Many people take pride in the music they listen to, which is why the anticipation of Spotify Wrapped (or Apple Music Replay, if you’re an Apple Music user) is so high. Ever since its debut in 2015, it has remained an undying trend. Spotify Wrapped occurs annually and consists of a personalized summary of the top music you listened to that year, including categories such as top artists, songs, albums, and playlists.

This year’s Wrapped included some never seen before aspects to keep the idea new and alive. Some of these new additions include people receiving pre-recorded messages from their top artists like Taylor Swift, Bad Bunny, Dolly Parton, and SZA. A new method to group people’s listening habits was also implemented. These groups are dispersed into categories such as “vampire” (a person who listens to darker music later at night) and “shapeshifter” (a person who jumps from one artist to another quickly).

As noted in a recent article in Wired, other music listeners who use different platforms, like Apple Music, may be finding themselves left out and even jealous of Spotify’s unique features. Although Apple Music has their own copycat version of Spotify Wrapped called Apple Music Replay that released in 2019, some feel it doesn’t include the distinctive features that keep Spotify users coming back for more.

FCHS junior Jessie Dillon reveals that she too has what some refer to as “FoMO” (fear of losing out) due to Spotify. “I wish I was a Spotify user, especially this time of year when Wrapped comes out. It just seems so much more fun, but my parents have an Apple Music family plan, so I’m kind of just stuck with it,” she said.

Along with Spotify’s unique features, users can now share their Wrap on their social media pages, something which is giving Spotify even more exposure and increasing its popularity. Even some artists, such as Ice Spice, Noah Kahan, and Gracie Abrams, are sharing their Wrap results on their socials.

FCHS junior Megan Rougie shared the results of her Spotify Wrapped. “My top artist was Taylor Swift; no surprise there [since] I went to the Eras Tour in June. My top song was “Tolerate It” by Taylor Swift and I think my top album was “Red (Taylor’s Version)” by Taylor Swift. My whole Wrapped was basically just filled with Taylor,” she said.

Whether you’re a fan or not, the campaign has been a big win for Spotify. According to High Touch, “Spotify Wrapped is one of the most successful marketing campaigns in the 21st century. In 2020, the campaign increased app downloads by 20 percent, and in 2022, it was estimated that the campaign was shared over 100 million times on social media.”