Tag: artist wrapped

From Data to Strategy: How Artists Can Make the Most of Their 2024 Wrapped

December 4, 2024

Spotify Wrapped is beloved by fans, but artists also cherish the experience. For them, it’s a unique opportunity to forge personal connections with their fans, celebrating those who streamed them the most and highlighting the tracks that truly resonated. In 2024, Wrapped for Artists returns with even more impact—featuring personalized data stories and visuals that reflect how artists engaged with their fans this year.

“This year, it was important to us that we curate a Wrapped experience that highlights the unique ways artists are willing to share more of themselves with their fans,” says Zach Burton, Associate Manager, Product Marketing at Spotify. “Features like Clips and Canvas invite artists to express themselves in a whole new way, and I’m so excited for artists to see how their biggest fans engaged with their art. And of course, to see them share it with all of their fans worldwide who made it possible.”

Curious what Spotify Wrapped has in store for artists? For the Record asked Zach to give up even more details.

What can artists expect from their Wrapped this year?

We’ve continued to innovate our data stories for artists so they can gain even deeper insights about their audiences and the growth they’ve had on Spotify each year. It wouldn’t be Wrapped without the crowd favorites, so we’re bringing back popular data stories like total listeners, top fans, top track, and the gains an artist made this year compared to last year. We’re also introducing two brand-new stories: the addition of an artist’s top-three-performing Clips, and the new release story, which highlights the artist’s biggest release week based on week-one streams. If an artist set up a Countdown Page in 2024, they’ll also see how many presaves it generated towards that project.

Also, when we began ideating on what this year’s Wrapped for Artists could be, we knew we wanted to give artists and their teams the freedom to move around within the microsite. That’s why we’re introducing a global navigation menu that allows artists to progress through the experience at their own pace and seamlessly navigate to the data points that matter most to them.

Additionally, we optimized each data story for sharing, introducing a brand-new array of share cards featuring individual cards for each data story. This allows artists to share results with their fans at any given point in the experience, rather than having to wait until the end to only share their Wrapped summary data points. This will be especially helpful to people who manage multiple artists.

What about songwriters and producers? What can they expect from their Wrapped?

Similar to artists, songwriters and producers who have an active Songwriter Page have access to their own microsite where they’ll receive a recap of their year on Spotify and Wrapped summary cards to share on social media.

It was a huge year for songwriters and producers in the industry, so we’re also taking our social campaign up a notch this year and bringing some new concepts to life—like capturing live reactions of songwriters receiving their Wrapped results, and celebrating the overall journey in a way that empowers the whole songwriter community.

How does Wrapped help artists connect more deeply with their fans?

Clips are a great way for artists to speak directly to the fans who kept them in their rotation all year long. We’ve incorporated Clips from artists into Wrapped for the past two years, and this year, we gave artists three new prompts for their messages to fans: 1) Reveal which song you’ve loved performing this year, 2) Drop the real meaning behind one of your new songs, and 3) Tell a story about writing a track.

These prompts give fans a chance to relive their favorite moments with artists’ music while looking forward to what’s coming next. Clips uploaded ahead of the Wrapped launch have the opportunity to be featured within the main data stories and a video feed for top fans. After Wrapped, artists’ uploaded Clips will be featured across Spotify—on their artist profile, the Now Playing view, Release Pages, and Home—so artists can keep reaching potential new listeners, connecting with fans, and driving streams and saves.

What advice do you have for artists in terms of using the data and insights from their Wrapped?

Wrapped for Artists provides valuable insights about artists’ biggest fans and most popular content, which could help power their future strategies. After learning more about how they showed up in 2024, artists can consider using some of Spotify for Artists’ tools to develop their fan base even further in 2025. This could mean expanding the audiences they saw strong engagement with, or learning from the visuals and releases they had the most success with when developing new release strategies. We’re excited to see how artists will translate these insights into meaningful strategies next year and beyond.

Ready to explore your Wrapped for Artists? Head to Spotify for Artists.

To learn more about this year’s campaign and experience, check out our 2024 Wrapped hub.

How Spotify Made Wrapped More Valuable Than Ever for Artists

November 29, 2023

When 2023 Spotify Wrapped rolls around each year, it’s as much of an event for artists as it is for fans. With Artist Wrapped, musicians can check out a personalized recap of their Spotify stats showing when, where, and how listeners engaged with them on Spotify. 

Since launching Artist Wrapped in 2017, we’ve worked to make this moment bigger and better with each go around, adding data stories with deeper insights, integrations that provide more ways to connect with fans, and delightful moments that extend beyond the core Wrapped experience. 2023 is no exception, and we’re excited for artists to dig into this year’s edition.

“I’m most excited about our efforts to make Artist Wrapped, and Wrapped in general, even more valuable and impactful to artists’ careers this year,” says Rob Fink, Associate Director, Spotify for Artists Brand Marketing. “We’ve built upon many of the foundations established over the past few years so that Wrapped is truly a global platform for artists to effectively connect with their fans.”

Curious what artists can expect from Wrapped this year? For the Record sat down with Rob to get all the details. 

