Spotify just dropped its much-beloved “Spotify Wrapped” for 2024, offering users the chance to take a deep dive into their listening habits, favorite artists, top songs—and, for the first time, a tailored A.I.-powered podcast in partnership with Google. Launched nearly a decade ago, Spotify Wrapped has become an eagerly awaited annual tradition for the company’s more than 640 million users. Each year typically brings new elements to the annual roundup, such as introducing personalized videos from top artists and last year’s “Sound Towns” feature, which paired users with a city matching their music taste. This year, Spotify users can also interact with a three-minute A.I. podcast that provides commentary on their Spotify use via two A.I.-generated hosts.
The podcasts are powered by Google’s NotebookLM A.I. tool. Using the same technology behind Google’s recently released Audio Overviews feature, the tool turns documents or text into a conversational dialogue between seemingly human hosts that banter and analyze the material.
English-speaking users in the U.S., the U.K., Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Ireland and Sweden will be able to listen to a lively summary of their music taste throughout 2024—although the podcast’s A.I. hosts might occasionally mispronounce words or fail to provide a comprehensive overview, warned Google.
“At Spotify, of course, we love audio, we love podcasts, and we’re always looking to be where our users are listening,” Molly Holder, Spotify’s senior director of personalization, said during a press briefing. “This partnership with Google seemed like a very exciting integration and a way for us to do just that.”
Other features in this year’s Spotify Wrapped
This isn’t the first time Spotify has rolled out an A.I.-powered Wrapped feature. Last year, the streaming giant introduced “DJ: Wrapped,” an A.I. guide that provides commentary on premium subscribers’ most listened-to music. The feature is also included in this year’s Wrapped, with the new addition of “AI Playlists,” which allows users to generate custom playlists through detailed prompts.
In keeping with Spotify’s tendency to unveil splashy summaries of listening habits, this year’s roundup also includes “Your Music Evolution,” which assigns up to three distinct musical phases to users throughout the year. Based on hundreds of thousands of different descriptors and genres that were assigned to songs through a mix of human curation and machine learning, potential music phases range from “Wild West Slow Dance Country” to “Surf Crush Beach Reggae.”
According to Spotify, Taylor Swift was 2024’s top artist globally, with her newly released The Tortured Poets Department being the most streamed album. Sabrina Carpenter topped the song category for 2024 with her hit Espresso, while The Joe Rogan Experience topped the list of the most listened-to podcasts.