Same thing, Different Year… Or Was It?
According to Forbes, Spotify has offered their Wrapped campaign near the end of each year for users and bands since 2015. On the user side, it shows each user a variation of their favorite songs, genres, and artists based on the number of listens. For bands, it would give basic reach and engagement statistics based on song listens and geographic demographics. Hootsuite reports that Spotify switched from their Wrapped microsite format into a social media format in 2017. This users and bands to share their data with their followers. Yes, you read those sentences right. THIS HAS BEEN AROUND SINCE 2015! So what made the campaign blow up last year? The simple answer: The timing and data it provided.
Ah, The Good Ole Days
Can you believe 2019 was JUST 10 MONTHS AGO?! The end of that year was exciting. We were at the end of one of the most technologically advanced decades of all times and going into the next thinking the sky was the limit (oh how naive we were). So how did Spotify tie into this? Their marketing team is full of geniuses! When other streaming services with different variations of the Wrapped campaign just saw a normal end of the year, Spotify realized it was much more. This was the end of the first-ever “music streaming decade.” They had loyal customers who have used their service since 2010. Why not reward them with seeing their data from a WHOLE DECADE?! Plus, seeing the songs and artists they listened to in 2010 might give some good laughs.
Yes, thinking back, it is absolutely horrifying that Spotify had user data that was 10 years old. Did their users care about it? Not one bit! In addition to their normal Wrapped, Spotify also introduced a summary for the whole decade. So in this data, users could have anywhere from David Guetta to Cardi B! In doing this, they took their Wrapped campaign to a whole new level. Because of how entertaining the decade data could be, everyone was craving seeing their friends decade Wrapped. For the two weeks before it got old, seeing others Wrapped data was the most entertaining thing on the internet. What made individual users so invested in this data was the nostalgia and emotions (both good and bad) that occurred when the Jonas Brothers were one of their top bands.
Was Spotify Wrapped a Flash in the Pan or is it Here to Stay?
Personally, I had known about Spotify Wrapped since its inception in 2015 and had loved it every single year. As with everyone else, I also believe that Spotify went above and beyond and succeed tremendously with their campaign. They did a stellar job combining their normal data with this special set of data for 2019 and making it enjoyable for everyone.
So the big question is if they can keep this up for their campaign next year. Short answer. Yes, last year’s performance of the campaign was probably a one-off event. However, if Spotify can find a way to make their Wrapped report unique to this year (maybe quarantined themed???), it could be just as successful as last year. Also, there could be a chance that they create so much buzz and hype last year that it might blend over into this year. For example, it has been famously memed by funny/edgy meme pages all year. I guess we will have to wait a month or so to find out!