Another year is nearly over, and our listening has just received its annual dissection in ‘Wrapped’ from Swedish streaming giant Spotify.
Whatever you think of the streaming company’s position in the market today, you can’t deny that they play an integral part in shaping all our music experiences.
Wrapped is a celebration of the diversity within this. For some, it’s even an exposing look into their private listening, with some rather interesting findings within…
Here at Platform, though, we’re quite proud of our picks.
Without further ado, here were our key statistics from the last year!
Joe James
My Spotify Wrapped for 2021 is on the whole what I expected.
Unsurprisingly, The Weeknd was my number one artist of the year. I was even among the top 0.5% of his listeners, which is certainly dedicated.
Sam Fender, The 1975, Bruce Springsteen and Phoebe Bridgers rounded off my top five.
‘Surrounded By Heads and Bodies’, a rather delicate album track by The 1975, took the top spot for songs, which doesn’t shock me due to the minimalist lyrics and production that leave you wanting more.
‘Smoke Signals’ by Phoebe Bridgers also claimed a spot, but it was Sam Fender’s ‘Seventeen Going Under’ and ‘Spit of You’ that really embodied my year, with both songs being intertwined within moments of personal significance.
Rucsandra Moldoveanu
After 2020 saw Eurovision being cancelled due to the pandemic, it was clear that I was going to make the most out of this year’s contest.
Fittingly then, my top artist was Måneskin.
I was in the top 0.1% of their listeners, which is quite the achievement given that I have only been listening to them since the end of May.
Not only that, but four out of my top five songs were also theirs, respectively ‘ZITTI E BUONI’ (which I have apparently listened to “a very reasonable 141 times”), ‘VENT’ANNI’, ‘LA PAURA DEL BUIO’, and ‘CORALINE’.
My fourth most listened to song was, however, ‘Maneater’ by Nelly Furtado, which is not at all surprising as I seem to blast that every time the smallest inconvenience occurs as it instantly lifts my mood.
I also really liked the audio aura and music moods slide, and was happy to find that my moods were powerful and empowering.
Will Hugall (A note from the Editor)
As I said to my Instagram followers, my lists this year were rather eclectic.
In eleven months that involved nigh-on 50,000 minutes of listening and almost 2,000 different artists, maybe this was inevitable.
For a start, I learned that my top song of the year was ‘The Look’ by Roxette – played 77 times.
I honestly can’t remember listening to the track – a hit in 1988, for anyone unfamiliar – in about six months, but I will own it as my song of the year.
It’s an undisputed banger.
Completing possibly the most random top five out there were ‘Overkill’ and ‘Deep End’ by Holly Humberstone, ‘Itchycoo Park’ by the Small Faces (due to a summertime 1960s obsession), and George Ezra’s ‘Budapest’.
Arctic Monkeys, who were my top artist in 2018, made it back to the top of the tree this time around.
It was unexpected in a year where they have been utterly inactive, but was probably a testament to the depth of their discography.
Elsewhere in my top five artists, my well-publicised love for Humberstone and Sports Team was balanced by the appearance of Dua Lipa and Dean Martin; my go-to pop and easy listening artists.
There was plenty of Fontaines D.C., Glass Animals and Emotional Oranges in my top 100 songs, and other than Sam Fender, Olivia Rodrigo and Måneskin, I seemed to forego most big trends this year.
It was certainly an inconsistent year of listening for me, but an enjoyable one, and I’m proud of my hodgepodge, lived-in list.
If you’d like to reveal your top songs and artists in Wrapped 2021 as well, drop a comment below! We’d love to know how varied Platform’s listening is!