Spotify's annual Wrapped feature returned on December 3, 2025, introducing a new 'Listening Age' metric that calculates users' perceived age based on their music listening habits. The platform saw its biggest launch ever, with 200 million engaged users and 500 million shares in the first 24 hours. This marks a significant improvement over 2024's underwhelming edition amid a challenging year for the streaming service.
Overview of Spotify Wrapped 2025
Spotify Wrapped 2025 debuted on December 3, featuring several innovations to reengage users after last year's criticized version, which faced complaints about lackluster data and presentation. The feature provides personalized summaries of listening habits, including top artists, songs, genres, and albums. Bad Bunny emerged as the global top artist with 19.8 billion streams.
The Listening Age Feature
A standout addition is 'Listening Age,' which assigns an age based on the 'reminiscence bump'—the tendency to favor music from one's youth. Spotify analyzes the release dates of tracks streamed in 2025, identifying the five-year span of highest concentration compared to peers of the user's actual age. It then estimates what age the user would be if that span aligned with their late teens or early 20s.
Marc Hazan, Spotify's SVP of Marketing and Partnerships, explained the inspiration: “What inspired the idea for Listening Age was the insight that Gen Z and Gen Alpha users are more likely to listen to music across different genres and decades than previous users. So, we thought it would be fun to ‘age’ listeners based solely on their music taste.” The feature has sparked viral memes on X, with posts joking about age gaps and personality traits tied to results.
Celebrities shared their ages: Charli XCX at 75, Laufey at 85, Grimes at 92, Karol G at 51, and Gracie Abrams at 73, reflecting diverse tastes from the 1960s to the 1990s.
Other New Features and Success
Additional elements include 'Clubs,' categorizing users into one of six vibe-based groups like Archivist or Broadcaster; 'Listening Archive,' an AI-powered summary of standout listening days; a quiz for top songs; and a visual race for top artists. Spotify restored popular requests for top genres and albums.
The launch achieved 200 million users and 500 million shares in 24 hours—a 19% increase from 2024—despite Spotify's 2025 controversies, including artist boycotts over AI policies, ads, and executive ties to defense firms. Ek stepped down as CEO in September, becoming executive chairman in 2026.
Hazan noted: “Listening Data does what wrapped does best – turns listening habits into conversation.”