The Science Behind Spotify Wrapped

 Spotify was one of the first music streaming apps that managed to successfully use psychology in a way to promote business. Before finishing the year, every Spotify listener eagerly awaits the arrival of a curated data package showcasing their top songs, artists, genres, and listening habits throughout the year. But how did Spotify pull off making the whole world feel the same sense of excitement and anticipation? Using different aspects of psychology, Spotify managed to fulfill multiple collective human desires. Everyone at a point in their life embarks on the journey of self-exploration. Spotify shows the listener unique insights about their listening personality over the past year. Spotify Wrapped prompts us to reflect on how we’ve changed, and grown, and what has remained constant throughout the year. A freshman, Marley Pierre-Paul, believes that Spotify Wrapped is “accurate and representative of the phases we go through each month.” Spotify Wrapped fosters an immense feeling of nostalgia within us. Studies have demonstrated that feelings of nostalgia activate parts of the brain linked to emotion, sense of self, and pleasure. One of the commonly shared human desires is to feel understood and obtain authentic connections. Spotify Wrapped intimately explores this concept. Early December is a time when social media is flooded with everyone sharing their Spotify Wrapped results and the topic lingers in the air until early January. During this period of curiosity and social engagement, media and society tend to feel united. Everyone’s Spotify Wrapped shares differences and similarities. Another freshman, Joseph Vandezande, shared his top 3 songs from his Spotify Wrapped, which are: Be Quiet and Drive (Far Away), My Own Summer (Shove it), and Digital Bath by Deftones. We get to share our personalities and connect with others through music, which is such an important indicator of identity. Through music we feel understood and earn the opportunity to share who we have been over the years, bringing us closer together. Spotify understands what society desires and uses these wants to create one of the most important parts of the year for music fans all around the world.