In their essay bundle 'Enoughness, accent and light communities: Essays on contemporary identities' ( TPCS 139), Jan Blommaert and Piia Varis (2015) explain that it is in this very uniform world that “ small differences acquire the status of fundamental aspects of being.” Because we all want to fit in, we have to base the uniqueness of our social identity on a carefully curated collection of very small details that make up ‘who we really are’. In that sense, our social world has become very uniform. And when I say we follow music trends, I mean that you don’t hear that many religious hymns on mainstream radio nowadays. When I say we follow fashion trends, I mean that you don’t see too many people wearing 19th century dresses anymore. That’s because I’m talking about the bigger picture.

We follow fashion trends, social trends, food trends, music trends, etc. In society at large and in our own, smaller social groups. How can this be? For the answer, we need to take a step back and actually look at how we form our identities in contemporary (online) culture.

But when I asked if their Wrapped was a good representation of their identity, only 46% agreed (n=39). When I asked my Instagram followers if they felt their Spotify Wrapped said something about their identity, 70% answered ‘Yes’. But now that the musically focussed subcultures like the punkers, gabbers and gothics have largely dissipated, we are partly at the mercy of technological algorithms - like the one behind Spotify Wrapped - to express our identity through music. Music has always been an important part of our identity. But what if there’s more to it than just fun? What if the Spotify Wrapped tradition tells us something about contemporary online culture, about the influence of tech companies, and - ultimately - about ourselves? Music and identity We love to look back at our ‘year in music’ and share the recap with others via social media.

Spotify Wrapped has quickly become a widespread holiday tradition.

How do i get my spotify wrapped