The dust has settled on Spotify Wrapped, the social posts have become “today’s news is tomorrow’s fish and chip wrappers”. For those not aware of that saying, here in the UK, your takeaway fish and chips was once wrapped in an old newspaper, not anymore. This created the saying that “today’s news is tomorrow’s chip paper”, meaning that what seems relevant today is not important tomorrow. Who remembers what was listed on peoples wrapped posts last week?
Here is mine, was I surprised? NO, but I also have it running at home, so it is a shared wrap.
I was sat recently having a drink in a bar before a gig and heard people discussing their wraps and questioning the results, “they can’t be right” and “I haven’t listened to that as much as other bands”, those comment or close to were very apparent which got me thinking. I personally was curious of my wrap but no more than a passing curiosity, but my first thought was not to rush to social media and share, although that was the point of it. It’s interesting how much it matters to people, how much it effects social status, how much it screams social validation.
Cosmopolitan – How Spotify Wrapped became the ultimate status symbol
Can you hear that? That faint jingling that’s getting louder and louder? Nope, it’s not Santa approaching on his sleigh – but rather the sound of a deluge of Spotify Wrapped posts that are about to dominate your social feeds. Which, for me, truly is the most wonderful time of the year!
https://www.cosmopolitan.com/uk/entertainment/a63089815/spotify-wrapped-status-symbol
Is it the most wonderful time of the year? Great music is great every day of the year and daily listening should still be a personal thing even in a world of social acceptance and peer pressure, to need validation from a wrap is bizarre?
The Guardian – Spotify Wrapped is creepy, meaningless – and shows just how much data big tech has on you
“The annual summary of your listening habits has become a phenomenon – but marketing wheeze aside, Wrapped doesn’t reflect what we truly love.”
“It’s a triumphant exercise in underlining the platform’s dominance in its field – this year, it arrives with the slogan Wrapped Or It Didn’t Happen, as if music consumed via Spotify is the only music that matters – and indeed in getting free advertising by encouraging users to share on social media.”
Creepy and meaningless? That is the other side of the coin, looking at it from a big tech perspective knows all about you angle, yes, but singles charts, album charts along with other metrics have always tracked consumer behaviour so that is nothing new and realistically they don’t want your name and address they just want your basic social demographic.
The Music.com – ‘Can I Change My Spotify Wrapped?’ – How To Avoid Embarrassing Year-End Results
“With the arrival of Spotify Wrapped seeming imminent, we’re looking at whether your stats are permanent, and what you can do to be match-fit for 2025.”
“While listeners the world over might be feeling rather confident that their Wrapped results are going to assert them as enterprising listeners who are enjoying nothing but only the coolest music out there, the chances are close to perfect that there’s bound to be a few embarrassing surprises making the rounds on socials.”
https://themusic.com.au/features/can-i-change-my-spotify-wrapped/VobkSEtKTUw/04-12-24
This was an interesting read, PANIC! I can’t share this! how do I change it? Imaging living in a world where you let your day-to-day listening be dictated by the response to your future wrapped outcome, no thanks! I delve down occasional odd rabbit holes of music based on something I heard that I managed to Shazam and explored further, that is what loving music is all about, not that you cannot listen to something in case it reflects badly on you, you shouldn’t care. That was school when you were 11 years old, and even then, it didn’t matter, we just didn’t know that at the time.
