Spotify Wrapped: Why do we love rounding up our year in music so much?

It was hard to avoid the total outpouring of graphics and memes that came from Spotify Wrapped – where the app’s users see a compilation of the music they played the most in 2023.

Every social media platform was bombarded with minutes listened to, top tracks and an awful lot of Taylor Swift. But, you may be wondering, why we are so hung up on this yearly round-up? We were there, after all, weren’t we?

Why do we need to see a year in stats and funky graphics?

In short, we love to look back and reflect. “If it was a good year it gives us a sense of positivity and warmth and we savour that reminder of what has gone,” says Dr Audrey Tang, chartered psychologist and author of The Leader’s Guide to Mindfulness (draudreyt.com/books). “It is good as adults to stop rushing and to stop and savour this feeling. If that round-up of the year gives us that opportunity it is a great thing.”

In times of good or bad, music, for many, is a constant. What we listen to may change, but art has a way of keeping our earphones on, speakers turned up and our minds interested, whether it’s a podcast, soundtrack or the same album over and over again.

“Music is something we have preferences with and music is often a significant thing to attach to events and moments, like your first dance, a break-up, or a big win – and those memories can come back when we hear them,” Tang explains.

We may see other people’s Spotify Wrapped and be surprised; maybe you didn’t think your pal was an Iron Maiden fan, or would relate to BTS?

But, Tang says: “The other thing about music, is it lets us express ourselves through someone else’s expression and that connection is really important.”

We may find something in music we don’t find within ourselves, and by sharing what we enjoy, we share a little snippet of ourselves with our friends – letting them in on a different side of you.

Wrapped also enables a lot of us to share what we have had on repeat.

“When it comes to binge listening,” says Tang, “it is very likely that song gives us a certain feeling that we just need to feel, as long as it isn’t interfering with our day-to-day life, if that repetition is what you need, it is good to allow those emotions to flow and hear it. Be it motivational, sad or angry music.”

So, we learn all this about ourselves, why must we then share it on social media?

Frankly we are “desperate to share them because we are validating ourselves over what we have gone through that year”, says Tang.

“It is one step removed from saying, ‘God I had a bad year’, and people can start conversations by sharing the music we have listened to.

“The key thing about music is that it is an informal way of starting a conversation,” she says. “It can feel so alien to reach out to someone about how we feel or what we listen to, so if music means we have that buffer between what we want to say and feel able to, we can bridge that gap and express ourselves in a healthy way.”