Spotify Wrapped, TikTok—Maybe the Algorithms Are Losing Touch

If there’s one term that’s been used more than others when describing this year’s Spotify Wrapped, it’s this: flat. Between its “Pink Pilates Princess Roller Skating Pop” phases and AI-generated mini-podcasts, lots of listeners took time away from the time-honored tradition of posting their cringiest Wrapped stats to say that this year’s offerings were milquetoast at best. The annual tradition “lost what made it so dynamic in the first place,” wrote a third, citing things like location- and music-based Sound Towns that rolled out with Wrapped in previous years. Those layoffs are showing.” Quite a few frustrated Spotify users referenced layoffs at the company and questioned whether its shedding of key talent was to blame for Wrapped’s fizzle. The company let go of some 1,500 people, 17 percent of its workforce, this time last year, something CEO Daniel Ek later acknowledged “did disrupt our day-to-day operations more than we anticipated.” Seemingly, Wrapped relied on AI more than ever this year, with AI podcasts to analyze your listening habits, an algorithmic playlist hosted by Spotify’s AI DJ, and bizarre, probably AI-generated genre descriptions.