YES, it’s that time of the year again, when Spotify Wrapped shows streamers who they have been listening to and for how long.
The individualised charts, generated by listening habits, give Spotify subscribers a personalised roll-out of their sonic year.
And they revealed that ‘Rita Ora’s own most played artist was . . . herself,’ coming ahead of Bruce Springsteen
The singer took to her Instagram stories to share her completely un-narcissistic favourites to her 16million followers.
As well as being her own most played artist, her recent single Praising You, featuring Fatboy Slim, also topped her most listened to singles.
Rita Ora has been keeping Rita Ora busy.
She wrote: “Me and the flute have been killing it this year. lol.”
Whilst Sprinter, by Gen Z Brit rapper Dave — nope, me neither — was the UK’s most played single, Taylor Swift was our most streamed singer of 2023.
Her record Midnights also topped the album charts, whilst, incredibly, she also slipped in at number five with Lover, originally released four years ago.
Brit entrants included Harry Styles (number three with Harry’s House) and the Arctic Monkeys, in at number four with AM. In the artists category, Ed Sheeran, a man we’ve all heard of, creeps in at number five.
Globally, Taylor Swift unseated Puerto Rican rapper Bad Bunny after a three-year reign as the service’s most-steamed act. He drops to No2.
Podcasts are also taken into account and, look away Harry and Meghan, Archetypes failed to chart.
Depressingly, Joe Rogan was the UK’s most listened to broadcaster, with his alt-right conspiracy theory sessions on The Joe Rogan Experience beating Steven Bartlett’s Diary Of A CEO.
Laura Ferguson, Spotify head of global marketing experience, describes the annual lists, now in their tenth year, as, “Almost like election night”.
Unquestionably, it is the cultural event of the year for anyone under 40.
Actually, sod it, I’m 41 and I still excitedly “unwrapped” my personal highlights yesterday . . . only to discover I have the musical tastes of a 14-year- old schoolgirl.
Taylor, then, was my most played artist whilst, apparently, April was a particularly busy month for her track Anti-hero, which I played, on loop, more than is probably healthy.
In total, I listened to 3,379 songs, with Spotify telling me: “2023 was a feast for my ears.” My ears, then, also lapped up Lewis Capaldi, Ed Sheeran, Pink and The Weeknd.
Cool, I am not.
Celebs, however, were quick to bolster their eclectic credentials, with Gwyneth Paltrow, Lily Allen and Charli XCX all sharing their Spotify screenshots.
Not surprisingly, theirs were considerably more respectable.
Until next year . . .
