It’s the most wonderful time of the year. The launch of Spotify Wrapped is officially upon us.
Each year, the streaming service reveals each user’s favourite songs, artists, podcasts, and genres from the past year, as well as the number of minutes you spent listening to music on the app, as well as the overall mood of your music. They’ll even tell you if you’re in the top one per cent of fans for your favourite artists.
If you’re anything like me, Spotify Wrapped is usually quite an embarrassing ordeal. You might find out that your music taste isn’t quite as cool as you thought and learn that one obscure song from the “Lofi chill beats for meditation” playlist has made it to number one on your wrapped summary, or that you knowingly played “Party in the USA” by Miley Cyrus on loop 24 times in a row on 22 June.
But whatever your wrapped results this year – it’s about owning it, anyway – there were some frontrunners that stood out.
In the UK, the most streamed artists among Spotify users were… Taylor Swift, Drake and The Weeknd.
Swift, who is the most streamed artist in the UK for the second year running, has been performing her sell-out Eras world tour this year, while Drake released his album For All the Dogs and the surprise project Scary Hours 3, and The Weeknd created the soundtrack for the controversial HBO show The Idol.
In fourth place was the Sheffield band Arctic Monkeys, who completed their world tour this year, and the pop heartthrob Ed Sheeran was the fifth most streamed artist of the year.
Among the most streamed songs were British rapper Dave’s “Sprinter”, featuring Central Cee, “Flowers” by Miley Cyrus and American R&B singer SZA’s “Kill Bill”. In fourth place was PinkPantheress’s “Boy’s A Liar Pt. 2” and Raye’s “Escapism” featuring 070 Shake.
As for podcasts, The Joe Rogan Experience has taken the number one slot for the top podcast of the year globally – marking the fourth consecutive year it’s taken this spot, despite the controversial host being widely criticised for spreading misinformation during the Covid-19 pandemic. In second and third places Call Her Daddy and Huberman Lab, followed by Anything Goes with Emma Chamberlain and On Purpose with Jay Shetty.
Taylor Swift performing on her Eras tour
(Getty Images for TAS Rights Mana)
How to access your personalised Spotify Wrapped
First of all, you must be a Spotify subscriber to get involved in the fun. The feature will likely pop up automatically when you open the app. However, if it doesn’t, you can go to Spotify’s website or check out the “home” section of the app and Spotify Wrapped should be there.