Behind the making of each Spotify Wrapped

Spotify Wrapped 2023 is upon us.

The annual data-driven listening recap for Spotify users, which began in 2013, has now become so popular that you can expect a plethora of social media posts this time of year containing the words “Drake” or “Taylor Swift” – and for other companies to piggyback on the concept like a toddler during playtime.

How Spotify Wrapped gets put together:

• The data: Most of the stats are based on time listened/aggregated stream counts. Other tidbits, like your “listening character” (s/o my other Shapeshifters) or “Sound Town” (Scottsdale, AZ, where you at??), are a combo of data and creative.
• The copy: Each Wrapped is interspersed with little phrases like “This year, you had layers like an onion. But you listened to music, unlike an onion.” Per Spotify’s Global Executive Creative Director Alex Bodman, a creative team starts putting this copy together six months in advance, and approval consists of: “Taj [the company’s global head of marketing] and I sitting in a room and if… we laugh out loud, it’s approved.”

Given its popularity, other companies have also jumped on the Wrapped train. Apple Music, Duolingo, Twitch, Hulu, and Reddit have all unveiled similar features (paywalled link).

But not everyone is on the social- media- sharing train. A recent poll of 1,000 Spotify users found that 7 in 10 are too embarrassed to share their Wrapped. And, given how personal music choices (and other people’s interpretations of them) can be, who can blame ‘em.