The Big Problem With Spotify Wrapped

For some, Black Friday ushers in the holiday season. And in return for entertaining its users for the day, Spotify gets its annual chance to drive a social media trend and reap the benefits of free advertising as millions share their Wrapped publicly. “This is a particularly shining example of the fact that Spotify’s business model is based on surveillance,” says Evan Greer, director of the digital rights advocacy group Fight for the Future. “Wrapped is one of the most exciting times for Spotify users each year,” Spotify spokesperson Laura Batey said in an email. “We have built something special that our audience anticipates and looks forward to.” What makes Spotify so good at creating these lists and predicting the music that users want to hear is a robust artificial intelligence system and its immense data trove.