Image of 2024 Spotify Wrapped Via an Article on the Spotify Newsroom
As an annual summary of a listener’s use of Spotify’s platform, the Spotify Wrapped publication consists of features informing listeners of their top songs, top artists, and time spent listening among other varying attributes that change annually. Typically, listeners from far and wide tune in to see and share these statistics. This year, however, Spotify Wrapped was a real letdown for a large number of the platform’s patrons. Compared to the flashy and artistic theming of 2023, the lackluster 2024 Spotify Wrapped seemed like a major disappointment.
Image of 2023 Spotify Wrapped Via an Article on the Spotify Newsroom
Released on November 29, 2023, the 2023 Spotify Wrapped was objectively one of the best the company has released to date. It included what felt like a sea of unique animations mixed with creative ways of portraying statistics and information. The “Top Genre Sandwich” screen was a huge hit, and, overall, the theming felt
vintage-inspired with a modern twist, appealing to a wide demographic of listeners. Everything about this Spotify Wrapped release felt like it was perfectly designed for social media sharing, and shared it certainly was, as it seems to have been posted on a huge number of Instagram stories worldwide. An overall smash success, this release marked a monumental example of a Spotify Wrapped publication.
In contrast, however, the 2024 Spotify Wrapped left much to be desired. Anticipation was built for the release, as it is every year. However, come the usual release date there was nothing but radio silence. Social media and news publications lit up discussing the whereabouts of the 2024 Wrapped. It was speculated as being set to release on the 30th of November, following the late November trend set by last year and many years prior. Despite these speculations, Spotify continued to tease suggesting that the 2024 Wrapped would be soon released. But leaving patrons to continue to build excitement for an additional four days past the anticipated release date, it was not until December 4, 2024, that Spotify Wrapped released. With so much hype, especially considering the amazing release of last year, this release had huge shoes to fill.
Image of 2024 Spotify Wrapped Via an Article on the Spotify Newsroom
With such anticipation, the disappointment of patrons was palpable upon the release of a very plain and uninteresting format of Spotify Wrapped. Every slide was a plain white text over a black background. The slides had very little variation or creativity, seeming to all be different views or angles of the same geometric, monotone design. There were no unique depictions, there was no artistic styling, and there were no eye-catching animations. These features had been what frequent listeners like myself began to love and expect, they had been the reason behind so much of the anticipation surrounding this release, and yet they just seemed to fall so short of expectations.
Another interesting thing to note was the influx of listeners who seemed to feel that their Spotify Wrapped did not reflect their listening habits. Honestly, I would have to agree. It did not seem like my Top Artists were truthfully who I spent the most time listening to, and the songs I played on repeat barely even made my Top 5.
No information seems to have been released about the reasoning behind this stark contrast in comparability to a person’s listening habits. Since removing a lot of regular or unique new features, Spotify seems to have shifted to assigning titles to a listener’s “Music Evolution”. Titles such as “Pink Pilates Princess Strut Pop” and “Heatwave Beach Reggaeton” were examples included on the 2024 Spotify Wrapped Newsroom page. These titles seemed to be more of a random combination of words to a description or genre which is unfortunate. Spotify has previously included listener’s featured or main musical genres however this jumble of words seems to have replaced it.
Image Depicting the 2024 Spotify Wrapped Podcast Via an Article on the Spotify Newsroom
Another main complaint that has been prominently discussed among Spotify Wrapped enjoyers was the reliance on AI features not present in previous years. The uptick in AI use internet-wide is no new information, but many people were surprised to see Spotify so heavily incorporating AI features as opposed to truthfully improving the Spotify Wrapped itself. Instead of featuring the typical flashy artwork and styling, a primary focus of this year’s Wrapped was the AI Podcast. Most of these AI Podcasts seemed to fall around the three-and-a half to four-minute mark and included a short dialogue of banter between two AI hosts. The hosts discussed the listener’s top artists or songs and made small comments about the genres or styling. It was by no means a poorly done feature, it was well written, and the AI voices did not sound too robotic, however, it just still seemed to lack the pizzaz and stylistic approach previous years had so expertly built. AI does not replace the usual creative directive and artistic input that was previously portrayed through Spotify Wrapped. Additionally, since many of these features were podcasts or playlists, it lost its social media presence and shareability.
Image of 2023 Spotify Wrapped Via an Article on the Spotify Newsroom
Instead of including AI features, the previous 2023 Wrapped had maps locating where a person’s music taste was most common. It even had a feature that assigned them a character profile, dubbing them titles including Shapeshifter, Luminary, Vampire, or Alchemist, among others, based on their music taste. These more unique features made the experience feel more personalized, tailored, and fun, adding an almost interactive element that made people want to explore their Wrapped further. But in 2024, patrons were greeted by a black screen with some small geometric shapes and white text. These dark and bare screens contained brief information about songs and artists the listener enjoyed without any further intrigue or artistry.
Overall, many listeners felt this year’s Spotify Wrapped was more of a letdown than the initial hype had projected. Keen Spotify patrons may be a bit more apprehensive about buying into the flashy advertising and excitement circling next year’s Spotify Wrapped as the scuff-free reputation dwindles.