Spotify Wrapped has finally dropped, giving users a look at their most-listened-to music of 2022.
The annual feature reveals the songs, albums, artists and podcasts you’ve played the most over the year, as well as the top tunes of Spotify’s 456 million users overall.
But rival Apple Music Replay is also now trending as fans of that platform enjoy what it has to offer as a review of their year.
So which one is better?
After much anticipation Spotify Wrapped is finally here, giving users a look at their most-listened music of 2022
What is Spotify Wrapped?
Spotify Wrapped is described by Spotify as ‘a deep dive into the music and podcasts that defined your year’.
It gives users visual charts of the music and podcasts that they’ve listened to the most annually.
Music streaming giant Spotify is about to remind you just how cringe your listening habits are, with the launch of its annual Wrapped playlists
Spotify Wrapped began in December 2016, and has been promoted by Spotify every year since.
Wrapped is simply a marketing campaign intended to promote Spotify, but it’s gained popularity among users who love to show off their fashionable tastes in music.
Its release around the start of early December each year has correlated with a boost to Spotify’s app store ranking, so the Swedish streaming giant makes a big effort to add to the hype beforehand.
What is Apple Music Replay?
This year Apple Music has launched a revamped 2022 experience.
It allows subscribers to see their top artists, songs, albums and more, including a Stories-like highlight reel of a user’s listening history from 2022.
People can also see if they are in the top 100 listeners of a specific artist or genre.
‘When we first launched Replay, the feature became an instant fan favorite on Apple Music, and we really wanted to develop the experience further and make it even more special, personal, and unique for subscribers,’ said Oliver Schusser, Apple’s vice president of Apple Music and Beats.
This year Apple Music has launched a revamped 2022 experience. It allows subscribers to see their top artists, songs, albums and more, including a Stories-like highlight reel of a user’s listening history from 2022
‘The music we enjoy throughout the year becomes like a soundtrack, and it’s really fun to be able to go back and relive those meaningful and memorable moments over again.’
Apple Music listeners are able to continue checking Replay until December 31 to see if their listening patterns evolve before the start of 2023.
Then, once the new year begins, they can keep listening on Apple Music to explore and share new 2023 insights each week.
What sets the two apart?
Spotify says that it has about 195 million paying subscribers and another 261 million who use the free ad-supported version, while estimates put Apple Music’s paid subscriber base at around 88 million.
Apple Music’s revamp, which includes the ability to see if a person is in the top 100 listeners of a specific artist or genre, is similar to Spotify’s Wrapped functionality.
This notifies users if they’re in the top listener percentage for a certain artist.
Replay is still only accessible via the web but the feature does now more closely resemble Spotify Wrapped and its interactive nature.
Where the former differs, is that users can keep checking Replay until December 31 to see if their listening patterns evolve before the start of 2023.
Replay will continue to evolve until the end of the year, while Wrapped does not.
The redesigned Replay also allows users to share their 2022 listening habits on social media, which again is following in the footsteps of Spotify Wrapped.
That is one of the features that made the latter so popular.
So which is better?
Tough call. A lot of what they do is similar, so for many it will be down to the platform they use most and call home. But it’s clear with Apple Music’s revamp it is trying to mimic a lot of what has made Spotify successful.
It is clear with Apple Music’s revamp it is trying to mimic a lot of what has made Spotify successful
The UK’S most streamed music
In the UK, the most played song of 2022 is ‘As It Was’ by Harry Styles, which knocked up close to 97 million streams.
Styles is joined in the top five by Kate Bush’s ‘Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God)’, which got more than 63 million streams in the UK.
The song was originally released in 1986 but it saw an enormous surge in popularity thanks to its appearance in the latest series of Netflix’s ‘Stranger Things’.
Globally, streams of the song increased more than 8,700 per cent in the spring when the series was released.
It was also one of the most streamed ‘throwback songs’ (songs released more than 20 years ago), along with ‘Yellow’ by Coldplay and ‘The Real Slim Shady’ by Eminem.
