As the holidays approach, many people begin thinking about Christmas and the New Year, but for the devout music listener, Spotify Wrapped, becomes the main subject of the holiday season.

At the end of every year, Spotify releases a summary of listening to everyone’s account, detailing their top artists, top genres and the number of minutes streamed. What began as a private summary, has since become the topic of much social media discussion come December.

As the Wrapped is released in early December, social media erupts with posts of people’s summary of the year, preceding discussion of music taste and time spent listening, amidst the ‘album of the year’ debate, making the event an important moment in the zeitgeist of music.

To the average music listener, the Wrapped is simply a summary of their music listening, but to the dedicated listener, Wrapped becomes a competition. As the Wrapped release comes closer, the race for the most minutes streamed and most ‘elite’ music taste within their friend group becomes a test of their listening dedication.

Most enjoy the annual summary of their music habits, but some argue against the potentially malicious tactics used to gather the private information of its users. The Spotify algorithm used to recommend and compile the date for the annual Wrapped has been seen as divisive, either ineffective or too perfect. As social media and our lives become more entwined, the importance of social security has never been greater, more have become worried of the potential security breach of Spotify.

No matter the potential implications of the Wrapped, the social importance of its annual release is undoubtedly massive, taking over the conversations on social media and within friends groups upon its release, defining the end of the year music discussions.