When Does Spotify Wrapped Come Out?

Every December, the internet does something beautifully chaotic. Somehow, we all stop whatever we are doing to compare music tastes with strangers. Suddenly, our timelines become colourful slides, everyone turns into a self-appointed music critic, and Spotify Wrapped drops like the year’s biggest surprise party invitation.

It is the one moment when your most-played sad song, gym anthem, or oddly specific playlist from earlier in the year gets proudly or reluctantly displayed for the world to see.

But beyond the memes and collective excitement, Spotify Wrapped has become a yearly ritual. It is a digital time capsule that reminds us who we were, what we felt, and the songs that carried us through it all. People wait for it, guess the release date, and treat it like Christmas arriving early. And honestly, who doesn’t love a personalised highlight reel?

So, when exactly does Spotify Wrapped come out, how does Spotify pull all this data together, and why does it make us feel so connected every year? Here is everything you need to know about the world’s most eagerly anticipated music reveal.

READ ALSO: How to Upload Music to Spotify (Simple Step-By-Step Guide)

Spotify Wrapped is your personalised end-of-year music summary. It packages your entire listening behaviour into sleek, colourful, swipeable slides that feel part report card, part diary, and part confession.

It highlights:

• Your top artists

• Your top songs

• Your top genres

• Total minutes listened

• Your listening personality

• Artists or genres you discovered

• Your most-played month

• Your peak listening hours

• And sometimes fun extras like your sound town or mood profile

In summary, it is your whole year in music but with flair. Wrapped feels personal because music is personal. It exposes parts of your life you may not have even said out loud. Maybe your heartbreak lasted longer than you told the group chat. Perhaps you went through your soft-girl era. Or you became a secret rock fan. One thing is sure, wrapped doesn’t lie.

READ ALSO: Spotify Now Allows You See Weekly Listening Stats 

Spotify Wrapped typically drops in late November or early December, most often during the first week of December. I got curious and noticed that over the last four years, it seems to have a pattern:

• Wrapped 2020: 2 December

• Wrapped 2021: 1 December

• Wrapped 2022: 30 November

• Wrapped 2023: 29 November

• Wrapped 2024: Early December

So, if you have been anticipating just like I have, I’d say expect it between 29 November and 5 December. Although Spotify likes to surprise us, and this is probably why there is no definite date, this window has remained consistent. So yes, you can start refreshing your app around the end of this week.

READ ALSO: You Can Finally Pick Songs on Spotify Free

If there is one thing, this is the part most people are curious about. You wonder, how does Spotify know so much? Well, I have gone through the stress, so you don’t have to and here is the breakdown:

Most people assume the data covers the whole year, but Wrapped only counts listening from 1 January to about 31 October, sometimes early November as well, but never the whole year. This gives Spotify enough time to process billions of streams.

For a song to count, you must stream it for 30 seconds or more. Anything skipped before then won’t be added to your stats.

If you listened to a song 150 times? Don’t worry, Spotify sees you. If you rinsed an album for two straight months? Spotify sees you even louder. Your top songs and artists are ranked strictly by frequency and duration.

Spotify assigns every artist and song a genre profile in its system. So, your Wrapped combines the tags of everything you listened to from Afrobeats, Alté, R&B, Indie, Pop, etc., to find your top five.

In recent years, Spotify added “listening personalities.” You must have noticed things like:

• The Early Adopter

• The Voyager

• The Luminary

• The Replayer

These are created by assessing how often you explore new artists, whether you stick to your favourites, how diverse your genres are and how frequently you return to old songs. It is basically Spotify psycho-analysing your taste.

Spotify tracks your first-time plays of new artists, your mood-based listening patterns, when you listen the most, and your seasonal habits. Trust me, it is very detailed.

READ ALSO: You Can Now Send DMs on Spotify: Here’s How the New Feature Works

Spotify Wrapped has become a cultural moment such that even people who don’t post their Wrapped still check it privately. We anticipate it because it is fun and personal. It is aesthetically pleasing, makes people feel connected, and has become a yearly ritual.

Also, it sparks memes, jokes, and banter, helps people show off their musical identity, and, most importantly, serves as a reminder that the year is officially coming to an end.

So keep an eye out, the song you think will top your list might not even make the cut, and that one artist you didn’t rate might somehow be your number one. One thing is true: Spotify never lies, and Wrapped loves exposing the secret chaos you didn’t know you created.

READ ALSO: Do Dogs Like Music? What Science Says and How to Try It Safely