Wrapped time of the year

MC #42

Hi there,

This Monday, when I was reading the latest issue of

On Repeat by Kevin Alexander

, the idea for today’s post popped into my mind. I realized I’ve never said anything about Spotify Wrapped (SW) in here. So I thought to myself "why won’t I do it this year?"…

I like the idea of Wrapped. It’s fun to go through one big yearly playlist, that contains mainly these songs, that you’ve been listening to on repeat for days. Also, I'm impressed by how SW evolves visually year-to-year. Sliding through these beautifully designed, bite-sized, and highly personalized stories is very satisfying, even though the results are often slightly off.

What is quite sad, each year, more and more people are stressing about how their Wrapped would look in comparison to others. Something that is supposed to be purely entertaining and chill is causing people anxious, experiencing FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out), or feeling excluded (non-Spotify users).

It’s worth having in mind that the Spotify algorithm doesn't really paint a whole picture of a listener's taste. It doesn’t show what you choose to listen to on the radio when you're on a different streaming platform, or offline and what you pick from your physical music collection (CDs, vinyl), etc.

I think of SW as an interesting in-app story experience that shows some of your listening habits. It’s always nicely packed and fun to go through with friends.

https://www.spotify.com/us/wrapped/

I'm not very surprised by my Wrapped results, but there were some unforeseen algorithm’s picks. I’m about to show them to you, so if you want to skip reading, here’s my Spotify Wrapped playlist:

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I can fully agree with Spotify’s statement that my top song this year is "Lovelee Dae - Radio Edit" by Blaze. It appeared one day on my YouTube suggestions list, and just clicked with me so much that for months I’ve been starting most of my mornings with it. Inspired by this track I made a whole Lovelee Dae playlist, that’s full of similar danceable, and cheerful vibes. If you wish, give it a listen or/and save it for later - it’s being updated from time to time.

According to Spotify's algorithm, my top artists were:

1. Jungle - Both singles, "GOOD TIMES" and "PROBLEMS", that came out this year, are exceptional 🔥 They reminded me of my love for Jungle’s other songs, like "Happy Man" and "Busy Earnin’"

2. Labrinth - I really enjoyed the second season of "Euphoria" and its soundtrack… in fact, I loved them so much that I made a whole properly sorted Euphoria 2 playlist

3. The Black Keys - "Dropout Boogie" album that they released this year is truly great (btw my personal fave is still "Chulachoma" from 2006)

4. Blaze - what can I say, "Lovelee Dae" just conquered my heart 💗 Given the crazy amount of times I’ve been choosing this song to start my day with, I’m surprised it’s not higher on this list

5. Daniel Spaleniak - don’t get me wrong, I love this guy, but I think I haven’t been listening to him that much this year and was surprised to see him on this list

That part was nice, but what I especially enjoyed this year was "Your Artists Messages" section. That felt truly special to watch these short messages of appreciation from some of my fave musicians, like Da Vosk Docta, NEIL FRANCES, or Myd. Let me know which artists you had, or if you have this section in your Wrapped at all. Supposedly, not everyone is so fortunate to have a chance to see such a thing.

"Listening Personality" is the newest addition to Wrapped stories. Personally, I’m not a fan of horoscopes, and personality quizzes, but for sure it was a brilliant idea. Zodiacs, this whole astrology cult and personality types (16 Personalities, Adobe Creative Types) are still hot topics, huge attention grabbers, and true goldmines.

According to Spotify, I’m closing the year with over 70 music genres discovered, which makes me "The Adventurer" type, a seeker of sound. Well… that’s accurate 😜 My result is a nice reaffirmation for me. But I have mixed feelings about this SW section in general. I’ve seen on Twitter, that lots of people are ashamed to be recognized as "basic", or not cool enough by the algorithm. It seems wrong.

Source: nbcnews.com

Ok, so let me finally ask you this obvious question: What was your no 1 song in 2022?

Lastly, I think it’s also worth mentioning, that Spotify is only one of many music streaming services, and how important it is to support artists directly by going to their concerts, and buying their CDs, vinyl, and digital music files directly on sites like Bandcamp.

And that’s all for today, Friends.

Wishing you a great rest of the week!

Yours,

Stygi

P.S. If you haven’t already tried it, you can also play with the Instafest app made by Anshay Saboo, a student from the University of Southern California. Her app uses data from your Spotify account to create a lineup for an imaginary music festival, based on what you’ve listened to in a chosen period of time. Down below you can see mine. Would you come to stygi_stajgarfest? 😅