By Tevin Keobouala

Each December, Spotify presents me with my story, a bright, data-driven slideshow of my year in music. It’s called Spotify Wrapped, and it’s supposed to sum me up. As one marketing piece gushed, Wrapped turns my listening data into a “celebration of identity and nostalgia,” a mirror of my year. But when I see those stats, I can’t help but wonder: Whose identity are we really celebrating? The person Spotify tells me I am doesn’t quite match the one I meet in my playlists every day.

My Playlist Has an Identity Crisis

Take a glance at a recent week in my music library. Brittle Stars’ jangly indie pop flows into a Dolly Mixture deep cut, then jumps without warning to Playboi Carti. Next comes a dreamy Club 8 track followed by a bass-heavy Black Smurf song. It’s an eclectic lineup no mood board could capture. One week’s rotation might include:

Brittle Stars – ’90s twee-pop nostalgia

Playboi Carti – modern rap brain rot

LEYA (ft. Chanel Beads) – experimental drone

All back to back in one chaotic queue. I love this musical whiplash. It’s me. Spotify’s algorithm, however, seems perplexed by my genre-hopping. Last year, Wrapped informed me I’d explored dozens of genres (out of 5,071 Spotify-recognized microgenres) and dubbed me “The Adventurer.” It slapped a quirky label on my chaos, as if that explained my personality.

Spotify doesn’t just give me songs I’ll like. It sells me a “vibe.”

The app keeps pushing mood-based playlists like Your Coffeehouse Mix or Bedroom Pop as if my listening can be boxed into neat categories. It feels strange to be flattened into niche microtrends by a recommendation engine. Once, Spotify decided one of my top genres was something called “Escape Room,” a genre a Spotify data alchemist literally invented to label an indescribable vibe. Go figure. In the algorithm’s eyes, my wild taste swings just become marketable tags and genre labels to target me with.

My randomness gets repackaged as an aesthetic. My scattershot listening isn’t a problem to fix. It’s just another product. Spotify cheerfully brands me the eclectic listener who “likes a bit of everything,” then serves me a “genre-fluid” playlist to keep me engaged.

I’m not just a user with odd tastes. Apparently I’m an #Adventurer now, a walking playlist with a shareable identity. They’ve turned my curiosity into a brand to capitalize on.

In the end, I’ll keep embracing the random songs that make me happy, no matter how off-brand they are. Spotify can crunch the numbers and tell a story about me, but it will always miss a few beats. I’m more than the algorithm’s neatly packaged vibe. I’m the DJ of my own mess, and I like it that way. Besides, our musical selves aren’t meant to be neatly wrapped up anyway.

Spotify Told Me I’m Someone I’m Not

Solace in Strangers