Capri Scarcelli, Editor in Chief
December is not only for the festivities, but the musical experience as well. To get in the holiday spirit and reflect upon the year, Spotify created over 49 different holiday playlists, as well as a website portal that allows users to see their most-listened-to artists, songs and genres throughout the year.
Spotify has evolved from making a few “classic” Christmas playlists to diversifying their content, catering to all of their listeners. New playlists include “Christmas Pop,” “Christmas Jazz,” “Christmas Coffeehouse,” “Hip Hop Christmas,” “Indie Christmas,” “Rock Christmas,” “Retro Holiday,” “Latin Christmas,” “Festivo Alternativo” and “Hanukkah.”
Senior Molly McGillick said instead of listening to specific playlists, she enjoys Spotify’s “This is: Holiday Hits” because it “gives a range of similar songs by different artists with the same [classic] characteristics, like the claymation [Christmas] movie soundtracks.”
Spotify also offers a Playlist Radio that will play songs similar to what was previously listened to; this offers listeners suggestions based on their typical content. With this, Spotify will skip to the Playlist Radio as soon as the playlist is over.
The “Happy Holidays” Playlist Radio encompasses popular holiday hits of all types within the genre.
McGillick said that although there are a lot of “cheesy love songs” on the radio during Christmas, she enjoys the holiday season and the classic hits that come with it.
Along with the festive listening environment is this year’s “Spotify Wrapped.”
Spotify Premium users can log onto www.spotifywrapped.com and connect with their Spotify username to get their personal 2018 statistics.
This feature allows Premium subscribers to view their highlights of the year, from how many minutes they spent on Spotify to how many hours they listened to their top artists. The final slide gives the general overview of Premium users’ listening experience this year, and can be shared on social media.
Additionally, Spotify offers two playlists personally made for each user: “Your Top Songs 2018” and “Tastebreakers.” The first playlist wraps up users’ most frequently played songs of the year, whereas the second playlist encourages users to expand their music taste with songs from every genre and subgenre the platform has to offer.
Senior Jessica Orloski said “I love the Spotify Wrapped feature! I’ve been getting them done [for me] for three years now, and it’s so cool to see what I’ve been listening to throughout the year and see what artists and genres are my favorite to listen to.”
Orloski also mentioned that Spotify has many diverse genres.
“It’s almost guaranteed you will find a playlist that is dedicated toward your preferred music taste,” Orloski said.
If you have Spotify, you can log into your account now to join in on all of the new features and holiday fun.