It’s been two weeks since Spotify revealed its annual Spotify Wrapped lists for all its listeners. Some people said that their Spotify Wrapped lists were inaccurate or that they were missing artists they knew should have made the cut. Because of this, we thought we’d have a little fun, so a few of us got together to talk about our top two Spotify-wrapped artists and whether or not they lived up to our own expectations.
Who was your number-one top artist of 2024?
Jasmine: PVRIS
Amanda W.: Sabrina Carpenter
Ashley W.: Corey Cott
Shana: 10 Years
Ashley T.: HAIM
Were you surprised, or was it expected?
Jasmine: I wasn’t surprised that PVRIS took the number one spot because I listened to her a lot, mainly because I saw her in concert twice over the summer. Lynn Gunn is a fantastic artist; every album fits my mood and whatever I’m dealing with. I listened to one of my favorite tracks, “What’s Wrong,” 106 times. And that was my top track. It’s just one of those songs that feels therapeutic to sing out with the volume blasting. Second place was “Oil and Water” off Lynns EP F.I.L.T.H. It’s a whimsical love song; her vocals are everything, so it’s no surprise that one also made it in.
Amanda W.: No, I wasn’t at all surprised. Sabrina’s been on my go-to playlist all year, so it only makes sense!
Ashley W.: I was a bit surprised but not entirely shocked. My very niche top artist of Corey Cott earned that spot because of his lead vocal contribution to the Broadway cast recording for The Heart of Rock and Roll, which was released in the summer. I missed out on seeing the show before it closed and coped with that by listening to the cast album on repeat. So I knew I’d listened to it a lot. I just didn’t realize how much I’d listened to it.
Shana: Not really. They’re one of my all-time favorite bands, and they had a new album drop at the end of the year. Once that happened, I had it on a loop to get them over the finish line. If I was surprised by anything, it was that my nonstop Madonna shuffling earlier in the year, in honor of the Celebration Tour, didn’t at least put her a little closer.
Ashley T.: Not at all. HAIM is my favorite band. They really reignited my love of playing and singing music this year, too. I started voice lessons, got out my guitars, bought a bass guitar, and have worked hard at playing music again. Their music has been and continues to be lifegiving for me this year.
Which artist took second place on your Spotify wrapped and were you surprised?
Jasmine: Halsey grabbed that second spot, and I wasn’t surprised. I love Halsey as much as PVRIS, so I listened to their music a lot. I replayed “If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power” quite a few times because that album is amazing. Then, of course, Halsey dropped their fifth album, “The Great Impersonator,” so I made sure that got my ears.
Amanda W.: Stephen Schwartz — the lyricist and composer of Wicked — was my number two artist on Spotify Wrapped. I wasn’t surprised, but it was maybe a bit unexpected because I’d never really gotten a composer in my top artists before, and I don’t really understand why, how or when composers get to be on Spotify songs. Not every Broadway cast recording has the composer listed as an artist.
Ashley W.: Sabrina Carpenter was second on my list, and that was very expected. I’ve been listening to her latest album Short n’ Sweet constantly since its release. Later in the year, I also started listening to some of her older songs — like my personal favorite, “Why” — more often, too. So she was the one artist I expected to be listed.
Shana: Rise Against. And nope, another no-brainer. Especially given it was an election year that turned out…like that.
Ashley T.: Amy Winehouse was my second this year, and again, no surprises for two reasons. The first is that I was looking for artists to work on in my voice lessons. Amy was an easy choice for me there because she’s in a very comfortable range for me and because I love her jazzy sound. The second is that I reviewed the Amy Winehouse film, Back to Black here on Fangirlish, so I listened to her full discography on repeat before seeing the film so I would be prepared for the film.
Did anything else about your Spotify Wrapped surprise you?
Jasmine: I was surprised that Billie Eilish didn’t make it to my top five, considering I was listening to Hit Me Hard and Soft a lot. NONE of the tracks made my top five, which was crazy because I had CHIHIRO on repeat and Blue as well.
Amanda W.: I was a little surprised by Ariana Grande being my number three top artist. I never really listened to her music until eternal sunshine, but I didn’t think she would beat Olivia Rodrigo and Tate McRae. The Wicked movie soundtrack hasn’t been out long enough for it to rely entirely on her performance as Glinda either.
Ashley W.: Huey Lewis was my number five artist, which was interesting and unexpected. I know he was included because The Heart of Rock and Roll cast recording is for the jukebox Broadway musical that uses songs by Huey Lewis and the News. He also was one of the show’s producers. But he isn’t actually singing on any of the songs on the cast album, so it’s not like I was listening to him sing. That said, I’m curious which artist should really be in that fifth spot. My guess would probably be Jeremy Jordan because of the Broadway cast recording for The Great Gatsby.
Shana: Aside from what I mentioned with Madonna up above, I’m actually kind of shocked that my first four songs are all newer. And if they were all going to be from that new 10 Years album, I’m shocked the better version of The Optimist (the one featuring Conquer Divide) didn’t beat the original. Then again, the original got released first so it had a head start. Eh.
Ashley T.: I think my biggest surprise was that my number one song was “Lost Track” by HAIM rather than their song “Gasoline.” I worked on “Lost Track” for my voice lessons, but I had an easier time with that one than I did learning the bass line for “Gasoline,” so I thought I’d listened to the latter more. My other big surprise was that Taylor Swift was my number 3 artist. I started a full listen-through of her discography this spring but haven’t finished yet. I should do that again.
