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This Spotify Wrapped season, don't outsource your love of music to AI
The Guardian Weekly
|December 12, 2025
I like year-end list season.
I like an opportunity to remember and reflect on the records that stuck with me over the course of a year - especially when there is a chance to recommend something that others may have overlooked. I like looking through friends' favourites for albums that I missed completely, and making a big listening queue. I like following along as critics attempt to determine the year's "best", even when I end up yelling into a group chat about how wrong they all are. I like it because it all requires looking back, racking your brain and processing your year in listening.
This year, as Spotify Wrapped takes over social media feeds again, I am struck by how the concept seems to discourage that critical practice for something more passive. It nudges listeners away from deep consideration and towards accepting a corporate-branded scorecard reflecting a specific perspective on musical value.
This story is from the December 12, 2025 edition of The Guardian Weekly.
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