Looking at 2020 through Spotify Wrapped

It’s always been said that music can bring people together, and that reigned true in 2020.

Photo by scgdesignco on Unsplash

In a year where everything was different and weird, it makes sense that we would gain an understanding of our world through a music streaming platform. 

Spotify Wrapped is here. This past week, Spotify released their annual end of the year program. This allows Spotify users to glance back at their year in music. Spotify Wrapped gives listeners an insight into their most played artists, songs, and podcasts. It tells us how the world coped this year.

Thanks to social media and technology, know the year basically started with the global shut down due to COVID19, followed by racial unrest and the Black Lives Matter movement, and eventually turning to the US election, then recently, back to COVID19 with more global and national lockdowns.

According to Spotify, there was a 1400 percent increase in work-from-home playlists, as well as a 180 percent increase in listening to health and wellness-themed podcasts. As Black voices were called to be amplified, Spotify saw over 65 thousand playlists made titled “BLM’ or “Black Lives Matter.” And, as the election drew near, more 18-24-year-olds listened to a podcast for their first time. Spotify could also tell that more people were listening at home because 55 percent more gaming consoles were used to stream music.

Spotify vocalized that their theme for 2020 Spotify Wrapped was gratitude and resilience. They showed us the one song that helped us get through it all, as well as the artists that had our backs. They gave us a look back at our year by showing us what made us happy and what we liked. They didn’t use fear tactics or fact-checking like so many other social sites are doing nowadays.

Once Spotify Wrapped was released, it quickly gained traction on social media platforms as everyone shared their top songs and artists to their Instagram and Facebook stories. Many students at Trinity Western University were quick to share their results. When I contacted one friend who posted her top genres, she noted that she was surprised her number one genre was Pop. She claimed that, usually, her top genre was Indie or Folk followed by Christian Contemporary Music, but this year she listened to a lot of Top 40 throwback songs and songs that she could sing out loud to. 

It’s interesting that a music streaming platform can tell us the narrative of 2020. 

Last year, in 2019, the top podcast genre was Comedy. This year, Comedy remained in the top ranks at number two, but the genre Society & Culture took the number one slot. Even though 2020 was a year of deep disappointment for many, it says something about us as a people that amidst tragedy, we really just wanted to learn and grow.  

The media was plagued by fear this year, but Spotify worked to change the story to one of togetherness. They showed us that even though we spent the year apart, we were together in spirit. We might have different political beliefs and stands on the virus, but we all listened to music this year. We sang the same songs. 

Hopefully, 2021 will be filled with more gratitude and less division.