2023 Spotify Wrapped - I Went a Little Crazy

HAPPY SPOTIFY WRAPPED TIME!!

We are going to ignore I am MONTHS late, but like I said... busy.

This Spotify Wrapped, although I had been keeping up with it throughout 2023, left me a bit speechless with the statistics. While I am happy with the overall numbers I was left a little... underwhelmed, to say the least. For some context on how I view Spotify Wrapped, I use it as a guide for my goals music-wise; Wrapped gives me decent statistics (I love numbers) that make it easy to document my own trends when it comes to artists I listen to and amount of time I listen to. While I know Last.fm has a better way to keep track of those things, I didn't really start using it until 2021, I have been using Spotify's "Year-end" tracking since 2017/18 (can't remember). It is not the only thing I used to keep track of artists and songs I listen to, however, and it is not by any means a perfect system.

That being said this post will go over some of those statistics, the artists mentioned, and my goals for next year's Spotify Wrapped. 

Statistics:

Songs played: 14,943 songs

Minutes listened: 288,775 minutes

Artists Listened to: 6,517 artists

Genres: 276 genres

The statistics when it comes to how much I had listened to will always just be absurd. In all honesty, I do keep it on at night often, and at points, I was essentially living on two to three hours of sleep a day and music would be the only thing keeping me moving like a human. Either way, it is not something I boast about as much as I think I would have two or three years ago, because honestly what is the point of listening to so much music if you are not making the effort to listen to a lot of different songs and artists. 

Compared to 2022, I almost doubled most of the statistics, and I am proud of how diverse my music has become. While Spotify doesn't keep track of it, I have listened to many different languages and styles of songs. I think 2023 was one of the first years I allowed myself to listen to and like popular music. The little indie kid inside me is annoyed at it, but the even smaller kid inside me, who only listened to One Direction and Taylor Swift CDs, is dancing happily. I have also listened to much smaller artists and really got myself into Latin music, and I am happy I am getting closer to that part of my culture. Overall I am happy with these numbers. 

Top Artists/Songs:

Top Artists:

1.  Fox Academy (top 0.001% fan)
2.  Noah Kahan
3.  Ethel Cain
4.  Car Seat Headrest
5.  Boygenius

Top Songs:

1.  American Teenager - Ethel Cain
2.  A House in Nebraska - Ethel Cain
3.  Stick Season - Noah Kahan
4.  Hard Times - Ethel Cain
5.  Not Strong Enough - Boygenius

This was the year of repeating full albums for hours on end until I could no longer feel anything. Fox Academy came out with their new album Joseph's Deli & Lottery had no skips and "favorite team" is just so good. When they began putting out singles in 2022 I was honestly just expecting more singles in 2023 so having a whole album to put on my playlist and listen through was nice. In 2023 I also fell through a little nostalgia rabbit hole, listening through Fox Academy's entire discography multiple days in a row. Hearing their old stuff is far past nostalgic, I don't even reminisce about them because they are still so good in the present. Still, hearing their new stuff and just how much they have improved production-wise, while still having that unique Fox Academy sound... they truly never miss! 

I have written about both Noah Kahan and Ethel Cain in early posts which I highly recommend reading, but their respective albums Stick Season and Preacher's Daughter both changed me in ways I cannot explain. I am in a very hard transitional time in my life and both albums were able to put those things into words and stories that are beautiful to listen to. Their other works are also great, both have a decent amount of stuff in their discography that really just gets to you. Noah Kahan's "Someone Like You" with Joy Oladokun is a soft little melody, and Ethel Cain's "Crush" would be blasted in the car any chance I had. These were the only two new artists of the year that made it to my top 5, which I am as impressed by, not because of them, but because I was not aware of house much I just heard the other three. 

Car Seat Headrest was my number 1 in 2022, making it one of the first years Fox Academy was dethroned. I did not listen to them much in 2023 but their discography is vast and not a single one of their songs is a skip, it is easy to see them become a regular on my top 5 every year. While they did not come out with a new studio album in 2023, I went on a little deep dive on albums post Twin Fantasy, because in 2022 that album was essentially all I heard. I love "Big Jacket" and all of the versions in and out of Spotify, I feel like if we took the statistics from Bandcamp and Youtube on how much I listen to Car Seat Headrest they would easily rest higher on the list. 

While this is the first time Boygenius is in my top 5, I have been listening to Phoebe, Lucy, and Julian for years now. Their newest album The Record with the extended EP The Rest really pushed me forward on listening to all three of them, however. It is rare to hear songs or entire albums dedicated to a bond between friends, and I am just so happy how Boygenius has been able to show this 'beyond platonic' friendship that can happen between people, both in the songs and concerts. While all of the songs hit right in the heart, "Voyager" puts me in a state that very few songs do. 

I would go into detail on the top songs, but as all the songs are from the top 5 artists, I find it a little redundant. It really just demonstrates how much these artists have meant to me in this past year. 

2024 Spotify Wrapped Goals:

Around this time last year, I had an entire list of goals I wanted with my Spotify account: the number of songs, new playlists, languages to listen to, everything. Every number was higher than the year prior, and while I did not allow myself to look at it throughout the year, I had the numbers etched into my brain. It felt great knowing I was exceeding my own expectations, especially once the year drew closer to an end. Going through the process, however, was daunting. I had more days where I was burnt out listening to new music and found myself going back to old playlists and artists often. It frustrated me to waste time not listening to new artists, but I would still be stressed knowing I was fulfilling my goals.

Listening to music should never be taken that seriously. Especially when I am gaining nothing from it, outside of what I hope are good memories with the songs. 2023 was supposed to be the year I took it less seriously, actually, as I had seen a trend where every other year my stats were less than what I expected and were overall underwhelming years and 2022 was relatively good. So, when I looked back at 2023, while it was a stressful year, I was so proud of the music I had found, the playlists I had made, etc. I cannot call it underwhelming. 

Therefore, 2024 will be the year I relax. No goals, no specific statistics I am aiming for, I just want to enjoy the music I find and have fun with the process again. If the numbers are lower, that is okay. I just know I will be proud of the playlist that comes out of this year. 

Closer:

So that was my Wrapped! How was yours? Let me know in the comments below!

~ Limon☆