As the year draws to a close, many of us find ourselves in a reflective mood, posting a collage of throwback snaps on Instagram or checking in on our Fitbit health stats to see how we've done.
Many brands have jumped on the band wagon in recent years, although arguably the one that does it best is Spotify, which prompts many people to subtly brag about their music taste via screenshots from their Spotify Wrapped.
The viral marketing campaign has been released every year since 2016, summarising all the acts, genres, and songs we’ve been obsessed with over the past year – as embarrassing as it sometimes is.
How does Spotify Wrapped work?
While the format varies slightly each year, generally speaking, Spotify releases a personalised interactive report using data from the year.
The design means that certain elements can be shared easily across social media platforms – that's if you’re willing to admit you’ve spent 70,000 minutes listening to Harry Styles, of course.
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When will your Spotify Wrapped drop for 2024?
Spotify doesn’t usually announce the specific release date, but the feature has typically landed on Wednesdays towards the end of November.
In both 2023 and 2022, it fell on Wednesday 30 November, while in 2021, it dropped on Wednesday 1 December.
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This year, it could potentially be Wednesday 27 December or, failing that, Wednesday 4 December.
However, if you don’t want to wait until then, there is a way to get the intel early.
Spotify Wrapped alternatives
Patience may be a virtue, but in the modern-age of binging TV shows and instantly Googling anything we don’t know the answer to, it’s clear we’re not quite as good at it as our ancestors may have been.
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It turns out there are other third-party sites that can do the job for you, and won’t make you wait until the end of the year.
Stats for Spotify will serve up similar data, with ongoing lists of all your favourite tracks, artists and genres, with options to view the last four weeks, six months, or all time.
Updated daily, you simply log in with your Spotify details to give the programme access to the relevant data.
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The main downside here is that it’s not quite as jazzy as Spotify Wrapped, but on the upside, it's completely free.
If you’re willing to pay for the service, you can also try the likes of Stats.fm or Volt.fm.
As for how long we'll have to wait for the official one? Spotify teases on its website: "Your listening highlights, and more. Keep playing what you love, and we’ll get in touch when it’s ready."
Topics: Music, Social Media, Technology
Jess Hardiman