It is officially December 1st, 2025. If you open X (formerly Twitter) or Instagram today, you will likely see the memes. The anxiety is palpable. The timeline will most definitely be asking one collective question: Where is my Wrapped?
For a decade, Spotify has masterfully gamified our listening habits, turning data harvesting into the internet’s favourite holiday. But as Spotify marks 10 years since “Year in Music” summaries launched in 2015, the stakes have never been higher. Following the widespread criticism of the 2024 edition, this year isn’t just about the stats – it’s about redemption.
The “Wednesday” Theory: December 3rd or December 10th?
If you are trying to mark your calendar, look at the Wednesdays. Spotify has developed a rigid habit of releasing Wrapped on a Wednesday (or very close to it).
Looking at the historical data, the release window has been somewhat consistent, though it snapped back into December last year:
- 2018: Dec 6 → Thursday
- 2019: Dec 5 → Thursday
- 2020: Dec 1 → Tuesday
- 2021: Dec 1 → Wednesday
- 2022: Nov 30 → Wednesday
- 2023: Nov 29 → Wednesday
- 2024: Dec 4 → Wednesday
With today being Monday, December 1st, we are firmly in the “red zone”.
Prediction 1: Wednesday, December 3rd. This is the safe bet. It aligns perfectly with previous cycles and gets the conversation started early in the month. So a few hours from now.
Prediction 2: Wednesday, December 10th. Here is the curveball. December 10th is also a Wednesday. Why would they wait this long? Two words: The Anniversary. This is the 10th edition of the “Year in Music” format. If Spotify is planning something massive – a complete UI overhaul or complex new features to combat the “soulless” allegations of 2024 – they might push it to the second week of December to ensure the build is stable, and there’s lots of anxiety.
The “Soulless” Ghost of 2024
Why is the pressure so high this time? Because 2024 was, to put it mildly, a bit of a mess.
While the 2015-2023 era was defined by fun, quirky data stories (remember “Sound Town”?), 2024 marked a turning point. The wrap was widely panned as “soulless” and “generic”.
The criticism was perfectly encapsulated in a viral Reddit discussion titled “This year’s wrap is what happens when you replace creatives with AI.”. Users argued that following the significant layoffs at Spotify in late 2023, the 2024 edition “reeked of AI” with distinct lack of the granular, specialised stats that music nerds crave.
The sentiment was clear: You cannot automate culture – or at least do it badly. The charm of Wrapped was always that it felt like a mirror held up to your soul, not a spreadsheet read out by a bot.
A Decade of Data
For this anniversary, Spotify needs to prove it hasn’t lost the plot. We don’t just want a list of songs; we want the personality, the vibrant “internet-core” aesthetic, and the human touch that defined the feature’s golden era.
Keep your apps updated. It could be 48 hours away, or we could be waiting until the 10th. Either way, get your screenshots ready.
