As the never-ending year of 2020 finally wraps up, a beloved music tradition reminds us once again of the moments we went through. Spotify Wrapped, a compilation of user’s yearly music habits, began in 2015 and has been an amusing way to conclude a year for its subscribers since. This year, the format included new, more personalized features, much to its users’ liking. 

“I like how it showed my top 5 artists, the top song I listened to, and how long I spent listening to music on Spotify,” senior Reid Williams said. 

Its new features became a sensation among users, who did not expect a more in-depth analysis than last year. One innovative feature included badges recognizing ways users achieved notable accomplishments, such as listening to a new song before 50,000 streams. 

“It was cool to see songs that I had listened to before they were popular,” senior Carson Beck said. Beck gained the Pioneer Badge on Spotify for listening to a song before it became famous. 

With all the excitement of cool changes, some appreciative users feel that Spotify Wrapped 2020 represented their overall yearly mood according to their listening habits. 

“I think it is a good representation because it contains all of my favorite artists, songs, and podcasts,” Williams said. “[It] showed that I was in a happy mood this year.”

Others were a bit hesitant about whether or not their Wrapped report represented their yearly mood fairly. 

“I don’t really know if Spotify has represented my mood. In the top category was Eminem and his songs are pretty deep. I’m an overall happy person,” senior Gannon Brown said. 

Some users even go as far as questioning whether the algorithm was accurate in analyzing their listening habits. 

“I was surprised that my most listened to songs were country, but my most listened to genre was pop. It doesn’t make sense,” Beck said

Whether the algorithm was accurate or not, Spotify Wrapped encouraged many listeners to look back and set new musical goals for 2021.   

“I think I’ll pay more attention to what artists and top songs I listen to. I would really like to spend more time listening to music rather than on social media, so I hope my minutes go up next year,” Beck said, even though she listened to 26,494 minutes of music this year. 

Overall, Spotify’s yearly gift to its users concludes the year in an entertaining way that many anticipate since January and sets the tone for a whole new year of expanding musical interests. 

“I want to spread my wings and try other music this year,” Brown said.