By Mariam Keita ’24 and Rose Cohen ’22
Section Editor and Staff Writer
Last Tuesday, Dec. 1, the Swedish audio streaming service Spotify released their yearly Spotify Wrapped personalized experience, which tells eligible users about their top artists, top songs and minutes listened. In order to receive Wrapped, listeners would have needed to have an account before Nov. 15, listened to at least five different musicians and 30 different tracks.
“I’ve seen people bond over music all the time and I think it’s a really beautiful thing because music is a universal language,” Tiwani Ariyibi ’24 explained, when asked about the music streaming platform’s annual feature. “Spotify Wrapped can build a community around your favorite artist which I think is really nice, even if the algorithm is a little messed up.”
Ariyibi, like many subscribers, enjoys the Wrapped feature. However, she was not necessarily satisfied with this year’s summary of her listening habits.
This year, the creator of the Broadway musical “Hamilton,” Lin-Manuel Miranda, appeared among her Spotify Wrapped artists.
“I really liked the [Hamilton] movie and I would play [the soundtrack] a lot, but that was a phase. It lasted like a solid month and then I never went back,” Ariyibi explained.
Mae Philippe-Auguste ’24 was also surprised by her Spotify Wrapped this year.
“A lot of my stuff also came from my sleep playlist so I didn’t even bother posting,” Philippe-Auguste wrote in response to an Instagram story about this article.
Students in the class of 2024 listened to a good deal of sad music, according to Pearl Young ’24.
“People started listening to emo music that was popular when we were younger,” she said. “I saw a lot of people in our class had Mitski [sic] somewhere in there [sic] top 10.”
Ariyibi poses one theory as to why so many people had such wistful sounds in their Wrapped this year. “In a pandemic, you can’t really see your friends or family — things that would normally bring you comfort — and you have to find new ways [of coping].” Additionally, Ariyibi explained that Spotify users are turning to the artists that they listened to in their childhood. “I listened to a lot of Lauryn Hill [which] my mom used to play when I was younger,” Ariyibi said.
Joliet Morrill ’21, who has approximately 12,000 Spotify followers and creates Spotify playlists for her Tik Tok followers, suggested that people are returning to their old favorite songs for a sense of nostalgia. “[They want to] remind themselves of a different time,” Morrill said.
Since 2020 began, Morrill found that Tik Tok users have been requesting mood-based playlists. “I have to create a story by giving the playlist an interesting title and cover,” Morrill explained.
Erica Weathers has noticed similar trends while working as a Clinical Social Worker for Mount Holyoke College Counseling Services.
“Many students that I work with use music as a way to self-soothe and relax or distract themselves from stressful emotions and to uplift their spirits. I also have had students that struggle with ADHD listen to relaxing music in the background while they're doing their work which provides just enough stimulation that can help them focus,” Weathers said.
“If I had to guess about why students are listening to music from earlier stages of their lives, my best guess is that the music they listened to when they were younger can trigger positive memories and associations,” Weathers added. “The music is something that is known to them and in that way, can bring comfort during a time of great uncertainty.”
Philippe-Auguste seemed to fit into this trend of listening to old music. “I’m a theater kid so songs from shows that I’ve been in, [they remind] me of my cast,” Philippe-Auguste explained. “I think it just takes you back to these good memories and people that you can’t necessarily connect with as much right now.”
Ariyibi thought the comeback of childhood music-related well to the year 2020. “I don’t think I can find someone who is happy about this year. Sometimes you just need music to help you cope through anything you’re going through and I think that’s why a lot of people had depressing music,” Ariyibi said.
