Your Spotify Unwrapped & Why it Matters

by Sierra Tan

edited by Manushri Bapat, Harvi Karatha, & Taruni Manam; Layout by Leesha Pillai; Artwork by Sahithi Lingampalli

Christmas is around the corner, and you know what that means—it’s Spotify Unwrapped season! As you swipe through Instagram stories, you see the familiar layout of top artists, songs, and captions saying “this describes me so well!" Some roll their eyes when greeted by the colorful slides, saying “who even cares?” Still, it doesn’t stop people from sharing their top artists. Whether you use Spotify or Apple Music, this is why your—and/or your friends’—Spotify Wrapped matters.

Firstly, let’s state the obvious: it helps you understand your music taste. Recognizing what you like and what you listen to is a crucial step in discovering new music and broadening your horizons. Everyone has a unique listening taste and style, and your Spotify Wrapped helps you to pick that apart and consolidate that information to use for your advantage or entertainment, whichever tickles your fancy.

Discovering new music is an experience that is helped by Wrapped. On the topic of expanding your music taste, you can also see your friends’ Wrapped top songs as music recommendations!

This leads me to the next point: music helps society bond. We have emotional and personal connections to music throughout our life Knowing each others’ music tastes lets us empathize and connect with each other. Songs can also be good conversation starters! If you think about it, our musical preferences are a window into how we think, how we behave, and what we care most about. It’s pretty beautiful, isn’t it? Discussing music may lead to deeper emotional connections due to this, and may improve our empathy skills.

The next time you see a friend’s, acquaintance’s, or family member’s Spotify Wrapped think of it as a window into their mind, as well as an opportunity to grow your connections and friendships. Maybe there’s more to it than it just being a completely useless marketing tactic.