for sharing!
I generally enjoy my guilty pleasures and prioritize the effect music has on my spirit over societal norms. While discovering Spotify’s ‘Private Session’ does intrigue me the notion that users can hide their history adds complexity and highlights the tension between authenticity and conforming to societal expectations.
Despite this feature, I probably wouldn’t share my Spotify Wrapped because I wouldn’t see a huge benefit. After all I consume music in solitude because the Online experience of sharing music doesn’t compare to the Offline experience.
Furthermore, by simply accepting my musical taste, including guilty pleasures I have learned to not care about others’ opinions. Nonetheless, I too would moderate my choices and adapt to group dynamics in certain Offline situations. Just not on social media.
Thank you for the post!!
I very much enjoy Spotify’s Wrapped-up and I also consider it in a sense a summary of the year. It brings me back to feelings and the obsessions on music pieces that accompanied me through the year.
I have never been aware of a function like ‘Private session’. I am not sure how I feel about it. While listening to our music we should fully enjoy it, without the fear of our friends’ reaction to what we listen to. The element of concern about what others will think about us that comes with yearly Wrapp, as well as Spotify’s place in our every day social routine (like sharing music we like with our friends) makes Spotify not only music platform but as you mentioned social media as well.
I think it’s very interesting and this is a crucial strategy why Spotify is so popular right now.
However, I think it is important to remember information that we won’t find in our wrapped, namely the fact that although Spotify is such a huge, popular platform its maximum payment for a stream is $0,003 and in 2024, Spotify will stop paying anything at all for 2/3 of the tracks on the platform, and the reason Spotify gets away with this is that there is no regulation on streaming.
Personally I wasn’t aware of this ‘Private Session’ function. I use Spotify to listen to music, that’s it. In my social circle it is not common to look at someone’s musical actions on Spotify, which lets listening to music remain a private matter. Music can be played in so many moments, both personal and social, that I wouldn’t feel comfortable having people seeing/judging what I listen to on a daily basis. But in a different way, it can also be a lot of fun to share your musical interests with your friends and see what you have in common and recommend things to each other.
But as you mention, Spotify Wrapped has a significant impact on how this musical experience is perceived. This time a year, if you feel like sharing your Wrapped, your yearly musical data is on display for people to judge. For me, music is too personal to share this with people other than my inner circle. That’s why I always choose not to post my Wrapped on any social medium and to share my musical interests when I want to and in the amount I feel comfortable with.
This is very interesting as I have never really looked at something like this in such a way, i really only have 1 playlist which i just keep adding to when i want and just keep listening. I do suppose it is a more faithful way of showing ones true colors as to make a fake result would take a lot of effort and time. I’m sure everyone has musician they’re a little embarrassed to admit they listen to but im sure as long you aren’t listening to an actual nazi podcast 24/7 people will just think you’re funny for listening to that band or singer
I get excited on the Spotify Wrapped day and I loove seeing my friends share their wrapped stats. I think of it as a fun and different way to connect to each other. While, yes, I can add people on Spotify and see what they are listening to in real-time (only on computer, though), I only have some of my friends added there, and therefore it is fun to see people share their stats on Instagram. It is a way to get a glimpse into someone and a way to discover new artists and songs, and honestly it is just fun to see how all the music, I have listened to in a year, can be put into measurements.
Your post made me think of the different ways we listen to music and what that means for each of us. For example, some might avoid being perceived and enable “private session” to hide their guilty pleasure songs, while some do not care. In that case, it does seem like the wrapped stats are anything but an accurate representation of ones music taste. On the other hand, I know people where the opposite is true. They work in the music industry and thus are immersed in different genres of music every day, and their stats usually come out rather diverse and not entirely representative of what truly their favourite songs and artists are. So, I suppose it could go both ways. Nonetheless, this was an interesting post and it made me reflect on the different ways we listen and perceive music (music data).
Im also on the side that really enjoys this time of year and being able to see what my friends have been listening to, how long they have and most importantly, how their wrapped differs from my own, I love being able to see the individuality of the people around me and how everyone has different top artists, songs and genres that they enjoy. Great post, I like seeing someone who actually explains why people like seeing others’ wrapped instead of screaming that nobody cares.
Personally, I prefer keeping my wrapped to myself, but not because I am scared of my followers’ judgements. It is because I share my account with my brother. So, my wrapped is not completely mine. That is why I never took wrapped that seriously and I feel like it still cannot catch certain nuances of someone’s music taste. I enjoy seeing what other people are listening but I still hide my music activity under private session.
The app allows you to share so of course I shared it for a while. Then people started bringing up the songs I listened to without me telling them purely based on that feature. This felt a little weird for me, because even though I am not ashamed of my music taste I still would like some privacy. I do not think it is being “fake” or “reserved”, some people are comfortable having their photos public, that also does not make people who have their accounts private less “real”.