The hidden story of Spotify Wrapped, a stroke of genius that makes us share our slightly shameful top

It almost became our little awaited ritual at the beginning of December : when it rings in our ears for the first time in twelve months All I want for Christmas is you and it also comes that you can now order mulled wine at the bar without fear of being judged the now traditional Spotify Wrapped.

Frantically posting our top music of the year has become so common, a source of memes and analysis of our own humor of the past year and I apologize in advance to all those who bet on Deezer or Apple Music. You’re probably feeling on the sidelines, but think of those whose Spotify account was hacked by their 2-year-old who only swears by Barback’s Ogres and you’ll tell yourself that in the end you’re not missing out on anything.

What we know less, or that someone has forgotten, is the origin of this Spotify success, which has now become a year-end habit on the web. This is the story of a certain injustice remembered by the Twitter account musicstruggles : “Spotify Wrapped was in the form of an email, but this former intern had the idea of ​​making it an interactive story; Spotify stole her idea without paying for it. »

How Jewel Ham Revolutionized Wrapped Spotify (Without Reaping The Benefits)

The story of Jewel Ham, the famous and creative Spotify intern, who is now recognized as a multidisciplinary artist and whose works we strongly recommend you go to admire, has not only been discovered.

On December 2, 2020, spoke on Twitter to rehabilitate his role in the development of Spotify Wrapped. Supporting evidence, he showed the images he had conceptualized in 2019. “When I made the presentation at the end of my internship project, it was very well received. They really liked the idea. It was my last day”he later told Refinery29.

Spotify has of course denied exploiting the Jewel Ham project, claiming that Spotify Wrapped as we know it is the result of multiple contributions from many of its employees over the years. However, Jewel Ham’s creative touch is quite recognizable. The artist had gathered what his generation wanted, what he would like to optimize the experience and make it more interactive and fun, and he proposed it in his presentation. It only remained for Spotify to apply it the following year.

We have to acknowledge one thing: if it had actually pumped the Jewel Ham project, the platform would not have done anything illegal. “At the end of the day, the problem isn’t that Spotify stole my idea. I gave it to him”Jewel Ham summed up bitterly. Idealistic, passionate and motivated young intern versus Has the streaming music giant had a chance? The story finally highlights the fact that companies can so easily profit for free or at a lower cost from the creativity, audacity and talent of young and visionary creators.

Spotify Wrapped, or rather the fake gift of a streaming platform

Spotify Wrapped has therefore become this essential moment of web culture, whether you look at it with contempt or expect it like Santa Claus. And speaking of Santa Claus, we must recognize that this gift that Spotify gives to its users is a formidable and ingenious marketing discovery which is based on our desire to stage ourselves and our ability to believe that we have very original tastes (when clearly you listen exactly like everyone else).

Spotify describes me as an adventurer, but I listened to Beyoncé, Dua Lipa and Rosalia like almost all users of the platform, instead of exploring the discography of sharp and reserved groups and feeding myself a lot of nerds. In truth, we all find ourselves having to assume we’ve heard it 4517 times last dance of Kyō.

Let’s face it: with our top performers, our “flagship artist of the year” who we hadn’t necessarily seen top the charts, our dizzying tens of thousands of listening minutes on the clock, Spotify does a good advertisement on our backsprompting us to share what excited us about 2022 and making Deezer and Apple Music users feel like they’re missing out (sorry again).

Why are annual summaries so good for us? It reminds us that a year has just gone by (and my god, it goes SO FAST) and that we are definitely a little different than twelve months ago. Life has passed us by, but chances are a couple of not too bad things happened to us. Taking stock is very healthy, it allows us to absorb the past year, to look at it with more or less serenity, and to hope that what awaits us isn’t too bad.

Jewel Ham had clearly figured out the trick.