There is a chill in the air, lights have been strung between the trees and winter coats are a daily necessity. All of this can only mean one thing: it is Season of Spotify Wrapped. Today, Spotify Wrapped is starting to roll out to users around the world with a bunch of new features powered by Google’s NotebookLM powered by artificial intelligence.
To be honest, some of them are, shall we say, interesting. Notably, Spotify is releasing a My Wrapped AI podcast with two hosts discussing all of your listening preferences for the year. These hosts in question run on the same technology that NotebookLM uses to render audio overviews. Podcasts should be between three and six minutes long, shareable and available to free and premium users in the US, UK, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Ireland and Sweden for a limited time. If you like listening to AI, you might be into this, but personally, I’m happy with my regular rundown. Spotify warns that it may not “provide a complete overview” and could mispronounce words or use inappropriate language if it’s in a song title, for example.
Then there’s the AI DJ, which shows you the music you’ve listened to and gives you feedback. Yes, this sounds a bit like the AI podcast, but it should focus more on the actual music and how you used the DJ. It should also touch on things like your top artists and most played songs. However, this feature and a wrapped version of Spotify AI Playlist they are only available to premium subscribers.
As always, you can also see how your listening choices compare to other users. Spoiler that isn’t really a spoiler: Taylor Swift and her album Department of the Tortured Poet held the most streamed spots for the artist and album, respectively, both in the United States and globally. The women took the top five spots for the most streamed albums worldwide Espresso by Sabrina Carpenter held the title of the most streamed song in the United States and the world. Other categories of interest include the best podcasts and most viral songs, plus an interesting addition: audiobooks.
Spotify has he relied heavily on audiobooks this year, launching a subscription only for medium i new tools like a sleep timer and detailed author pages. So it’s no surprise that the platform has released its first year-end rankings for audiobooks. A court of thorns and roses by Sarah J. Maas was the top audiobook for premium users both in the US and globally, almost inevitable for anyone paying even a little attention to book trends this year. Also this year, authors will join creators, artists, podcasters and advertisers to receive a Wrapped all about how their readers listened to their books in 2024.
As always, Spotify Wrapped seems to be a bit creepy (like many new AI creations) and the usual burst of fun. You can explore these features and more in your Spotify Wrapped or, if all of this has been irrelevant to you, perhaps in the announcement that was just announced. Amazon Music delivered or through Apple Music Replay.
