An algorithmic event: The celebration and critique of Spotify Wrapped

Abstract

As the year draws to a close, the marketing campaign ‘Spotify Wrapped’ invites users to share their personalised data story on social media. We draw on empirical insights from five creative workshops to examine how university students perceive and respond to the logics of this ‘algorithmic event’ and assertion of identity through ‘wrappification’. Our analysis identifies four themes: the resonance of Wrapped, limits of the Wrapped self, ambience of music and contestations of Spotify’s governance. These themes reflect the multifaceted emotions evoked in users, ranging from celebration of personalisation to critique of data capture. They also demonstrate contradictory views of classification systems. While our participants are deeply attuned to the algorithmic and commercial forces of streaming, their engagement with music often transcends the platform’s affordances. By examining these negotiated practices during an algorithmic event, our study extends debates on the platformisation of culture, especially regarding music’s aesthetic and functional values.

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