It’s another December, and for the ninth consecutive year, Spotify users worldwide are deep in conversations fueled by the wrap of songs and artists they obsessively listened to all year. Undoubtedly, Spotify Wrapped has become one of the most anticipated campaigns in the global music industry, thanks to its interactive, shareable nature that has cemented it as a cultural phenomenon.

It essentially offers a snapshot of our identities (for a year, at least) and reflects personal music journeys. It has been a long time coming since 2016, but how did Spotify Wrapped evolve into the annual ritual of self-discovery and music fandom that we know today?

Spotify Year in Music to Wrapped

Spotify’s Wrapped first appeared in December 2016 as an evolution of its 2015 campaign, Spotify Year in Music. This initial campaign featured a three-tiered overview of music insights: Spotify’s Year in Review, fans’ personal listening habits, and artists’ yearly statistics.

In 2016, the Wrapped experience was expanded with the “Your Top Songs” playlist feature. By 2018, Spotify introduced astrological insights, such as users’ most-listened-to artists’ astrological signs and even the oldest song a user streamed.

The most pivotal change came in 2019 when Spotify Wrapped transitioned into the now-iconic social media stories format—a feature Jewel Ham, an artist who interned at Spotify, claimed she inspired.

Jewel shared on Twitter in 2020 and subsequently spoke to Refinery29 about how she had refined the initial Wrapped idea to what we have now. “I was a person that had Spotify and loved Wrapped, but it was just a link they would send at the end of the year. It was just something that you personally knew about. When I gave the presentation at the end of my intern project, it was received really well. They liked the idea,” she said.

Refinery29’s report also contained Spotify’s refutal of Ham’s indirect allegations, with a narrative suggesting that hundreds of employees (interns included) have contributed ideas that shaped Wrapped into the storytelling experience it is today.

Nonetheless, the changes—regardless of whose idea—made Wrapped more visual, and interactive, transforming it from a simple annual report into a game-like storytelling format that fosters comparisons and social discussions.

Advanced Personalisation 

By 2020, Spotify Wrapped hit its peak following the introduction of advanced personalisation with features like the Tastemaker Badge (for users whose playlists gained followers), the Pioneer Badge (for listeners who were early adopters of songs before they hit 50,000 streams), and the Collector Badge (for users adding many songs to their playlists).

The innovation didn’t stop there. Spotify Wrapped maintained its unique features by gamifying music discovery further with initiatives like 2023’s Sound Town. This feature matched listeners to a town based on their listening preferences and artist affinity—creating yet another layer of personalised interaction.

2024 and AI’s Debut 

Spotify’s ability to innovate Wrapped each year has kept nostalgia, discovery, and connection at the forefront. However, in 2024, Spotify leaned heavily on artificial intelligence, combining its personalisation tech with generative AI to create AI DJ, personalised AI playlists and AI Podcast which 

While these efforts aimed to make Wrapped even more intuitive and engaging, they largely fell flat. The AI DJ, in particular, was widely criticised, with many finding the experience redundant and the AI-generated commentary jarring.

Ultimately, while Spotify may have struck the wrong chord with AI’s attempt to offer a hyper-personalised experience, its 10th year in 2025 is expected to shake off the missteps and continue evolving this cultural phenomenon.