When does Spotify Wrapped start tracking? All Spotify Wrapped facts explained

When does Spotify Wrapped start tracking? All Spotify Wrapped facts explained

When does Spotify Wrapped start tracking? Spotify Wrapped starts tracking on January 1st each year. It compiles data on your music, podcasts, and live events, creating a personalised summary released towards the end of the year.

A photo illustration of a phone screen with the Spotify app open.
A photo illustration of a phone screen with the Spotify Wrapped feature open. Photo: DALL·E 3 (modified by author)
Source: Original

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Key takeaways

  • Spotify Wrapped starts tracking on 1 January of every year and ends a few weeks before the December launch.
  • Spotify counts offline listening just the same as it does online listening.
  • Spotify counts a play when a song is listened to for at least 30 seconds.

When does Spotify Wrapped start tracking?

Spotify Wrapped is an annual gift for users, creators, songwriters and artists that starts tracking from the beginning of the year to a few weeks before the Wrapped launch. It compiles and provides listener statistics of top songs, artists, podcasts, and to top it all off, a customised playlist based on audience listening preferences.

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What dates does Spotify Wrapped count from?

Since 2016, Spotify has used listening data from 1 January to 31 October before the launch. The length of time has since increased to include data collected a few weeks before the 1 December launch.

Does December count for Wrapped 2024?

No. December did not count towards the creation of Spotify Wrapped 2024. This is because the 2024 edition was dropped on 4 December.

When does Spotify Wrapped stop tracking?

Although there is no official statement from Spotify about the cutoff for data collection. Users assume that data tracking ends in October or November.

Screenshots of a Spotify app showing different Wrapped metrics.
Screenshots of a Spotify user's app showing different Wrapped metrics. Photo: @nfrealkey (modified by author)
Source: Twitter

How is Spotify Wrapped calculated?

Your listening data for Spotify Wrapped is counted in streams and minutes. To compile your top artists, songs, and albums, Spotify uses the total number of streams which refers to when someone listens for 30 seconds or more. This applies to both online and offline listening.

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The overall and individual top podcast lists are calculated by the number of listeners and minutes. For individual users, the list is ranked by the total number of minutes spent listening.

Is Spotify Wrapped data accurate?

Spotify uses both human curation and algorithms to maintain accuracy. In an interview with For The Record, Spotify’s Senior Director of Personalization, Molly Holder said:

We do not just paint by numbers. We listen to our users and the descriptive way they are saying they would like to see us better balance familiarity with discovery. We take that qualitative feedback to heart just as much as we weigh the quantitative signals when we make decisions about what to tweak in our algorithms.

What does 0.5% mean in Spotify Wrapped?

When exploring Spotify Wrapped, users often find a ranking listing them among the top 0.5% of fans for a specific artist. This metric reflects how much time a user spends listening to specific songs on Spotify and is an expression of fan loyalty.

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Does Spotify Wrapped include offline listening?

Offline listening, which is done through songs downloaded to user devices, counts toward the Wrapped data once users reconnect to the internet. Each play is counted towards a user's total time spent listening.

DISCLAIMER: This article is intended for general informational purposes only and does not address individual circumstances. It is not a substitute for professional advice or help and should not be relied on to make decisions of any kind. Any action you take upon the information presented in this article is strictly at your own risk and responsibility!

Spotify Wrapped start tracking at the start of every year. The global listening data is collected from 1 January of every year to a few weeks before that year's Wrapped is released.

Legit.ng has recently published an article explaining if you can see who likes your Spotify playlist. Your perfectly curated playlist can be viewed and liked by other users on the global streaming platform. Read on to discover if you can see who else likes your tracks.

Source: Legit.ng

Authors:
Ciku Njuguna avatar

Ciku Njuguna (Lifestyle writer) Ciku Njuguna is a journalist with four years of experience in content creation working with Sports Brief and CyberSchool technologies. She has a BSc in Nutrition and Dietetics (2018) and a Postgraduate Diploma in Education from the University of Nairobi (2022). Ciku joined Legit.ng in 2024, where she currently covers lifestyle content. In 2023, she finished the AFP course on Digital Investigation Techniques. In 2024, she participated in the Google News Initiative training program. Email: ciku.njuguna1@gmail.com