Eve's Spotify Wrap-Up

The other day my daughter contributed an essay on her Spotify Wrapped statistics. For the unitiated, at the culmination of each year, the music app Spotify will aggregate everything you have listened to this past year. It is an interesting exercise on reality versus perception – how many minutes do you think you spent listening to music? And if someone asks you what you spend the most time listening to, is that actually accurate?

Last year, it turns out I spent 19,121 minutes listening to music.  That’s roughly an hour a day. That is notably less that my daughter who clocked in at 21,821. My perception would have been that we would clock in at somewhat equal, with me maybe even having a bit more. But the reality is she has listened to 14% more music than I have this past year!

If you asked me what I listened to most, I would have definitively said Chopin.   Which is apparently true, but not any one piece of Chopin, so it doesn’t count as my Top Song.  Apparently, my Top Song for 2022 was Hey Ya! By Outkast. I listened to it 21 times one day back February. I wish I could tell you I recall what I was doing that February day that prompted 21 listens but I do not recall! Rounding out my Top Five are three pieces by Chopin, and This is How We Do It by Montell Jordan.  You can attribute that last one to my ever-growing workout playlist. 😊

Back to Chopin. Last year I listened to 3,247 minutes of him – a full 18% of my music listening. That puts me in the top one half of one percent of Frederic Chopin listeners for 2022.  An honor!

Lest you think I am narrow in my music tastes, Spotify calculated that I listened to 954 artists this past year.  Proof I mix it up every now and then!

Spotify doesn’t just have music, though. It also has a nice selection of podcasts. There, I logged 6,289 minutes of listening. Or, translated, 6,289 minutes of work on my property and/or long car drives. Because that is when I listen to those! I have only invested time thus far in four podcasts: Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard, Let’s Talk to Lucy, WTF with Marc Maron, and Suze Orman’s Women & Money. 

• Dax interviews celebrities, but even more interestingly, he interviews established experts on all sorts of topics.  It’s sort of like a masterclass on a mélange of topics.  
• Marc Maron, the OG of podcasters, does a deep dive with all sorts of people in the entertainment business. He has introduced me to many people I would not have otherwise given a second glance. 
• Let’s Talk to Lucy is a great podcast I bet none of you know about. Apparently, back in the 50s, Lucille Ball interviewed the luminaries of the time.  She did so in like 10-15 minute increments. It is impressive to see how studio heads revered this woman as a business professional, pioneer, actor and person. You also get to hear legends such as Barbra Streisand when she was a newbie to the business. 
• And Suze Orman, always the guru on finances, keeps me evaluating our finances and encourages me to stay on top of things.

Lastly, Spotify has labeled me a Time Traveler, stating “You’re like a musical time traveler, a sonic historian. You seek out music that’s new to you, regardless of whether it’s new to the rest of the world.” This statement is so true!  I like to explore all kinds of music both new and old.

Can’t wait to see what next year brings!

Eve