As this year comes to an end, everyone takes a look back to the year they’ve had. For many people, this year has come with many ups and downs. As a community, we have been lucky to have received so many ups this year. This semester alone, we have started to transition back to fully in person classes, our Oklahoma State Cowboys finally won bedlam after a six-year losing streak, and we celebrated the 100th anniversary of America’s greatest homecoming. As people reflect on this year that they have had, they think back to their highest and lowest moments… and what better way to summarize their year than through music.

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          Spotify Wrapped is a feature of the highly popular music and podcast streaming service Spotify. Throughout the year, Spotify releases personalized playlists for listeners all around the globe to help them explore new things and listen to new artists.

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          At the end of the year though, their focus is less on getting people to listen to new music and more on showing people what their year has looked like in terms of music. This is where Spotify Wrapped comes in. This feature has been around since 2017 and has become somewhat of a tradition to listeners worldwide. Some of the features of Spotify Wrapped include amount of minutes listened, top songs, top genres, and top artists.

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          “I love Spotify Wrapped because it wraps up the mood and theme of everyone’s year really well. I know mine really shows the journey I’ve been on the last few months and it’s nice to have all that music for me in one spot” said Junior Katie Douglas.

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          This feature of Spotify is an artistic click-through slideshow that shows the listener’s top artists, songs, and other things on top of a backdrop of animated film strips and colorful graphics. As some of their top songs play in the background, they see pictures of their favorite artists and albums. Immediately, they are taken back to the moments they listened to these songs and artists.

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          “My Spotify Wrapped [shows me] that my year was filled with those moments that have that perfect song playing in the background. I mean - you can’t argue with me that screaming ‘Here’s a toast to the scumbags’ during Runaway as you drive on a city highway during nighttime isn’t euphoric,” said Sophomore Shelby Blevins.

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          One of the details of Spotify Wrapped is that it shows the listener who their most listened to artist was. It even shows them how much they listened to the artist in relation to other listeners worldwide. For Blevins, she was in the top 1% of Mac Miller’s listeners, her top artist.

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          Spotify Wrapped is a good way for listeners to bring more recognition to their favorite artists by allowing them to post the graphics to their Instagram and Snapchat stories straight from the app.

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          “My favorite artist is JID who was ranked as my 4th. He’s my favorite rapper and is really good but doesn’t have much recognition,” said Junior Hank Hottovy.

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          For students like these and others, Spotify Wrapped has made them think back to their memories from this year, whether good or bad.

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          “While I’ve gone through a lot this year, I’ve also had a really good time. Music has gotten me through a lot this year and I think [my Spotify Wrapped] really shows that,” said Douglas.