Spotify Wrapped 2021: What It Says About the Use of Personal Data for Marketing

Spotify Wrapped 2021: What It Says About the Use of Personal Data for Marketing

Music streaming service Spotify has a December tradition. For the past few years, Spotify has unveiled "Wrapped" in early December. It's a personalized set of slides within the music app that gives users a statistics-driven look-back on how they engaged with Spotify during the year.

On the surface, Spotify Wrapped is a fun gimmick. It includes little games; top artist, song, and genre lists; and other light-hearted fun for users to engage with. The slides are designed to be easy to share on social media, which lets users share their stats with others for fun too.

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Scratch just below the surface, though, and it's easy to see how smart and compelling Wrapped is as a marketing tactic. For a week or so in early December, social media is alight with posts about Spotify. Users that may not come to the app on a daily basis are reminded to check back in to see their own Wrapped, and anyone not already using the music streaming service may be compelled to download it for fear of missing out on all the fun.

Dig even deeper, though, and Wrapped is also an example of how much data about consumers is collected, stored, and used. Spotify's Wrapped presentation includes a lot of information. It tells users how many minutes they listened on the app during the year, what their most played songs are, what genres they tune into, and plenty of other information.

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Spotify uses all this information for a purpose other than Wrapped. It needs massive amounts of user data to suggest songs, curate playlists, and offer customized content that keeps people on the app longer.

And Spotify isn't the only tech company gathering and using such data. Amazon, Facebook, Instagram, Netflix, Google, and many others do the same, often tying up the end result in cute, fun trappings that ease consumer minds. Or, as is the case with Spotify Wrapped, even encourage consumers to share their personal habits with others on social media.

It's all fun and games until data is used in a way consumers don't agree with, so it's always important for businesses and consumers to be aware of how much of their data is being collected and why.

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