The season for Spotify Wrapped has arrived for users, which is a feature from the music streaming platform that displays user data and shows them their most played artists, songs, and albums through shareable graphics.
With the help of this effective marketing strategy, Spotify has managed to leverage its large user base to create social media buzz on its behalf.
While some of the users of the platform use Wrapped in the spirit of showing the music that helped them get through the year, others parade their data like a badge of honor, showing how they were in the top 5 or 1% of listeners for a certain song, album, or artist.
Ever since Spotify first implemented this feature back in 2016, users have started anticipating their Wrapped similar to the way they anticipate Black Friday deals. Last year, the feature even resulted in over 20% more downloads of the Spotify mobile app, with many users rushing to share their data on social media platforms.
However, with the help of music streaming platforms, it’s never been easier for people to expand their musical horizons, which most people actually don’t do.
Instead, many users prefer to stick to the same playlists and artists every year, which means the posts shared on social media under the branded hashtag for Spotify Wrapped end up celebrating the same handful of songs and artists.
Nevertheless, this is the type of functional engagement through which the platform recognizes and rewards its users for it . The company has already made the music industry a numbers game, with artists like Drake and Taylor Swift having the biggest albums around the world, but without any outstanding hits. Global fan armies can strategize together to drive singles high on the charts.
This strategy is also what motivates Spotify users to use the platform for longer periods of time, which leads to the gamification of music. However, the strategy also comes at the cost of the opportunity for truly connecting over music.
Still, this is an effective strategy that the company has been using for the past 6 Decembers, driving users to share their data on social media platforms, which creates free advertising opportunities for the music streaming service.
