Unwrapping Spotify Wrapped: How Your Year in Music Became a Marketing Masterpiece

Posted on October 24, 2024 | Updated on October 24, 2024

Spotify Wrapped is a marketing masterpiece — and the reason why is surprisingly simple. As we near the release of Spotify Wrapped 2024, it is in marketing professionals’ best interest to understand the secrets behind Spotify’s successful marketing strategy. 

The Complete History of Spotify Wrapped 

In 2013, a handful of employees at Spotify came up with “Year in Review” after realizing people might be interested in the wealth of data they had on user activity. Users could see who their top artist was, how many minutes they streamed, their top ten albums, and how many times they listened to their favorite track. 

How Spotify Wrapped was made. Source: Spotify

By 2016, a Year in Review was rebranded to Spotify Wrapped. Since then, it has reached a near-legendary status. The company promotes it like clockwork, releasing users’ listening data at the end of each year. It uses an algorithm to deliver targeted content, so it has a wealth of information on genres, albums, artists, songs, and more. 

In an interview with Variety, Alex Bodman, Spotify’s global executive creative director, said staff would love to say Wrapped was a “marketing stroke of genius.” In reality, it started as a way to reward loyal users. Eventually, they realized they could use it to get people to talk about their brand, which made them reimagine the original year-in-review concept. 

What Users Think About Spotify Wrapped

User reception of Spotify Wrapped has been overwhelmingly positive since it came out. People literally ask for it for months leading up to the annual release date, posting nonstop on social media and furiously Googling in search of more details. The search term “when is Spotify Wrapped coming out” saw spikes in November 2021, 2022 and 2023, hitting peak popularity. 

The year-in-review format was tailor-made to be shareable. It has fun graphics, bite-sized chunks of information, and customization, making it perfect for social media. Posting about it has almost become an annual tradition of sorts on platforms like Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat and Facebook. Plus, it categorizes users into groups, incentivizing them to congregate. 

A Tweet about Spotify Wrapped. Source: https://x.com/stevlmao/status/1729519707722576369

In addition to posting personalized infographics, individuals are making memes and sharing relatable inner monologues. For example, one user posted “Me pretending to be shocked when the only artist I ever listen to is my top artist.” This is part of Spotify’s marketing strategy — it drives engagement and brand awareness, leading to more app downloads. 

A Tweet about Spotify Wrapped. Source: https://x.com/sidewalkssss/status/1729877052869013693

Brian Uzzi, a professor at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management, told National Public Radio that people love Spotify Wrapped because it is “irresistible,” and they enjoy identifying with the content they consume. He describes it as human culture, saying it satisfies people’s sense of belonging while fulfilling their need to be different. 

Admittedly, some people find the whole thing annoying. They dislike seeing their feed flooded with posts about an audio streaming app. However, their animosity toward the year-in-music format is arguably a good thing. It shows that brand loyalty is strong enough to create a huge, consistent surge in engagement each year. Either way, all press is good press. 

A Breakdown of Spotify Wrapped’s Marketing

With Wrapped, Spotify’s marketing strategy revolves around user-generated content. It creates a shareable, aesthetic infographic to reward you for using its product consistently throughout the year. The secrecy around which features it will add or what visuals it will use incentivizes you to access and share your metrics as soon as possible. 

Plus, there are new features every year. In 2020, the app had you guess your top artist. One year later, the audio aura — a color gradient representing listening habits — came out. In 2022, you were assigned a listening personality. The tailored videos from artists were a huge hit in 2023. Spotify Wrapped 2024 is sure to have some similar gimmicks.

The visuals for Wrapped 2023
Spotify Wrapped 2019. Source: Spotify Newsroom

You probably get the point by now. Each passing year provides a new opportunity for staff to reimagine Wrapped, keeping you returning for more. While the concept alone is interesting enough, these incremental updates let them tell new stories through data, helping you start conversations year after year. 

