You heard it right, no mistake. Without any second thought, no hesitation, unapologetically, I think Spotify’s annual episode of reflection is a load of complete, absolute, total, ultimate, utter, spectacular bollocks.
The twee and chipper app we keep in our pocket has its flaws. Everyone knows about CEO Daniel Ek’s spending habits, and the crucially low royalties for artists, but I’m not here to cover that. I’m here to chat shit about Spotify Wrapped and make fun of all the people that care about it.
Spotify celebrates itself rather than music
I am sick and tired of people talking about Spotify as if it is part of their identity: ‘my Spotify’. Equally, I am sick and tired of a ‘spotify’ being labelled as an emerging chunk of an artist/band. A band shouldn’t have ‘a Spotify’. If you are a band, you shouldn’t be thinking about ‘your Spotify’. This way of talking about it irks me because Spotify is not (or at least shouldn’t be) a social media. It is a subscription that can give you access to most commercially recorded music. When you publish a book, do you think about ‘your library/bookstore’? When you release a film or series do you think about ‘your netflix?’ Definitely not, because it the job of these platforms to display the work, not display itself within the work.
Spotify tricks you into thinking you are an active listener
I haven’t opened my wrapped yet. The more I see online about it, the less I want to. For one, I use apple music. For two, it praises listening benchmarks rather than intentional, delicate and emotional listening.
Most of the time, Spotify chooses what you listen to. You might not realise it, but it’s true. It pushes generated playlists and moods to distract you from the uncomfortable moment of deciding what to listen to. That moment is important, and Spotify steals it. All mystery is gone.
The ultimatum of Spotify wrapped is people sharing their top 5 artists, or even competing against other listeners to see who is #1. Firstly, you should be able to list the top 5 artists from the top of your head. And guess what? You’re not The Beatles’ #246,364 listener. That is drastically out of proportion and reinforces Spotify’s false ownership of the entire music industry.
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