Just like fans, artists love their Wrapped data stories. What can they expect this year?

As usual, we’ll have all the tried-and-true stories artists have come to expect, like total listeners, total number of streams, and total time streamed. But this year, artists can now find out how many listeners discovered them for the first time in 2023. The idea is they can use this data to better understand their listeners and pick out opportunities to expand their audience.

We’re also giving artists more insight into their top fans. Previously we’ve shown artists the number of fans who had them as a top 10, top five, or number one top artist. But this year, we’re also showing artists the average amount of time that each of their top 0.001% fans spent listening to them. This is the first time we’ve ever shown artists a story about the listening time of their very biggest fans, and some of the numbers are quite eye-opening.

Finally, we’re expanding our merch data story to share an artist’s three bestselling items since empowering artist merch stores on Spotify has continued to be a priority for us. We’ve also added a story that reveals the three locations where an artist sold the most concert tickets in 2023. 

Spotify for Artists Associate Brand Marketing Director Rob Fink

Last year’s Wrapped resulted in Spotify’s biggest merch sales week to date. How did Spotify incorporate those learnings into 2023 Wrapped?

Beyond connecting with their top fans, we want Wrapped to be a moment for artists to earn additional revenue as well. And one big thing we’ve learned is that when artists create unique merch offers on Spotify, those tend to outperform the rest.

That’s why this year, for the first time ever, we enabled artists [in the U.S. and Canada] to set up Wrapped-specific merch discounts for their top listeners of the year. We want artists to be able to offer fans something special, and in turn, fans will know they’re receiving a discount for being a top listener.

We’ve also made artists’ merch and ticket offers even more visible by adding them to more places within fans’ Wrapped experience. Listeners will receive personalized offers from their top artists when they open Wrapped, and we’ll also continue to promote those offers via in-app messaging, emails, and beyond after Wrapped launches to make sure fans don’t miss out. 

We also can’t forget about the songwriters and producers out there. What can they expect from their Wrapped this year?

Last year, we sent personalized share cards to all songwriters and producers who have active Written By playlists or Songwriter Pages on Spotify. This group has grown substantially since, and this year we’re introducing a dedicated Songwriter Wrapped microsite experience. We’re excited to continue making Wrapped even exciting for this extremely important audience.

We’re also testing out a new idea and launching a Songwriter Wrapped social campaign to show love to the music makers—regardless of whether they have a Written By playlist on Spotify yet. Artists and music fans alike can fill in the blanks on their favorite songwriters, producers, lyrics, and beats from 2023 to acknowledge and celebrate the creativity and work from their top creators.

Is there anything else you’ve been keeping under wraps?

We’re testing something this year that we’re calling Wrapped Listening Parties. We’ve teamed up with a small handful of artists who will host invite-only live audio rooms for top fans where everyone can interact and listen to music together. Artists will also be able to promote their merch offers there as well. The idea is to put our listening data to good use and offer unique ways for artists and fans to connect on a personal level.

Ready to check out your Artist Wrapped? Head over to Spotify for Artists to get started.

Top EQUAL Artist INNA Reflects On a Standout Year

November 29, 2023

Top EQUAL Artist INNA Dance Cover

Today we kicked off 2023 Spotify Wrapped, our annual campaign that celebrates fans and creators worldwide. And as the good vibes keep coming, we look back on a successful year of EQUAL, which included speaking events, festivals, and both local and global playlists featuring a large roster of talented EQUAL ambassadors. We’re thrilled to announce that Romanian superstar INNA is the most-streamed artist within the EQUAL Global playlist in 2023.

In 2020, Spotify created EQUAL, a global initiative that aims to eliminate the existing gender gap in the music industry so that women artists, composers, and producers have the representation and visibility they deserve. Since then, week after week, we’ve been raising the volume on women artists locally and internationally. 

Along with being named an EQUAL Global ambassador back in April, INNA had quite a landmark 2023. Her Dhurata Dora and Stefflon Don collaborations for the track “Yummy” pleased fans—as did the release of a 10-song EP of remixes for her revival of the 1997 Sash! hit “Rock My Body.” The house music star also released a two-part studio album, Just Dance #DQH1 and Just Dance #DQH2, which showcases an ambitious new direction in the artist’s career, combining elements of other genres and sounds as part of the Dance Queen’s House project.

For the Record caught up with INNA to talk about being the top EQUAL artist, her Wrapped for Artists insights, and her plans for 2024.

What was your reaction to finding out that you’re this year’s top EQUAL artist?

It was a huge surprise! I want to thank everyone who listens to my music and supports me. It’s an absolute honor to have so many people who are there for me. As an artist, this is the love I need to feel! I’m so happy about this!

How has dance music changed since your debut single, “Hot,” topped the charts in 2009? EQUAL Top Artist INNA

There are more and more dance artists in the world now, and a lot of DJs doing dance and EDM songs. It’s an expanding genre that has seen and will continue to see a lot of growth.

I’ve also changed quite a lot. In that time I made it a point to experience different collaborations, genres, and sounds in my music. 

