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NEW YORK -- The extremity of 2025 is astir upon us. And it's clip to unpack Spotify Wrapped.
On Wednesday, the euphony streaming elephantine delivered its yearly recap - giving its hundreds of millions of users worldwide a look astatine the apical songs, artists, podcasts and different audio that filled their ears implicit the past twelvemonth (give oregon instrumentality a period and immoderate change).
Spotify isn't the lone level - oregon euphony streamer - to rotation retired a yearly glimpse of information collected from consumers' online lives. But since its motorboat astir a decennary ago, Wrapped has go 1 of the astir anticipated. And Spotify is billing the 2025 variation to beryllium its biggest yet, with a big of caller features it hopes whitethorn code immoderate disappointments users had past year.
So, what goes into pulling unneurotic Wrapped, and what's caller this year? Here's what to know.
How overmuch of the twelvemonth does Spotify Wrapped cover?
To compile Wrapped, Spotify collects listening information from Jan. 1 done astir mid-November.
That gives the institution clip to solidify finishing touches and present its recap to users by aboriginal December. But it besides means your precocious November and December streaming habits won't beryllium included, which whitethorn beryllium wherefore your favourite vacation songs aren't connected the list, oregon different year-end hits.
What goes into getting apical songs, artists and more?
For apical songs, artists and - for the archetypal clip this twelvemonth - albums to amusement up connected Spotify Wrapped, the level looks astatine a premix of what you watercourse and however agelong you perceive for.
According to Spotify, users indispensable perceive to astatine slightest 30 tracks for implicit 30 seconds each to get apical songs. For artists, users request to perceive to astatine slightest 5 unsocial artists for implicit 30 seconds. And for apical album, users request to person listened to astatine slightest 70% of the tracks connected 1 album.
The institution confirmed that information is collected evenly crossed each platforms - and that streaming successful "offline" mode volition besides beryllium counted, arsenic agelong arsenic the instrumentality connects backmost to the net a fewer weeks earlier Wrapped's launch. Listening utilizing Spotify's "private mode" features, meanwhile, won't lend to immoderate rankings, but volition inactive number toward full clip spent connected the platform. And Spotify says "background sounds," similar achromatic noise, are filtered out.
When does Spotify commencement gathering Wrapped each year? What's caller successful 2025?
Marc Hazan, elder vice president of selling and partnerships astatine Spotify, said his squad started reasoning astir 2025 Wrapped the time past year's recap was launched.
"It's a afloat twelvemonth accumulation that touches, without question, each relation wrong Spotify," Hazan told The Associated Press. On time one, helium noted, that includes looking astatine what users deliberation of the Wrapped that conscionable dropped.
Many Spotify subscribers were speedy to stock disappointments astir 2024's recap - with immoderate complaining that Wrapped was excessively minimalist past year. Others took to societal media with memes mocking features that didn't look to deed the mark.
The look and consciousness of Wrapped evolves each year, and Hazan notes the improvement of the 2025 variation was mostly driven by past year's feedback.
"We've truly taken the feedback to bosom - and fueled what we deliberation is the freshest, astir action-packed Wrapped acquisition we've ever done," helium added.
That includes returning euphony genres, which were missing successful 2024's Wrapped. The level is besides introducing apical albums and audiobooks, arsenic good arsenic playcounts for each opus that makes your yearly playlist. And the acquisition is much gamified this year. There's a punctual for users to conjecture their apical opus earlier it's revealed and a "listening age" - which takes a stab astatine guessing however aged your euphony sensation is, based connected erstwhile your favourite tunes were released.
Spotify has besides unveiled "Wrapped Party," a diagnostic that allows users to comparison their listening habits with friends who besides usage the app - and triumph their ain award-like titles wrong the group.
How is AI used?
Among different backlashes Spotify received past twelvemonth was speculation implicit however overmuch artificial quality played a relation successful compiling Wrapped.
The astir disposable usage of AI successful Spotify's 2024 Wrapped was an accompanying podcast powered by generative AI. Spotify didn't repetition the podcast this twelvemonth but is introducing different feature, Archive, which uses a ample connection exemplary to interruption down your listening connected circumstantial days.
That's the astir AI-focused portion of 2025's Wrapped, Hazan said. But the exertion is inactive much broadly supplemented crossed Spotify's method operations today, including successful scaling the scope of its yearly recap.
"Rooted into Wrapped is quality creativity," Hazan said, stressing that hundreds of radical enactment connected pulling unneurotic the recap each year. Technology similar AI, helium noted, helps "fast track" and "enhance" the merchandise truthful it tin scope the platform's much than 700 cardinal users.
What does Wrapped accidental astir information tracking much broadly?
Spotify is acold from the lone institution to way what users bash connected its level - and provender backmost immoderate of that data, with a nostalgic twist, astatine the extremity of the year.
Streaming rival Apple Music rolled retired its yearly "Replay" connected Tuesday. And YouTube this week unveiled its caller "Recap," which likewise breaks down its listeners' euphony habits. Social media platforms, Google hunt and adjacent dictionaries besides connection their ain year-end reflections.
These recaps whitethorn awesome much transparency for users, due to the fact that they tin spot immoderate information successful their hands. And products similar Wrapped person go peculiarly fashionable due to the fact that they're personalized and present designed to stock online - leaving galore to look guardant to it arsenic an "annual ritual" of sorts, notes Yakov Bart, a selling prof astatine Northeastern University.
Still, 1 interest is the normalization of now-constant "tracking of integer footprints that consumers permission online," helium added.
"What Spotify Wrapped is capable to bash is fundamentally bundle this tracked information into the signifier of entertainment," Bart said. "It reframes each this integer tracking that's perpetually happening down the scenes into thing that's amusive ... And so, alternatively of benignant of feeling nether surveillance, users (are) fundamentally feeling seen."
Copyright © 2025 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
