Topline

Spotify began rolling out its highly anticipated Wrapped Annual Review package to users on Wednesday morning, ending the longest wait for the feature in years, including new features powered by artificial intelligence that summarize a user’s listening habits.

Important facts

Who were the world’s biggest Spotify artists this year?

Billionaire pop star Taylor Swift was the most-streamed Spotify artist worldwide for the second year in a row, and her blockbuster album The Tortured Poets Department was the most-streamed album of the year. Swift had three of the top 10 most-streamed albums this year: her 2023 re-recorded album “1989 (Taylor’s Version)” was at No. 6, while her five-year-old project “Lover” was at No. 8. Behind Swift, The Weeknd was the second most streamed artist this year, followed by Bad Bunny, Drake and Billie Eilish. Sabrina Carpenter’s summer hit “Espresso” was the most streamed song this year, followed by “Beautiful Things” by Benson Boone, “Birds of a Feather” by Eilish, “Gata Only” by FloyyMenor and Cris Mj and “Lose Control” by Teddy Swims. Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars’ song “Die With A Smile” was the most “viral” song of this year according to Spotify, meaning it was shared more than any other song on social platforms.

Who were Spotify’s biggest US artists in 2024?

In the United States, Swift also secured the top artist and album spot, while “Espresso” was the biggest song, although country and hip-hop artists performed much better in the U.S. than worldwide. Country star Morgan Wallen’s “One Thing At A Time” was the second-biggest album in the United States this year, and his song “I Had Some Help” with Post Malone was the fourth-biggest song. Kendrick Lamar’s dissident track “Not Like Us” was the second-largest song in the United States, followed by Shaboozey’s record-breaking country hit “A Bar Song (Tipsy).” After Swift, Drake was the second-largest artist, followed by country stars Zach Bryan and Wallen and rappers Kanye West, Future, Lamar and Travis Scott.

What were the biggest podcasts of this year?

For the fifth consecutive year, podcast mogul Joe Rogan’s “Joe Rogan Experience” was the most streamed podcast on Spotify both globally and in the United States, even after Rogan ended his exclusive contract with Spotify earlier this year. “Call Her Daddy” by Alex Cooper, popular with female listeners, was ranked as the second most popular podcast worldwide and in the United States. Comedian Theo Von’s podcast ranked No. 3 in the U.S. this year, followed by true crime show Crime Junkie and The New York Times’ The Daily. Many of the top podcasts played a big role in the presidential election. President-elect Donald Trump spoke with four of the top 10 podcasters in the final months of his campaign: Rogan, Von, Tucker Carlson and Shawn Ryan. Vice President Kamala Harris spoke with Cooper, and she and Rogan reportedly could not agree on the terms of an interview.

tangent

Social media users have often joked that they’re waiting until Spotify stops collecting their data so they can safely listen to music they’d be embarrassed if it ended up in their Spotify Wrapped. More than 200,000 users liked an “Cheat Months” where users can listen to safely access and share Christmas music without fear of it showing up on Spotify Wrapped.

Important background

Spotify launched its Wrapped marketing campaign in 2016 and began providing Instagram story sharing graphics to users as part of its Wrapped packages in 2019. The Wrapped campaign was a major marketing success for the streaming platform: According to Spotify, more than 156 million users accessed their Wrapped package in 2022, up from 120 million the year before. Social media analytics firm SproutSocial found that 400 million posts were made on Spotify Wrapped on Spotify typically introduces new features for the Wrapped campaign every year. In last year’s edition, each user was assigned a “sound city,” a city that matches their musical tastes, leading to viral jokes on social media that Burlington, Vermont and Cambridge, Massachusetts, may be home to large communities of queer artists and artists LGBTQ listeners. In 2022, listeners were assigned listener personality types using the Meyers-Briggs personality test.

Further reading

Spotify Wrapped 2023 Is Coming Soon: Here’s How It Became a Viral and Widely Copied Marketing Tactic (Forbes)

Spotify Packs ‘Sound Towns’: Theories Abound on Social Media About Why You Were Assigned to Berkeley or Burlington (Forbes)