Why do we like Spotify Wrapped so much ? - Blog Post #4

JENNA TRANTAU

Each December Spotify and Apple music come out with your personal statistics usage of music/podcasts since January. It is a great marketing tactic because people love music and only truly care about themselves. "It's also unclear why users are so enamoured with the idea of having their private data packaged and sold back to them. One digital rights advocacy group described Wrapped as a "business model ... based on surveillance" (Weaver, 2022). 

Many other platforms wouldn't have the same effect. For example, if TikTok came out with it's own "TikTok Wrapped" and showed something like how many hours you've watched the same creator or spent on the app in general it would discourage users and many would feel embarrassed of how much time they truly spend on the app. 

Spotify and Apple's marketing team really hit the nail on the head with this one because it would only just "expose" people's music tastes which can be positive and negative but, in the entertainment industry any publicity is good publicity. It can create debates and discussions which all require you to have a subscription. 

Personally looking at my Spotify wrapped I did not realized I liked Harry Styles as much as it says I do. I feel like Harry Styles has a die-hard fan-base and although I am a fan I cannot compare myself to his community fandom. It is interesting that my tastes are like others in some ways but also completely different in other ways. 






 

Comments

  1. Rebekah KrofchickDecember 10, 2022 at 6:28 PM

    Hi, great post! I found your take on Spotify Wrapped really interesting. Every year, we consume this example of daily surveillance as if it's entertainment. I think because people's music taste seems like such mundane information, people are more comfortable sharing a collection of their data because they may not see it as a true invasion of their privacy. That surveillance is providing so much more information that we think, but as you said, the program is marketed so well that no one seems to really notice or care. Again, really interesting post! Great job!

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  2. Teagan HaggertyDecember 15, 2022 at 5:42 PM

    Great discussion post. I agree that Apple Music and Spotify Wrapped became heavily presented in early December on my social media feeds only for a few days, indicating the ephemerality aspect of posting your Spotify Wrapped. Typically when people post their Spotify Wrapped, it's either on Snapchat or Instagram stories, which means it is only online for 24 hours. I believe that the music platforms releasing our 'Wrapped 2022' give us a chance to see different artists as well as find a common interest with peers through the top artists you have listened to. I believe that music is a big part of culture; where throughout CS 371, we have discussed how culture plays a crucial role in our society's dependency on the internet, and social media, which gives a notion of what we find important in our lives and give meanings to those things which can be emphasized through posting your Spotify Wrapped 2022 on social media.

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