🎧 What Spotify will never know about you

Wrapped will always have something missing. [READER]( The Daily Reader December 6, 2023 What Spotify will never know about your taste. Last week, Spotify rolled out its Wrapped marketing campaign, which repackages its users’ data into simply designed infographics that highlight their listening habits during the past 11 months or so. If you have one or more social media accounts, or a group chat with people who share music, chances are high that you’ve seen a loved one (or, who am I kidding, a complete stranger whose post lands in your feed) share a Spotify graphic that told them who their “top” artist of the year was based on the number of minutes they spent streaming that act on one specific app. I find this campaign quizzical. I’m not often surprised by the data, which confirms what I already know about how I use Spotify. It’s part of a mishmash of platforms and physical media that make up my listening diet, and it’s a small enough portion that I can generally recall what I spent a lot of time with on the app. And I, like anyone with even a passing grasp of how digital advertising works, know that the Wrapped campaign is a promotional tactic to celebrate a corporation [more than the music (and the labor behind that music) it constantly undervalues](. As an aside, I suspect whatever good vibes Wrapped surfaced for Spotify have been stained by the news of incoming layoffs at the organization. On Monday, Spotify announced it would cut 1,500 jobs—that’s a fifth of its workforce and the company’s third layoff this year, according to the [New York Times](. I mostly find Wrapped interesting when its data points are out of sync with what I know of myself as a listener. This happens annually. I’m told, for example, Smashing Pumpkins are among my “top” bands of the year, despite the fact that I’ve forgotten all of their newest album, May’s ATUM. And yet, that album runs more than two hours, which I slogged through despite myself, and because Spotify calculates its Wrapped data based on the cumulative time users spent on different acts, I suspect I have ATUM to blame for Smashing Pumpkins landing in my top five in the year 2023. I imagine many of you have run into similar confounding aberrations in your Spotify Wrapped, which conforms to a dataset and not your taste, or personality, or even you; I have friends with young kids whose emerging tastes affect what Spotify thinks of the account owner. These errors, for lack of a better term, fascinate me. These blips show our ability to untether ourselves from a corporate platform designed to be the central organism for all our listening needs; Spotify can tell us what we think we like, and even when these brief summaries get close, something will always be missing. At least, that’s how I feel about it—in part because I am continually seeking out music that challenges or evolves my own tastes. What I loved in January I may feel different about today. This is why I continue to keep track of albums I’ve listened to for the first time throughout the year . . . a habit that also helps me with my work. I’m finalizing a year-in-review music list for an upcoming issue of the Reader. I hope the results surprise you as much as they do me. Sincerely, [Doppelganger: A Trip into the Mirror World]( by Naomi Klein [“The Freeze Is Sold, And Longtime Owner Is Uncertain Beloved Spot Will Serve Ice Cream Again,”]( by Mack Liederman (Block Club Chicago) Isaiah Collier, [Parallel Universe]( drowse, [Wayne into It]( Oui Ennui, [Excessive Moderation]( ❄️ Leor’s [“First December 2023 playlist”]( playlist [Partywatcher honors his Dominican roots with his first all-Spanish release]( Plus: Hardcore band Hostages play the Bottle on the heels of their best single yet, and postmetal trio Locrian cover experimental idols Coil on a new EP. by [J.R. Nelson]( and [Leor Galil]( | [Read more]( → [Loona Dae opens up a new world of psychedelic R&B]( The Chicago singer learned to skateboard with FroSkate, then fed that momentum into her first album. by [Alejandro Hernandez]( | [Read more]( → [Will Miller’s Resavoir makes a serene return with a new self-titled album]( by [Tasha Viets-VanLear]( | [Read more]( → [Reflection, resilience, and now remembrance in Crossing Borders Music’s focus on Arab string quartets]( by [Hannah Edgar]( | [Read more]( → In 2024, we want to show you Chicago like you’ve never seen the city before. Become a Reader member for as little as $5 a month. Every member receives an advance PDF of every issue, free or discounted entry to Reader-sponsored events, and limited-edition swag delivered to your door. 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