Why your Spotify Wrapped is a mirror of your year, not a test of your taste

Your ‘Spotify Wrapped’ isn't just about music taste — it's also an emotional timeline revealing exactly how you were feeling during some of your best and worst moments each year. What does yours say about you? Columnist Emma Cam says she’ll go first.

News Corp reporter Emma Cam. Picture: Supplied.

It’s that time of year again. The time when friendships are tested, reputations are destroyed and some of us either rise in glory … or hide in shame.

Yes. Spotify Wrapped has arrived. Let me explain!

That sacred 48-hour window where you either get a year’s worth of bragging rights for having “immaculate taste” or you quietly log out of the app and pretend your phone died because you didn’t realise you listened to Manchild by Sabrina Carpenter, like one of my girlfriends, on repeat like it was her emotional support animal.

"I blasted Manchild eight times in a row." My girlfriend said to me when she was justifying her music choices. Girl – you do you! It's a great song and an even better video clip, no need to explain further. Picture: Supplied.

This one from 2022 my girlfriend is especially ashamed of, it's the first song – the Halloween edition she wanted to hide from the world forever. She was so ashamed of her music choices from this year she ghosted anyone who asked what her results were. Picture: Supplied.

It took me years and honestly, probably a few therapy sessions — to finally stand proud of my music taste. Because for the longest time, I dated men who were … how do I put this nicely? Music snobs.

One guy, whose name conveniently rhymes with ‘CLAM’, used to make me feel genuinely embarrassed for liking mainstream music.

The eye rolls. The sighs. The passive-aggressive, “Have you heard of real music?” comments.

“Yes CLAM, I have,” I would respond. My fav music is jazz, hands down love it to bits, it lifts my soul and regulates my nervous system.

But it got me thinking, and I just want to ask you dear reader: Why is everything a competition?

Why does liking niche music suddenly make someone morally superior?

Does it unlock a secret door in Narnia? Do you get a badge?

Because last I checked, music is deeply personal. It’s tied to memories, heartbreaks, road trips, grief, joy, bad decisions, great decisions and the occasional bathroom floor cry.

It’s not a sport. No one’s handing out Olympic medals for avoiding the charts.

SO this year, when my friend reminded me it was “time”, my Spotify Wrapped humbled me in ways I was not prepared for.

My listening age apparently came back as Gen Z. I’m 24. Even Spotify added, “Don’t take this personally.”

Excuse me? I absolutely did.

Why your Spotify Wrapped is a mirror of your year, not a test of your taste. Picture: iStock.

My stats: I listened to 1,347 songs this year.

My number one song was Gasoline by HAIM featuring Taylor Swift — which, honestly ‘CLAM’ would be proud of, because he introduced me to HAIM. (So no, he wasn’t a total waste of my time. Just … mostly.)

I also had a brief but intense love affair with Blue Flame by Selena Gomez (don’t ask questions), and Messy by Lola Young made the list because that one lived on repeat during a very specific emotional era. Haha if you know, you know.

And while I don’t obsess over albums, The Blue Hour by Federico Albanese owns a permanent piece of my soul.

It’s the kind of music that makes you feel like you’re floating through a soft, romantic fog with all your feelings wrapped in bubble wrap.

If you had your first year of freedom post-break-up? Your Wrapped is basically a public cry for help wrapped in dance music.

My listening age apparently came back as Gen Z. I’m 24. Even Spotify added, “Don’t take this personally.”

And Ólafur Arnalds? That man could press one piano key and I’d emotionally spiral for three business days.

Olivia Dean is quickly becoming a forever favourite, that girl is pure magic.

And Khruangbin sounds like what a psychedelic dream would play if it had background music.

Spotify is terrifyingly smart, honestly. Wrapped has become a competitive sport. It’s giving Hunger Games vibes.

“May the odds be ever in your favour” — because some people get so mortified by their results that they simply … vanish from the group chat for 24 hours.

But one of my girlfriends summed it up perfectly when she said:

“Wrapped is basically a mirror of what you were going through that year.”

Damn she is smart and GUYS she’s 25 (and single).

If you were heartbroken? Congrats, your top song is now (insert devastating break-up anthem here).

If you had a baby? Your number one artist is suddenly The Wiggles and you didn’t even realise it happened.

If you had your first year of freedom post-break-up? Your Wrapped is basically a public cry for help wrapped in dance music.

My number one song was “Gasoline” by HAIM featuring Taylor Swift — which, honestly ‘CLAM’ would be proud of, because he introduced me to HAIM. (So no, he wasn’t a total waste of my time. Just … mostly.)

Emma Cam | Cairns Post. Photo: Johnny Diaz.

And this is where playlists come into it — because playlists aren’t just collections of songs anymore. They’re emotional timelines.

We have “sad girl” playlists.

“Hot girl healing” playlists.

“Driving at night pretending you’re in a movie” playlists.

“Songs I associate with one specific person I should definitely be over” playlists.

We soundtrack our lives now.

We organise our feelings into genres.

We put timestamps on our heartbreaks.

So when Wrapped drops, it’s not just about taste — it’s about memory.

It’s about who you were when that song meant everything to you. It’s about the version of you that existed at 11:42pm on a Tuesday when you played that same track five times in a row because you weren’t okay but you were coping.

And honestly? That’s kind of beautiful.

So whether your top artist was Taylor Swift, Hans Zimmer, Baby Shark or a DJ no one’s ever heard of — wear it proudly.

It all meant something when you pressed play.

And if anyone tries to judge you?

Tell them ‘CLAM’ sent you.

I’d love to hear your number one song of 2025 – drop a comment below or send me an email at [e-mail].

Originally published as Why your Spotify Wrapped is a mirror of your year, not a test of your taste