It doesn’t really feel like Christmas until Spotify Wrapped is released each year, does it? (No? Just me?)
That being said, the most wonderful time of the year is here. Yep, that’s right – the breakdown of our collective and personal music and podcast listening over the past 12 months has been revealed.
And by our, I mean the 574 million of us that use the streaming platform.
It’s a hotly anticipated day with users on X (formerly Twitter) eagerly awaiting news of their personalised stats.
And the most played artist in 2023 goes to...
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the wild year that she’s had with her record-breaking Eras Tour, the top artist both here in the UK and globally is, of course, Taylor Swift.
What is surprising, though, is that her most popular song on the streaming app this year was Cruel Summer from her 2019 album Lover.
Cruel Summer was announced as a single earlier this year by Taylor while she was on stage.
Speaking on the rise in popularity of the song, she said: “What’s happening right now, thanks to you – and honestly no one understands why this is happening – you guys have streamed Cruel Summer so much right now in 2023 that it’s, like, rising on the streaming charts so crazy. My label just decided to just make it the next single.”
Other artists that made it into the top 5 streamed artists in the UK this year were Drake, The Weeknd and two British faves, Arctic Monkeys and Ed Sheeran.
The most popular album in 2023 is...
An album that wasn’t even released this year.
For the second year in a row, Bad Bunny topped the worldwide album streams with the 2022 record Un Verano Sin Ti.
Interestingly, though, none of the songs from the album actually made it onto the top played songs of 2023 list.
Other albums that made it into the top five included Midnights by Taylor Swift, SOS by SZA, Starboy by The Weeknd and Mañana Será Bonito by Karol G.
Taylor Swift’s 2019 album Lover also made it into the top 10 albums, as did Harry Styles’ 2022 album Harry’s House.
Here in the UK, the top streamed album was Taylor Swift’s album Midnights, followed by SOS by SZA, Harry’s House by Harry Styles, AM by Arctic Monkeys and Lover by Taylor Swift.
The most popular songs of 2023 were...
The top song of 2023 was the feel-good breakup anthem Flowers, by none other than Miley Cyrus. The song, which was released way back in January, seemed like it was everywhere for the first half of this year and with good reason – it’s a bop!
The rest of the global top 10 streamed songs were:
- Kill Bill by SZA
- As It Was by Harry Styles
- Seven (feat. Latto) by Jung Kook
- Ella Baila Sola by Eslabon Armado
- Cruel Summer by Taylor Swift
- Creepin’ (feat. The Weeknd & 21 Savage) by Metro Boomin
- Calm Down (feat. Selena Gomez) by Rema
- Shakira: Bzrp Music Sessions Vol 53 by Bizarrap & Shakira
- Anti-Hero by Taylor Swift
How to find your Spotify Wrapped
Obviously all of this is very interesting but it means nothing if you can’t see your own data. I mean, who is more interesting than you? Nobody. And nobody has more exquisite taste in music, either.
You should be able to see your Wrapped feed right from the home screen. Make sure that your app is up to date and from there, you will see playlists of your top artists, shows near you and even merch from your fave singers.
This year, we can expect to also see the Spotify AI DJ and Blend feature brought into the Wrapped experience.
This guides listeners through their personalised Wrapped – serving up the music you loved this year and sharing commentary about some of your favourite artists, genres, songs and more. The experience will be available for the first week after Wrapped launches.
Additionally, you can invite your friends to create a blend and tap the “2023 Wrapped Top Songs” filter to combine all of your top songs into one shared playlist.
Happy Spotify Wrapped Day and remember, kids, defining yourself by your taste in music is for life, not just for Christmas.