The Soundtrack of your Year… or Life? Why are we so obsessed with what our music says about us?

The Soundtrack of your Year… or Life? Why are we so obsessed with what our music says about us?

By Kira O’Boyle

“You have changed, and so has your music”

Spotify Wrapped is my favourite day of the year. It is probably the most important day of the year as a music lover, an opportunity for some deep self-reflection on the journeys we have taken in the last twelve months through music, as well as the great opportunity to stalk and judge the music taste of others. 

As we delve into the New Year, ready to perhaps alter our music trends as a result of last year’s Wrapped ( if the Glee Cast were one your favourite artists…) Let’s consider something important:  Why are we so obsessed with what our music says about us?

People hold music in such a high regard, it literally helps us to build and express our identities, reflect our personalities, and connect our life experiences. As humans we chase nostalgia, constantly looking back on our past selves and memories - so when something like Spotify Wrapped comes around, it’s like looking through a photo album of memories. 

I must say the form of self-reflection represented in numerical data is highly satisfying, and while a personal competition to beat last year’s ‘minutes of music listened to’ is a factor –Spotify Wrapped unveils how we may have evolved and changed by what we have been through.  It’s so strange how a certain song can immediately take you back to your first love or heartbreak, a holiday or a certain icky club in your university hometown. Looking back on our year in music can really help us reflect on what we have experienced both personally and emotionally.

However, my 2024 Wrapped was disappointing compared to previous years… Where was the globe telling me where my music taste is from? My top albums? My favourite genres represented in the shape of a burger? The notable genres Spotify presented users with this year was extremely odd. In June I was in my ‘Surf Crush Happy Rock Indie phase’. 

“What kind of music are you into?” – Oh you know, ‘Pink Pilates Princess Hollywood Pop.’ What does that even mean!?

Sometimes I find myself in disbelief at my Spotify Wrapped. I build up this expectation of who I am based on the music I listen to, and I think I am way cooler than I am. We can use music to build these alter egos of ourselves, our fashion, our aesthetics, the way we see our environments.  So when that cool ‘underground artist’ that I think I listen to all the time isn’t on my Spotify Wrapped, but rather the songs that have come straight out of a 2012 school disco are, I feel betrayed. But then I remember that the most rogue songs hold the weight of special, random memories and connections, and that Spotify Wrapped is giving an honest representation of what your daily, natural self actually listens to – it is literally based on numerical data. 

The nerve of Spotify to reveal my cringey listening habits even though it is all my doing. It is a home truth that the music we listen to when we are alone is just an indicator of who we truly are. Years of claiming that I like Taylor Swift but I am not really a Swiftie soon came crumbling down when the recognition for being in the top 0.001% of Taylor Swift listeners was awarded. Definitely a Swiftie.

The truth is, sometimes I think Spotify knows me better than I do, and liking a certain artist or genre is never something to feel guilty about; I really am a huge pop music girl at heart, and listening to the High School Musical soundtrack is a clear sign that my childhood has never really left me. Guilty pleasures are a myth, music interconnects all the different niches and secret passions that we have, and we should wholeheartedly wear our music taste on our sleeves. 

It's not just our own music we are interested in, it’s the taste of others that can shape the way we understand them. Where stalking someone’s Spotify profile on a random day seems a step too far, the desperate need to see other people wrapped is a social event that we are all guilty of being involved in. Endlessly scrolling through stories of your following’s Spotify Wrapped on social media is the perfect opportunity to do so in a socially acceptable way. Reflecting on our own music is one thing, but comparing your music taste to others is all part of the fun. People plaster their Wrapped-on Instagram like it is their first-born child, and I am so here for it.  It provides the insight into other people’s lives without asking for it, and it opens a gate into how other’s view the world, and it feels especially exciting when you see that someone may view it in the very same way. 

Whilst comparing our top artists, favourite songs, and the annual round up of listening minutes is a novelty that will never wear out, it is clear that our music holds a huge importance in our self-identity. We care so much about something like Spotify Wrapped, because we are so engrossed in how we are reflected in what we consume. Whilst music doesn’t define us, it reflects those little pieces of memories and emotions that we carry with us, our never-ending longing for nostalgia. Whether your music exists in the connections you hold with others, or in the realms of your headphones – listen unapologetically, dance unapologetically, share unapologetically!