Spotify dropped its 2024 Wrapped data on December 4, and I’d like to go ahead and let everyone know that mine is completely normal. Well, it was expected, let’s put it that way. I’m the one who listened to all this music, after all, I know what I did. My Spotify Wrapped is not as much a mystery as an enigma, and I’ve got my decoder ring on.
225,131 Minutes Listened
I listened to 225,131 minutes of music this year, which is about 156 days. More than a third of my year was spent listening to music on Spotify—that doesn’t even cover the times I listened to analog music. I’ve been known to throw a CD on occasionally and would call myself an (extremely) amateur vinyl enthusiast. Still, most of my listening time comes from streaming, so the numbers are fairly accurate here. In the last five months of the year, I had Spotify on 24/7. I haven’t watched television in all that time because I’ve been too busy listening to music, which, I guess, there are worse things than not watching TV. Apparently, I listened to 1,411 minutes of music on Halloween, which is 23.5 hours. Where did I find the time indeed, Spotify. My total listening minutes also put me in the top 0.1 percent of listeners worldwide, which is a totally normal goal to want and achieve.
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My Top Song Actually Surprised Me
I didn’t expect Hozier’s “Son of Nyx” to be my top song, but apparently I played it 249 times. This put me in the top 0.001 percent of listeners, which both makes sense and is very normal. Who else is putting “Son of Nyx” on repeat and falling asleep to it? Really, it’s a melancholy song with a depressing backstory, but its composition is delightfully eerie yet uplifting. It’s an enigma of a song, and apparently I liked that on March 14 when I listened to it 249 times.
The Top Song Leaderboard, However, Was Not Really Surprising At All
Barring “Son of Nyx” as top song on my Spotify Wrapped, songs two through five were predictable artist-wise. “Why’d You Only Call Me When You’re High,” “Les Cactus,” “Crying Lightning,” and “Totally Wired”—Arctic Monkeys, The Last Shadow Puppets, Arctic Monkeys, The Last Shadow Puppets (Hozier, who was played 249 times, is an outlier and should not be counted). The songs themselves were not so predictable. Did Spotify see how much I listened to Arctic Monkeys, get overwhelmed, and just pick their most popular songs to display on my leaderboard? I don’t even like “Crying Lighting” that much, not enough for it to land at No. 3. Give me “Evil Twin,” give me “One For the Road” or “Mad Sounds.” And “Why’d You Only Call Me When You’re High”? Spotify, do you think I’m a basic Arctic Monkeys listener? Put deep cuts on my leaderboard, you coward.
What is This Music Evolution Thing?
Spotify Wrapped introduced Music Evolution into the mix this year. Usually there’s a new element to the Wrapped every year—last year it was the music map, and this time Spotify is giving us weird Daylist-esque microgenres based on our listening habits. They don’t make a lot of sense and mean even less, but here are mine.
In September I was into Witchy Permanent Wave Baroque Pop, listening to artists like The Last Shadow Puppets, Florence + The Machine, and Miles Kane. October was Sweater Weather Softcore Indie, with artists like Arctic Monkeys, Djo, and Alex Turner. This matters very little to my data, and I question its addition, but whatever makes you happy, Spotify.
What You’ve All Been Waiting For: My Top Artist
Just like last year, my top artist was Arctic Monkeys, only my percentage changed this time around. In 2023, I was in the top 0.01 percent of Arctic Monkeys listeners, and I’m sure you can guess where this is headed—I’m now in the top 0.001 percent of listeners worldwide. Again, a very normal goal to want and achieve.
To get to this point in my life, I listened to nothing but Arctic Monkeys from September until present. Currently, I’m still listening to Arctic Monkeys. Barring the occasional album for a review, it was all Monkeys all the time, and I’m still not sick of them. I may be just plain sick, but not of Arctic Monkeys. In total, I listened to 45,903 minutes of Monkeys, with my longest streak being 54 days. That’s about 765 hours and almost two months straight. If they moved up the global streaming ranks it was probably because of me. Once again, very normal.
Three-Fifths of My Spotify Wrapped Top Artist Leaderboard Was Alex Turner
What was I going through this year that Alex Turner showed up three times on my top artist leaderboard? Arctic Monkeys were of course No. 1, but The Last Shadow Puppets came in second. Then Hozier and Fall Out Boy in third and fourth, with Alex Turner filling out the cast yet again.
Overall, my Spotify Wrapped turned out exactly as I thought it would—extremely normal and not at all concerning or unhinged. And I’ll do it all again next year.
Featured Image by WireImage/Samir Hussein