After weeks of eager anticipation, many Spotify users have found themselves somewhat disappointed with the streamer's personalized year-in-review feature, Spotify Wrapped. The once-exciting experience seems to have fallen short for some, with a significant number even labeling it as "boring" or a "flop."

Chief Complaints and Exclusions

Among the main grievances is that Spotify prioritized the inclusion of an AI podcast within Wrapped over other, more imaginative and creative data stories. These typically include identifying one's music personality, matching with a town that shares musical tastes, describing the "audio aura," or transforming listening history into a shareable game. Additionally, there is dissatisfaction over the lack of detailed stats and the omission of expected information such as top music genres and top podcasts. Spotify has declined to clarify its decision-making process regarding feature inclusion.

On X, a plethora of users are sharing their feedback using the #SpotifyWrapped2024 hashtag. They describe this year's listening history review as "boring," a "flop," "underwhelming," and a "disappointment." Despite this, people are still sharing screenshots of their Wrapped. However, a scroll through the hashtag reveals more complaints than praise at present.

For instance, one highly popular post calling Wrapped a flop has garnered over 108,000 likes as of now. This year, Spotify placed a heavy bet on a partnership with Google to transform users' Wrapped experiences into an AI-powered podcast, overshadowing other engaging details and features. One Spotify user specifically pointed out the absence of "quirky interactive bits" like the "silly personality assessments." Another noted that the new "Your Music Evolution" feature was "quite strange." (This latter feature had repurposed niche genres from Spotify's personalized daily playlist, Daylist, to describe musical taste changes throughout the year.)

Desired Information and Missing Playlists

The complaints suggest that what Spotify users really wanted was the same top genre information they had received in previous years. Moreover, some found that Wrapped did not include their top podcasts in 2024. Posts on X indicate that this feature was offered to some podcast listeners but not others.

Spotify states that users must have at least two top shows for Top Podcasts to be part of their Wrapped experience. A show qualifies if the user listened for at least 60 seconds of two unique episodes on two different days throughout the year. However, many users reported that they couldn't find their Wrapped 2024 playlist. It does appear in the Wrapped feed within the Spotify app as "Your Top Songs 2024," but the interactive Wrapped experience itself does not link to the playlist, which may be why some have missed it.

Mixed Reviews on Graphics and Design

The graphics and art design used for Wrapped this year have received mixed reviews. Some describe them as "mid," "really simple," or even worse, while others expressed liking them.

The AI podcast also had a divided reception. Those unfamiliar with Google's NotebookLM were impressed by the technology. However, some expressed unease with the feature. Spotify likely hoped that users would share their AI podcasts on social video apps like TikTok. Instead, a look through the #SpotifyWrapped hashtag on the app shows many complaints that the feature did not live up to the hype this year, with some suggesting that AI was to blame.

Connection to Layoffs and Future Work

A number of users linked their disappointment with Wrapped to Spotify's earlier layoffs. They speculated that this year's downgrade was due to the lack of staffing combined with an overreliance on AI. The company let go of 2,300 people in 2023, and CEO Daniel Ek said this had impacted day-to-day operations more than expected.

Although Wrapped is a year-end feature, it is part of Spotify's day-to-day operations to some extent. As the company told the press earlier this week, it has already begun working on next year's Wrapped. Teams from various departments, including marketing, product, music, podcasts, and audiobooks, contribute to the effort. However, Spotify declined to disclose the number of people working on Wrapped.

When asked about its decision-making process for this year's Wrapped, Spotify simply stated, "Every year we look to bring a new and exciting experience to Wrapped for listeners. It's part of the secret sauce of Wrapped."