What were some of your 2023 highlights?

2023 was such a great year. My collaboration with R3HAB for “Rock My Body” conquered the charts and became a hit. I released a new album, Just Dance, featuring the music I worked on for the Dance Queen’s House project. And, of course, so many concerts. I couldn’t be more grateful for all that’s happened in 2023. Bring it on, 2024! I’m ready for you!

Tell us about Just Dance, which you’ve previously described as a refresh from your past and an important step in your evolution as an artist.

When we started, we were brainstorming, thinking how this album should sound. And overall we felt that we needed a different vibe and a whole new approach, so we changed the dynamic. I’m honestly super excited about how it all came together. The album complements my 2023 tour on the stages of the biggest electro dance festivals in the world.

What insights have you been able to take away from previous years of Artist Wrapped?

A white background with INNA walking

My team and I always pay attention to everything to improve our work. We work hard to make the most out of the Artist Wrapped insights to create more and more music that resonates with more people.

Which women artists do you currently have in your On Repeat playlist?

I always have P!nk on repeat, she is fabulous, one of my favorite artists ever. Some other women artists are ROSALÍA, FKA Twigs, Billie Eilish, Dhurata Dora, and SZA.

Going into the New Year, what advice do you have for other artists?

Consistency, focus, creativity, inspiration, and a lot of work are important. Surround yourself with people who share the same vibe as you. And most importantly, don’t forget to have fun!

What do you have planned for 2024?

There will be a lot of new music coming in 2024. I’ll be releasing a new album written entirely in Spanish. It’s one of the releases I can’t wait for, because it’s an important part of my work and soul and I’ve been working on it for several years. And of course, I’ll be kicking off a tour in the USA in addition to performing concerts in Mexico and Europe.

Listen to the best of the best from the dance queen herself in our This Is INNA playlist.

Brazilian Hitmaker Ludmilla Uses Spotify Artist Wrapped To Track How Far She’s Come

November 30, 2022

Spotify listeners all over the world are taking part in Wrapped and learning about their listening habits. And just as fans are excited for Wrapped, creators are feeling the anticipation too.

Since its inception, Artist Wrapped has become a moment that artists look forward to all year. Now in its sixth year, Artist Wrapped is a personalized microsite presented by Spotify for Artists that allows creators to discover how their music connected with fans across the world that year. They can see how much they’ve grown by viewing their total hours streamed, followers and listeners stats, playlist adds, total number of shares, and more.

One artist who will definitely be checking out her Artist Wrapped is Ludmilla, who since making her musical debut in 2014 with Hoje, has become the first Black singer in Latin America to reach more than one billion streams on Spotify.

With hit studio and live albums including countless collaborations and tracks such as “Maldivas,” “Cheguei,” and “CAFÉ DA MANHĀ ;P” with Luísa Sonza reaching streams in the tens of millions, it’s safe to say that Ludmilla has had some significant growth since the days when she went by MC Beyoncé.

This year was a particularly sterling one for the Brazilian singer-songwriter, with Numanice #2 winning a Latin Grammy for Best Samba/Pagode Album.

For the Record caught up with Ludmilla to talk about her music, advice she’d give to other artists, and what she’s looking forward to most with 2022’s Artist Wrapped.

It’s been about eight years since the release of your first album, Hoje. How has your music evolved since then?

It evolved as I grew up, both as a person and as a professional. With each experience, I acquired more knowledge and I became more confident. Even my way of composing changed over time. With all these life changes, I discovered that I am a multifaceted artist, that I can sing other rhythms and work in other areas as long as it’s something I really believe in that I actually feel able to deliver.

As the first Black singer in Latin America to reach more than one billion streams on Spotify, what advice do you have for other Black Latin artists?

I usually say that there is no recipe, but I really believe that an artist’s authenticity matters so much. Of course, we all have inspirations, but it is extremely important to assume your own identity and give a face to both your project and your career.

What has your experience with Artist Wrapped been like?

Being able to access my data as an artist and know how the audience is consuming my music on the platform is amazing. 

What were some of your personal 2022 highlights?

Wow! I had a really incredible year and many remarkable things happened, starting with the release of the album Numanice #2, which immediately placed all the songs in the top 200. Soon after, I started the celebrations of my 10 years in music, and launched an EP of funk that recalls my days as MC Beyoncé, at the beginning of my career. This was followed by a nomination in the “Best International Act” category at the B.E.T Awards. 

Time passed and the Rock in Rio concert came. And now, finally, the apotheotic edition of Numanice, at Marquês de Sapucaí, in Rio de Janeiro—which broke an audience record with an audience of 33,000 people. And Numanice #2 won the Latin Grammy for best samba/pagode album. 

There were more things, but I think these already give an idea of ​​how wonderful my year has been.

What type of information have you been able to take away from previous years of Artist Wrapped that has helped you plan for the next year?

All. This data is very important to drive the work, to understand what the audience is listening to the most, how the music is performing . . .  In short, it is an incredible tool for the artist’s growth.

Are you a creator? Learn more about your listeners by visiting the Artist Wrapped page.