‘Almost like election night’: behind the scenes of Spotify Wrapped

The internet is abuzz with the results of this year’s rundown, with Taylor Swift coming out on top as 2023’s most streamed artist

There’s a flurry of activities inside Spotify’s New York City’s offices in the Financial District. “It’s almost like election night,” Louisa Ferguson, Spotify’s global head of marketing experience says, referring to a bustling newsroom. At the same time, she feels like Santa Claus putting presents under a tree. “Honestly, it’s a pretty apt analogy,” she says on a brief respite during what constitutes her busiest day of the year. “It’s really like we created this gift of music and then we get to deliver it to everyone.”

Spotify Wrapped, which went live today for millions of users globally, enjoys its status as a cultural, social and music event of the year. Generated by listening habits and rolled out in a tidy package of graphics, video and music, it’s a uniquely shareable snapshot of the sonic year that was, providing users with their most listened to songs, artists and podcasts. 2023’s top streamers include Taylor Swift, the Miley Cyrus hit Flowers, Bad Bunny’s album Un Verano Sin Ti and The Joe Rogan Experience podcast.