Christmas has come early for music lovers once again: Spotify Wrapped is here. The annual year-end personalized review of what Spotify users have been listening to is always a highly anticipated event, both for music lovers and those who just love seeing the excitement on their friends' faces. This year, however, Spotify doesn’t have the sole focus on consumers' “year-end wrap-up” when it comes to music. Apple Music has really stepped up its game this year and was actually trending above Spotify—at least, according to the almighty Google. Regardless of whether you listened to your music on Spotify, Apple, or a mix of both, one artist reigned supreme across the industry this year. 2024 has been the year of Taylor Swift.
Spotify has crowned Mother their queen for the second year in a row. Taylor Swift is once again Spotify’s most-streamed music artist. With the superstar’s newest album, Tortured Poet’s Department, dropping last spring—while she was still on tour, no less—it’s no wonder that Swifties the world over flocked to the platform to lend their aural support to their cultural matriarch. “Cruel Summer” also had a moment after being released as a single more than a year ago; it was one of the year’s most-streamed songs by a female artist. Swifties are known for one thing: their unabashed loyalty to the woman who makes the music they love so much. They didn’t just cram their earballs full of Taylor’s music via Spotify; they followed her across ALL platforms, including Apple Music.
If you haven’t bitten yet, Apple’s Replay updates really are top-notch this year. They’ve expanded personalization capabilities and made the shareable stats just more fun all around. Apple definitely decided to take a swing at the cultural dominance that Spotify Wrapped typically has over the music scene at this time of year, and honestly? Good on Apple! They’ve made a point of highlighting and recognizing non-English music, as well as more female artists—other than just T. Swift—on Replay.
Both platforms also did an outstanding job of highlighting new and noteworthy performers and fresh releases. Apple Replay heavily favored the Japanese duo Creepy Nuts, and Kendrick Lamar’s newest album has only been out for about a minute, yet it’s already dominating charts on both streaming platforms. Ariana Grande has also made a return to popularity with a new chart-topping hit, and as it’s now twinkle-light season, Mariah Carey has emerged once again to remind us that we’re all that she wants for Christmas.
So, which of the two music streaming giants is the best? Well, it depends on what you prefer. Spotify Wrapped focuses on the social sharing aspect of the annual year-end review, giving users pretty slides to share with their friends and followers on social media. Wrapped provides personalized insights into their top songs, artists streamed, genres listened to, and even tells users the total number of minutes they’ve listened to that year! The difference with Apple is that Replay is available year-round. Apple didn’t focus on the shareability aspect of Apple Music as much as honing in on making sure it’s a personalized experience. Replay updates weekly for each user instead of giving them one big flashy end-of-the-year update. While Spotify highlights global trends and compares each user’s listening habits, Apple focuses solely on what each user is listening to without hyping up global trends as much.
As much as Spotify Wrapped feels like getting access to an early Christmas present, Apple Replay is quietly there for its listeners all year long. And yet, most of us need the flashy fun that comes with Spotify Wrapped—even just for a day or two. At the end of the day, which platform do you prefer?
