As a thrifty individual, I have always tried to justify the necessity of Spotify Premium. Let’s be honest, there are not a lot of real reasons to pay to listen to music when similar apps exist providing free music. However, since my college days, I have tried to make room in my tight-end budget and one of the major reasons for this purchase is Spotify Wrapped. Every year-end, scrolling through Spotify Wrapped felt better than any other wrapped. It was like an extra, thoughtful reward personally curated for me and kept me loyal to Spotify. Until this year.
Well, it isn’t just me who feels this year’s Wrapped is off. Comparing it to the previous versions, many users have complained about the lack of features, delayed release, and shorter and bland insights – something that has been done half-heartedly due to compulsion. This year’s Wrapped didn’t even contain creative features like Top Genres, Playing Cards, Listening Personality, and Sound Town, like the previous years.
Apart from these, what also irked me and some Spotify Wrapped users was the 2024 Music Evolution and the absurd phases. My May was ‘Time Travel Holi Bollywood’ and September was ‘Pumpkin Spice Strut Pop’ moment – which looks like unrelated words put together. Some of them also received ‘Pink Pilates Princess Vogue Pop’. Not only did it take away the charm of genres, it also made the entire experience mechanical and emotionless, something that is evidently generated by AI.
The reason for such a disappointing experience remains unclear, but there are multiple claims that the mass layoffs by the company in December have likely impacted the quality of the platform’s one of the most celebrated features. While the use of AI is certainly not an issue when data sets of such large quantities are involved, it shouldn’t come at the expense of user experience and their investment as subscribers and users.
Sadly, I am surprised to know that it’s just not the users who are sidelined. Lyricists, arguably the backbone of our music industry, for a long time, have also spoken up against the unfair credits. Varun Grover, in his recent tweet, pointed out a major flaw – three of his major albums do not appear on his artist profile on Spotify since he is not the ‘primary artist’. This leaves his work as a lyricist out of the spotlight and undiscovered, impacting his statistics and royalty collections.
Spotify and other music platforms aren’t solely responsible for the lack of proper credits for lyricists as they source their metadata from production houses or labels. However, it doesn’t mean that they can’t do their part to highlight the artist’s work under their discography properly. In simpler words, if I love a lyricist or want to find the writer of a song, I should have access to all their work under their profile, just like a singer, whether they are one of the primary artists or not. That’s the least they deserve.
I can pay for Spotify Premium every month even now, to escape unnecessary restrictions and ads. However, the recent experience makes me question that even if it is a menial amount, is it worth it to spend on a subpar experience, increasing AI integration, and the lack of recognition that artists aren’t getting? If Spotify has a certain amount required to access its platforms, it should owe its users and creators a respectful platform that values their money and time. If not, it’s time to wrap up!
