Are you eagerly awaiting Spotify’s annual review? There are plenty of other services that prepare your annual music summary. And some of them are even more fun than Spotify Wrapped. We have seven alternatives for you that will shed a whole new light on your musical tastes.
While many are looking forward to the festival of love (or the latest episodes of Stranger Things), there are also many of you out there who are eagerly awaiting something completely different. It’s the beginning of December, and that usually means Spotify Wrapped is back (soon) — the entire year in review, pulled from the annals of everyone’s favorite music streaming service.
Every Single Year…
To be honest, I’ve actually lost all excitement concerning what Spotify pieces together for us year after year. Yes, of course, I like the annual affirmation that my taste in music is simply the best in the world. But at the same time, Spotify seems to have more fun with strange ideas and categories than with providing us with a detailed overview.
That’s why I remembered that I’ve tried some alternatives like Stats.fm before and found them to be good. However, there really are a lot of services out there that you can connect to Spotify.
Basically, it’s the same with each of these applications: you give it access to your Spotify data before being connected to the respective tool. Of course, you must share information about the music you listen to. Most services keep this as brief as possible, and sometimes, they need more permissions if they can also create playlists for you. Are you ready? Let’s go!
Spotify Wrapped: These are the Best Alternatives
Wrapped is nice to have — but only from Spotify’s point of view. If you want more depth, fun, or simply a different view of the music year, here are seven tools that take your listening habits apart in a creative or detailed way.
Instafest: Your Year as a Festival Poster
I didn’t know about Instafest until recently, but I liked the idea right away. The app builds your own festival line-up from your most-listened-to artists — complete with poster design, colors, and vibes. Depending on the style, you get a poster that captures your festival vibe and is perfect for social media.
Empathy Test should be delighted to be playing after Oasis. Image source: nextpit
Okay, my carstendreesfest is a complete disaster if you ask me. A lot of legendary bands end up with bad slots, speeches also contributed as headliners, and even an AI band made it into the line-up. Boy, oh boy! Fortunately, you can also remove unwanted artists from the program on the Instafest page, which makes it look better:
Lady Gaga and Heinz Strunk on the same festival stage on the same day — nobody saw that coming, either! Image source: nextpit
In addition to Spotify, the login is also available for Apple Music and Last.fm. In addition to the festival poster, there are now also quite rudimentary statistics.
Icebergify: How Deep Does Your Taste in Music Go?
The tool known as Icebergify sorts your favorite acts into an iceberg diagram. Right on top are the big, currently popular names, further down are recommended songs that you listen to a lot. The result shows how “deep” your taste supposedly is — and, as experience has shown, it generates a lot of discussion.
Please? I really didn’t expect Depeche Mode to be there. Image source: nextpit
There is no support for mobile apps and visually, it is not really a revelation. At least it takes a slightly different approach that made me realize once again that I probably consume too many audio plays and books.
Receiptify: Your Top Songs as a Receipt
Minimalist, fun, and instantly recognizable: Receiptify turns your most-listened-to songs into a fake receipt. You can choose between monthly, annual, or all-time data and get an ironic review that looks like a find from the supermarket of musical taste. Yes, for some people, the receipt will look like something from the annals of music history.
Oh, there must have been Yungblud and NNDW on offer this year. Image source: nextpit
As you can see from the screenshot, you can choose between Top Ten and Top 50, and you can also have your favorite albums, artists, and much more printed on the receipt.
How Bad Is Your Streaming Music: An AI Ranks Your Music Year
Instead of charts, How Bad is Your Streaming Music provides a sarcastic analysis. The AI looks at your data and comments on it with loving malice. It’s less about statistics and more on entertainment — and caps it with one of the most entertaining reviews of the year ever.
Yeah, man, I really like listening to that song. Don’t judge me! Image source: nextpit
You won’t find any apps for your smartphone here, but you can log in with Apple Music.
Stats.fm: For Those Who Really Want to go Deep
Stats.fm provides the most detailed figures outside of Spotify itself: Number of minutes listened to, genre distribution, track rankings, moods, historical comparisons, and much more. The service targets anyone who wants more than just a colorful poster.
Alternatively, you can also use the service in your browser. You can also check out other profiles — and I can be found here. If the free offer is not enough for you, you can book the Plus package for $5.99, which allows you to delve even deeper into the data.
Obscurify: How Peculiar is Your Musical Taste?
Obscurify shows just how unusual your music profile is compared to other users. And let’s be honest: we’d like confirmation that we’re not just listening to “what’s on the radio”, wouldn’t you?
This is proof that I have highly peculiar taste in music. Image source: nextpit
You also get a mood evaluation of your songs — from melancholy to euphoric. This tool is ideal if you’re curious about how normal or crazy your music year is going. Visually, however, the website doesn’t look like much. Instead, you can create playlists from your charts and share the profiles with friends.
Volt.fm: Your Musical Calling Card
Volt.fm creates a stylish music profile that you can use permanently. You get statistics, favorite songs, and trends in a tidy overview that is easy to share. The service is a good mix of analysis and presentation, making it a great alternative to Spotify Wrapped.
I seem to have developed a bit of a Yungblud affinity this year. Image source: nextpit
At the same time, you can also be roasted there, similar to “How Bad Is Your Streaming Music”. Here, too, you can opt for a premium version if you are a data freak who wants to know, for instance, how many minutes you have already listened to on Spotify. If you want precise time periods, i.e. “Top ten of the last four weeks” instead of “These were your top hits in the long term”, then you also need the Pro version. This will cost you $3 a month or $24 annually. For a one-off payment of $48, it’s yours forever.
