December is often seen as the biggest month of the year for a lot of obvious reasons. But not only are people preparing for the holidays, shopping, and frustratingly trying to arrange family get-togethers. It has become important for sharing their Spotify Wrapped stories.
Despite people grumpily denouncing the idea of the end-of-year wrap-up, it doesn't stop users from gleefully sharing them, which has made for some amazing meme material. And between people trying to hide that they enjoy Taylor Swift's music and still making fun of Kanye West's Donda, these memes give a more accurate 2021 wrap-up than Spotify.
Top 1% Of Listeners
One of the many things the detailed end-of-year wrap-up slideshow shows its users is how much of a fan they really are of their favorite artists. Spotify Wrapped will tell them what percentage they are in of top listeners, which is based on how many songs of a certain artist they have been played.
Being in the top 1% of artists' listeners isn't that much of a great feat, but fans think it speaks volumes when it comes to their loyalty to the band or musician. The accolade is like a badge of honor for fans, especially on Instagram, as Spotify users use the social network to flaunt their loyalty. This Spotify user brilliantly makes light of that with a picture of Bugs Bunny dressed as a king.
Spotify's Affirmation
Brands and companies have public images that need to be protected at all times. And because of that, most companies avoid any kind of negativity or anything that implies something negative at all costs. But sometimes, companies can be too positive and overly enthusiastic, and Spotify Wrapped seems to have taken that to another level.
Throughout the personalized Spotify Wrapped slideshow, the platform throws so many affirmations at the user, such as, "In 2021, you did what you had to do" and, "you deserve a playlist as long as your skincare routine." It's a little strange and at times it even feels like a therapy session but many users still find it welcome.
Taylor Swift Shame
The Nashville artist has had a great 2021, as Taylor Swift released Red (Taylor's Version), which is a remake of one of her most popular records, and she did the same for Fearless too. However, somewhere along the timeline, it has seemingly become embarrassing to listen to the artist.
Even though she is the second most-listened-to musician in the world, many don't want to admit to listening to her. This meme perfectly captures that shame that some listeners have and it also shines a light on the fact that people who aren't sharing their Spotify Wrapped might be hiding something.
The Feeling Of Power
This meme hilariously insinuated that Spotify Wrapped gives users a sense of power that not even money or status can achieve. Though it's exciting seeing a complete detailed breakdown of the year with Spotify Wrapped, it comes with a dangerous side effect.
It could be any number of things that make users feel this way. It could be loyalty to a band's fanbase, racking up 10,000 hours worth of listening time, or the fact that the user's top 5 musicians of the year are all unknown indie darlings that nobody else has heard of.
The Most Ridiculous Top Song Ever
There have already been so many funny Kany West memes surrounding his 2021 album, Donda, which was endlessly delayed. And now with Spotify Wrapped, the album still can't catch a break. The screenshot hilariously shows "Donda Chant" as a user's most played song of the year.
The "song" is the intro to the album, has no music, is 52 seconds long, doesn't even feature Kanye, and instead features a woman who chants the word Donda 58 times. It's barely even a chant, as a female simply repeats the word "Donda" over and over in the most monotonous voice possible.
A Tornado Of Instagram Stories
On the other side of the spectrum, the receivers of users' Spotify Wrapped screenshots and Instagram stories aren't exactly as grateful as Spotify users think. When news feeds on Twitter, Facebook, Reddit, and all the other social networks get clogged up with endless and ultimately arbitrary personal stats, other non-Spotify users don't exactly take kindly to it.
One frustrated Redditor uses the meme of a man running into the outback to catch a selfie with a tornado to put across their feelings. They also call it the "worst day of the year" when users post their Wrapped screenshots, but that's wishful thinking, as they get posted throughout the whole of December.
Serial Killer-Vibes
Outside of music, Spotify is also great for Podcasts, and in 2021, the platform made some huge moves to secure more subscribers, such as paying Joe Rogan $100 million to join the service. But this meme pays attention to some of the more questionable podcasts, or at least questionable in this context.
In yet another affirmation, Spotify calls the user a good listener, but one hilarious user has edited the screenshot to say, "feel free to show these to your exes." The user's most listened-to podcasts include Unexplained Mysteries, Serial Killers, and Send Me To Sleep.
If 2021 Was 2007
Many kids will never know the extreme lengths that people went to in order to listen to music in the 2000s. A library of tens of millions of songs wasn't always available at people's fingertips, and music fans used to pay the price of a month's Spotify subscription for one album.
But alternatively, people could use Limewire to illegally download music. It wouldn't be the best alternative. However, breaking the law always comes with risk, and when using Limewire, that risk came in the form of viruses. One single low-quality song would take hours to find and download, and when it finally completed, users would be praying that their computer still worked.
Apple Users Are Missing Out
There's no doubt that a lot of people are sick of seeing all these Spotify Wrapped screenshots, but in reality, a lot of that is envy from Apple Music users. Apple Music doesn't have any kind of end-of-year wrap-up, and though it can come off as annoying to many, the sharing of Spotify Wrapped stories gives Spotify users a sense of community.
That sense of community is something that not only Apple users are missing out on, but Tidal and YouTube Music users too. The classic meme of Squidward enviously watching Patrick and SpongeBob having fun together couldn't have depicted the jealously any better.