Wrapped explained: Spotify reveals data and methods behind its annual recap
Confused about your 'Wrapped' results? ... never fear, Spotify has just explained how it defined, filtered and ranked user data to make '2025 Wrapped'.
Spotify is detailing how it calculates the personalized rankings in its 2025 Wrapped feature, explaining how listening data is defined, filtered and ordered to produce users’ annual summaries, the company said in a statement.
The service says its data scientists test methodologies, review user feedback and trial the experience internally throughout the year to ensure Wrapped “feels as personal as possible,” and that different metrics are used depending on the story being told.
Top Songs are ordered by total listens, with a play counted once a track runs for more than 30 seconds, while Top Artists are ranked using a weighted stream count that gives more weight to primary artists than to secondary or featured performers.
Top Albums are scored when a listener has streamed most of an album’s tracks, and that score reflects both total streams and how evenly listening is spread across the album, which Spotify says “best surfaces the albums that truly resonated with you.”
Wrapped only includes listening from Jan. 1 through mid-November and excludes certain non-music tracks such as white noise or nature sounds, as well as streams from Private Mode or from songs and playlists marked “exclude from Taste Profile,” while including all offline listening.
Spotify notes that shared devices can influence results and says Wrapped is intended as “a celebration of your year in listening,” encouraging users to explore their personalized 2025 Wrapped and a dedicated 2025 Wrapped hub.
The recap
- Spotify outlines how it calculates rankings for 2025 Wrapped.
- Top Songs, Artists and Albums use different listening metrics.
- Wrapped covers January to mid-November and filters some content.
