AS THE year comes to an end, many students anticipate seeing their Spotify Wrapped or their Apple Music Replay. In 2023, 574 million people used Spotify and received a Spotify Wrapped recap of their music journey for 2023.
In 2016, Spotify Wrapped launched to all Spotify users to show their top artist, top genres, etc. This led other companies to copy this end-of-year recap format. Apple Music Replay was released in 2019, and in a way, it was copied from Spotify Wrapped.
Ajla Mahir (9) uses Spotify. “I have been using Spotify for a really long time now, and it’s honestly the best in my opinion,” she said.
Britney Hernandez (11) said “I have never used Spotify, so I can’t say what is better honestly, so I am just used to Apple Music.”
This year on Spotify and Apple Music the #1 most streamed artist was Taylor Swift. She had more than 26.1 billion streams this year just on Spotify alone. Taylor Swift sent a special message to Swifties who are Spotify users thanking them for listening to her music.
Taylor also wasn’t just the #1 streamed, she also had two songs on top ten songs globally for Spotify. “Cruel Summer” being at number #6 and “Anti-Hero” at #10. She also had two albums on the top ten list as well: Midnights and Lover. She is the only artist this year to have two songs and two albums in the top ten.
The second most streamed artist was Bad Bunny, his hit album, Un Verano Sin Ti, was released May 6, 2022, and was still being listened to in 2023, which put Bad Bunny on the Billboard music charts again this year and made it to the top ten albums globally. Bad Bunny did release an album this year, which was Nadie Sabe Lo Que Va Pasar Mañana, but it didn’t reach as high as expected.
“My top artist this year was Frank Ocean,” Hernandez said.
“My top artist this year was Kanye West,” Mahir said.
Frank Ocean and Kanye West were not in the top ten artists globally.
This year the top genre was pop for first, EDM for second and rap for third. This year is the second year where rap isn’t the most listened to genre on Spotify. “My top genre this year was R&B, and I’m surprised it’s not one of the top three,” Hernandez said.
“This year, my top genre was rap, and I’m kinda shocked that rap is third on Spotify. I feel like a lot of people listen to rap,” Mahir said.
As the rivalry of Spotify and Apple continues, Spotify Wrapped is proving more entertaining than Apple Music Replay in many articles and sources online. Apple Music also does get its fair share of listeners, only if Apple had a way to make Apple Music Replay more interesting, they would have more listeners. Now Lancers will have another year to stream their favorites in preparation for 2024’s recaps on Spotify Wrapped or Apple Music Replay.
