Spotify’s end of year ‘2020 Wrapped’ includes new stories feature and more

Company testing the waters with video stories for some playlists 

Spotify will join in with the growing number of apps that give users access to short video content, at least in a limited capacity initially. What is interesting is, Spotify doesn’t immediately jump out as the type of app that one would have any use for the stories style feature, which are obviously more common among social networking sites, yet it will be interesting to see how its stories feature evolve over time.

Videos, which I will dub “Stories” for the purposes of online videos, have become such a popular feature nowadays and it’s easy to see why.  Not only do video stories visually grab people’s attention, the medium can also be interactive, engaging and even create meaningful emotional responses from the images. 

Reviewing the number of apps that have a type of stories feature has been growing over the years, it seems like almost all the apps have jumped on the bandwagon. Initially brought about by Snapchat,  bigger social media platform likes Instagram and Facebook quickly followed to put its own spin with “Stories” which has become well established features of the app. 

Twitter, this month launched its own version called “Fleets”.  Fleets are akin to Instagram Stories, in that they are available, given the name, for only 24 hours to share whatever momentary (fleeting) thoughts, feelings, ect. 

Other, perhaps lesser known apps that have stories include LinkedIn (just learned that one!) and Pinterest with “Story Pins” that have a PowerPoint like quality that allow a combination of video, images and texts.  

TikTok, exclusively known for videos and its classic 60-second limit posts understands the power of video posts and is reportedly experimenting with extending TikToks that can be as long as three minutes.    

Currently within Spotify, the stories feature will only be available for a limited number of playlists and albums (as the feature is only just begun its roll out).  Once you find a playlist that have the feature, for example we choose the Christmas Hit playlist, you’ll see “tap to see the story”  and be able to view video snippets from various major artists.   

2020 Wrapped – Chronicles your music chooses from throughout the year 

As the end of the year nears, the 2020 version of Spotify Wrapped is now live and available for users to find their curated playlists.  Accessible on your app, mobile browser or a desktop. With nearly 286 million users and 130 million subscribers, the Wrapped feature is a neat way to reflect on your music and “wrap” up the end of year.  

If you don’t yet know what Spotify Wrapped is or the importance of it, it is the annual feature that compiles your yearlong listening history and then creates a truly customized and personalized playlists of what you have listened to the most over the year. 

In addition to creating the top 100 tracks you’ve most listened to for the year of 2020,  you can also view stats of just how much you played the same songs. The stats can be either enlightening or further solidify what you already know about your taste in music.

For me, I already knew, but visually seeing my love of Billie Eilish, 80’s pop  and 90’s alternative is kinda entertaining.  You’ll will also be able to see “Missed Hits” and “On Record” which will combine a mixture of songs, artists and podcasts you might like but have not yet listened to.

Even if you aren’t a subscriber to Spotify and want to get data on what the most popular artists and podcasts were for the year, you can by clicking here. We learned the most streamed song of 2020 was by The Weekend for his song “Blinding Lights”.

As part of the Wrapped look back on 2020, Spotify also ranked the top podcasts, with “Joe Rogan Experience” at the top, followed by “TED Talks Daily” and “New York Times The Daily”.  The company’s $100 million acquisition with the podcast creation software Anchor definitely paid off, as this year, an isolated one for many because of the pandemic, contributed to more than 1 million podcast shows in the Spotify catalog for 2020. 

Apple Music Replay 2020

If you do not use Spotify, fear not, Apple also has its own version of Wrapped, called Replay that was launch  November 2019.  You will need your Apple ID that you use for your Apple Music subscription, and you will see, just as with Spotify, a comprehensive look at your top played tracks for 2020.  Once logged in click on “Get Your Replay Mix” button to see “Replay 2020”.   

There is also the option to look at previous years, if you are in a nostalgic mood and want to see how (if any) your musical tastes and choose in music has evolved.  

Something a little different is you don’t have to wait until the end of the year to access Apple Replay, you can listen to your mix at any point in the year given you’ve listened to enough music (as the mix is updated on a weekly basis).  

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