As 2021 came to an end, people received and shared their Spotify Wrapped. Spotify Wrapped is a feature of Spotify that allows users to see a compilation of their data from the year. 

“I spend many hours a day listening to music. I got Spotify Premium about five months ago and, in those months, spent over a thousand hours listening to music,” said Ben Welsh, ‘25.

Welsh is a fan of the rock band Pearl Jam and was in the top 0.05% of their listeners in 2021. 

          “I love their songs because they are an amazing grunge band and use a combination of the main singers’ voices and instruments,” he said. 

Looking toward the future of his Spotify Wrapped, Welsh had a prediction.

          “I feel like the main change between my Wrapped now and the next one is that I think I’ll have an even bigger listening time since I only had Premium for five months this time and will have it longer this next year,” Welsh said.

Brady Botten, ‘25, also spent a lot of time listening to a certain artist. Botten spent 8,947 minutes listening to music, and his top artist for 2021 was Ariana Grande. 

“Ariana Grande doesn’t surprise me. I’m in her top 2% percent of listeners. She’s an absolute queen. She makes really good music and has a beautiful voice,” Botten said. 

Botten is also inspired by her work as a judge on The Voice and her beauty care line. 

Botten also said he will be looking at his Spotify Wrapped in 2022 to “see if [he] beats [his] Ariana listening time from this year.” 

Avery Marasco-Johnson, ‘25, had two top artists this year: Green Day and Taylor Swift. 

“I’m not really surprised since a large majority of my playlists include them, and I had multiple of their songs on repeat,” she said. 

Marasco-Johnson spent a total of 26,753              minutes listening to music in 2021. She described the change from her Spotify Wrapped last year to this year as “diversified and improved.” 

Marasco-Johnson hopes her music taste will continue that pattern in 2022.

Lilly Kozora, ‘25, is also a fan of Taylor Swift. 

“I have been listening to Taylor’s music since I was young. It’s also been an interest me and my mom have shared. Her music brings us together, and we really love her as a person,” she said. 

Kozora’s top song was “The Spins” by Mac Miller. 

“I like the lyrics. They are very fun to sing, and I love the background vocals and the different lines he adds in. Like, ‘oh, I just graduated high school,’” Kozora said. “I definitely have seen a change in my Spotify [Wrapped]. I have listened to many new artists and have seen a change in what I personally like in the past year. Next year, I think it will change by me finding more new artists to listen to,” she said.

Natalie Tift, ‘25, spent a total of 11,205 minutes listening to music in 2021. Tift achieved this by listening “about an hour every day.” 

Tift’s top artist this year was Lemon Demon. 

“I really like Lemon Demon because they often bring storytelling, humor and little niche things that keep me entertained,” they said.

Tift’s top genre in 2021 was J-Pop.

“I’m not sure what my music taste will look like next year as my interests are ever changing,” Tift said.

Lynn Behning, ‘25, has also seen a change in her taste in music since last year.       “Last year my Spotify Wrapped was shorter and had more pop artists, but this year I had a lot more Riot Girl and indie music,” she said. 

Behning spent a total of 4,831 minutes listening to music. Her top artist in 2021 was Mitski.

“I like Mitski because her music captures emotion perfectly and she’s unique,” she said. 

Each Spotify Wrapped is unique and seems to match the person who made it.