The visuals for Wrapped 2022
Spotify Wrapped 2022. Source: Spotify Newsroom

The interesting thing about Spotify Wrapped marketing is that it taps into a deep-rooted desire for belonging and a need to be known. Research suggests that belonging is a primary, universal urge similar to the need for food, self-protection, water, shelter, and clothing. The psychology behind Spotify Wrapped is undeniably powerful.

People want to feel like insiders — part of the group. This need for belonging stems from humanity’s ancestral roots. It motivates them to share stories to find similarities. At the same time, they crave uniqueness, wanting to be special. Spotify prioritizes the user experience, so the fact this app’s year in review satisfies these needs is unsurprising. 

How Wrapped Became a Marketing Success

Executives and creative directors know they’ve struck gold with Spotify Wrapped marketing. In 2017, one year after the year-in-review debuted, around 30 million users accessed it. By 2021, over 120 million were tuned in. In 2022, that figure rose to 156 million — a 420% increase in just over five years. 

This company has turned end-year metrics into a cultural phenomenon by strategically withholding information to create hype. In 2022, it tweeted, “Want to be the first to know when #SpotifyWrapped is here? Like this tweet and we’ll remind you!” The post got over 231,800 likes, nearly 1,300 bookmarks, and almost 5,500 reposts. 

A Tweet from Spotify. Source: https://x.com/Spotify/status/1597092976626475009?lang=en

Spotify’s marketing strategy is ingenious. It has translated the popularity of Wrapped into revenue by offering timely discounts on artists’ merchandise, driving in-app engagement, and making tickets highly visible. These efforts have paid off. In 2022, the year in music resulted in the largest merch sales week in the company’s entire history. 

Spotify Wrapped marketing increased subscriber count and advertisement earnings. In 2023, it reported its monthly active users were up by 23% year over year, amounting to 602 million individuals. In the same period, its premium subscribers grew by 15%, reaching 236 million. Its user engagement increased by 40% across 170 markets. In total, its annual revenue hit almost $4 billion, up 16% from 2022. 

The app often sees elevated download, and subscriber counts around the time the year in review comes out. Its popularity has spawned several knockoffs — YouTube Music’s “Recap” and Apple Music’s “Replay” are some examples. Even non-audio-streaming platforms like The Washington Post, Duolingo, and GrubHub have imitated it. 

Will Spotify Wrapped 2024 Be Any Different?

Spotify’s marketing strategy has been incredibly popular, driving tens of millions more people to the app every year. Chances are, Spotify Wrapped 2024 will use the same formula and experience the same success. It will undoubtedly release new features, visuals, and data points for users to share. 

Spotify Wrapped 2024 page.
The pre-release page for Spotify Wrapped 2024. Source: Spotify

If Spotify Wrapped 2024 is anything like its predecessors, it will spawn a wave of merch sales and Premium purchases. Also, there will inevitably be a surge in social media posts about the end-year metrics leading up to the release date, with a flood of screenshots soon following. Whether people like it or hate it, it is a fantastic approach to marketing. 

When does Spotify Wrapped come out in 2024? It will likely release some time in late November or early December. When does Spotify Wrapped stop tracking data? While the company has never revealed the exact date, its statements suggest the cut-off date happens a few weeks before it launches the year in review. 

What Makes Spotify Wrapped Marketing Genius 

Spotify’s marketing strategy is fun and effective — the ideal combination to entice people to create user-generated content. While marketing professionals may consider its success a stroke of luck, they shouldn’t so easily dismiss the strategic thinking behind this campaign.

About The Author

Eleanor Hecks is the Editor-in-Chief of Designerly Magazine, an online publication dedicated to providing in-depth content from the design and marketing industries. When she's not designing or writing code, you can find her exploring the outdoors with her husband and dog in their RV, burning calories at a local Zumba class, or curled up with a good book with her cats Gem and Cali.

You can find more of Eleanor's work at www.eleanorhecks.com.

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