LOS ALAMITOS, Calif — The end of the year is near, and the time to judge each other’s music is finally here! After an agonizing wait, Spotify has finally released this year’s Spotify Wrapped. Listeners are now exposed to their favorite songs and albums of 2025, and the competition to have the most niche music taste has begun.
This year’s Spotify Wrapped included analytics of listeners’ top five artists, genres and songs. Other features include the number of minutes spent listening to music, the most listened-to albums and an estimated age based on the listener’s music preferences.
“I thought my favorite artist would be different. I haven’t listened to them since freshman year,” said Lillian Cassel, a sophomore at Los Alamitos High School.
Every December, Spotify Wrapped thrills listeners with the privilege of showing off their favorite music. 2025 is no exception; many young music enthusiasts have already joined the trend of reposting their Spotify Wrapped results, with the hopes for people to see their unique taste in music. This spread of information often reflects how different music tastes can be. Within every music addict, there are songs listened to daily, while others are left on skip.
“Some people do take a competitive take on Spotify Wrapped,” said Ashley Kim, an LAHS junior. “It can appear a bit performative.”
The desire and pressure to have rare music taste is an excessive pursuit among LAHS students. The 2025 trend in underground music has led to students’ obsession with being the first to discover unknown artists. If students are following the trends of music to stay relevant, how much of their music taste is true enjoyment, and how much is performative?
There is for sure a competition to have a niche music taste; People judge you based on your music taste. Having good taste in music is very important.”
— Vivienne Nicholls, a junior at LAHS.
According to Spotify, “age is just a number,” and with Spotify’s new feature, people can find theirs. Spotify uses people’s music taste to indicate their age. Students’ assigned ages can vary from being in their early 20s to being in their 70s. Spotify judges if people’s music taste is fit for a nightclub or for a nursing home. But how truly accurate is this perspective, and should Spotify be blamed for inaccurately labeling young listeners?
“Spotify gave me 76 for my age, but I feel it’s accurate because I listen to a lot of old music and not so much newer,” said Ariana Boisvert, a LAHS junior.
Accurate or not, Spotify Wrapped has uncovered everyone’s true music taste this year, along with some new features. The overall conclusion of people’s reports seems to be good and accurate. The media takes music as a significant outlet; for teens, this is an understatement. Music presents itself as another form of expression that teens can find relatability in. Whether you have a song on your playlist due to other people’s perception or because it’s a guilty pleasure, your music should fulfill you and only you.
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Unwrapping your 2025 music with spotify – The Griffin Gazette
