Spotify Wrapped is a highly anticipated annual event that showcases your listening habits throughout the year. It compiles data on your top artists, most-played songs, favorite genre, and your ranking compared to other fans of the same musicians.
Sharing your Spotify Wrapped results with friends has become a popular tradition leading up to the holiday season. However, some users have raised concerns about the accuracy of the data presented by Spotify. Recent findings suggest that discrepancies may exist when comparing Spotify Wrapped data with information collected by other tracking apps like Last FM or Stats FM.
The difference in results is not due to Spotify intentionally misleading users or promoting specific artists. Rather, it stems from how Spotify collects and processes data. One notable factor is Spotify’s cut-off period, which limits data collection up to mid-November each year.
For instance, a TikTok user named Sean discovered that Spotify Wrapped did not fully reflect his music listening habits for the entire year. By cross-referencing his data with Last FM, Sean found significant disparities. A key reason for this discrepancy is that Spotify’s tracking period typically spans from January 1st to mid-November, omitting the final month of the year.
Sean highlighted an example where a song released after the cut-off date did not appear in his Spotify Wrapped list, despite being one of his most-played tracks. This limitation raises questions about the completeness of the data provided by Spotify Wrapped.
Music experts at SeatPick echoed Sean’s concerns, emphasizing that Spotify’s cut-off period may result in missing data for users. Additionally, factors such as song length and listening habits can influence the accuracy of Spotify Wrapped results.
It is important to recognize that Spotify Wrapped serves as a promotional tool and is designed for social sharing rather than as a comprehensive data report. Therefore, users are advised to interpret the results with a degree of skepticism and enjoy the experience as a fun summary of their music listening trends.