by Brianna Allison

This article was written by The Zillennial Zine’s fall editorial intern Brianna Allison. Find her on Instagram at @ballison7. If you would like to share an article with The Zillennial, send us an email at thezillennialzine@gmail.com.

Happy December! It’s the perfect time of year for hot chocolate, holiday carols and the long-awaited… release of Spotify Wrapped! YAY! However, if you’re an Apple Music subscriber (AKA me) then the first week of December has been the worst part of your year for the last couple of years.

I very vividly remember sitting in my student union during my sophomore year of college and listening to all of my friends rave about their Spotify Wrapped– they showed off their top artists, most played songs and more. Yet, I had nothing to contribute. And, it got worse. Everyone started to post their Spotify Wrapped all over social media. This really made me feel like I wasn’t invited to sit at the cool kids’ table.

But luckily, this year, Apple Music showed up to compete. They provided their listeners with a lineup similar to Spotify Wrapped. Now, Apple Music users have something to show for their hours of listening. But, which music streaming platform did it better? It’s Apple Music Replay vs. Spotify Wrapped! Here we go!

Competitor #1: Spotify Wrapped

First, let’s talk about Spotify Wrapped- the OG.  Since 2016, Spotify has been releasing a personalized end-of-the-year lineup for each user including insight on their music from the past year (Warning: this information may make you cringe and embarrassed or be proud and brag about yourself).

When a Spotify user opens their app during the first week of December they’re greeted with a new icon on their home screen that reads, “Your 2022 in Review.”

This year’s theme is bright with a kaleidoscope-type look that shows off the user’s top music. As they open the Wrapped feature, they are shown the number of minutes they’ve listened to music, the number of new songs they’ve played, what top percentage of listeners they are for an artist, their top songs, artists, albums, genres and podcasts.

Spotify stepped it up with some new features

There are also three new features that were added to Spotify Wrapped this year: the listening personality, the Audio Day and messages from artists. The listening personality decides which 1 out of the 16 listening personalities the user is. This is based on the music they streamed throughout the year. It’s essentially a Myers–Briggs test (MBTI) but determined by their music taste. Spotify explains that the new feature “not only tells you about the music you listen to but what that says about your music taste—bringing a whole new layer of personalization and insight to the entire Wrapped experience.”

The Audio Day feature lays out the user’s music schedule and habits from morning to afternoon to night. The interactive story allows them to watch their music taste evolve throughout the day. Lastly, Spotify also included a new-ish feature that showcases artists thanking their fans. Spotify did include this last year, but only the top fans of 100 different artists were able to watch thank-you videos. However, this year a larger number of fans will get to watch some of their top artists thank them for listening to their music. The video will be followed by the user’s most listened-to song from that artist. By doing this Spotify is giving the user and artist an opportunity to connect and for the fan to feel appreciated.

Competitor #2: Apple Music Replay

Now, after all of that, let’s take a look at Apple Music’s Replay. I think it’s going to be hard for it to keep up with Spotify but I guess we’ll see. Apple Music came out with its own version of Spotify Wrapped in 2019, but it was essentially just a playlist with no visuals, graphics or stats about the user’s music taste throughout the year. They realized that they needed to change their approach this year. In 2022, Apple Music Replay gave their users a “personalized highlight reel.”

When an Apple Music user opens their music app, they’re shown a blue icon titled “Replay 22.” This takes them to the Apple Music website where they can begin their reel. Similar to Spotify, Replay shares the number of minutes spent listening, top songs, artists, albums and genres. But, that’s about it. There are no exciting or individualized features. And compared to Spotify, the graphics and colors are very plain and average.

Also, there are a couple of other differences with Apple Music Replay. First, Apple Music Replay is technically not just an end-of-the-year thing. Apple updates the Replay playlist weekly to keep track of the user’s favorite music throughout the year. Additionally, unlike Spotify which stops tracking their users’ listening habits after October 31st, Replay tracks until December 31st. This means that the user’s stats can evolve and change their end-of-year Replay. Apple also keeps each user’s yearly Replay playlist for as long as they’ve been an Apple Music subscriber. For example, I became a subscriber in 2017 so I have Replay playlists from 2017 to now. Keeping these playlists around gives the listener the opportunity to go back and reminisce while listening to some of their favorite music from previous years.

Extra fun music-analyzing apps!

Now, I’m sure you’ve seen one person or 100 people share their Spotify Wrapped or Apple Music Replay results. But there are cooler ways to highlight your 2022 music results besides posting a screenshot of your stats. You should be utilizing music-analyzing apps!

Instafest is one of the most popular right now! It generates a personalized 35-act music festival lineup based on your Spotify Wrapped insights (Sorry Apple Music users; You can’t use this one 🙁). You can then customize the poster by choosing to include your top artists from the last four weeks, the last 6 months or of all time. You can also name your festival and choose the background design. This 3-day lineup is then able to be shared on your social media platforms for all to see and gives your followers the opportunity to decide whether or not they would come to your festival.

Another popular app, which works for both Spotify users and Apple Music users, is Receiptify! Now, the app does exactly what it sounds like, it creates a receipt containing your top songs. Just like Instafest, you’ll have the capability to customize based on your music from the last month, six months, or of all time. You’ll then get a graphic designed as a receipt with your top 10 songs. Not only does the receipt show the title, but also the length of the song, the artist and includes your name at the top.

Looking for more fun music-analyzing apps? Check out this website for some great additions that allow you to compare your music taste to others, quiz yourself on some of your favorite songs, sort your playlist, discover new songs based on ones you already love, compare your music taste to your zodiac sign and more!

Well, who do you think won the Apple Music Replay vs. Spotify Wrapped competition? I would like to say that it was a close race, but we all know it was not. Although each platform is unique in its own way, Spotify definitely won! First, they knocked their theme, color palette and graphics out of the park this year. Plus, they have so many additional add-ons and collaborations with other brands that make your Spotify Wrapped even more special and interactive! They’re constantly improving it and bringing something new to continually excite their users. And as an Apple Music subscriber, it pains me to say that yet again, even with Apple Music Replay, I’m not sitting at the cool kids’ table. Well, I guess we’ll have to wait and see what Apple Music brings to the table next year! 

Are you an Apple Music user or a Spotify user? How do you feel about your end-of-the-year listening results? Do you think Apple Music Replay vs Spotify Wrapped did it better this year? Let us know in the comments below!

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