While Spotify Wrapped is commonly referred to as an annual collection of data, only activity from January 1st to early-mid November[2] is counted for any given year.

Its release is generally accompanied by billboards and television advertisements and has historically correlated with a boost to Spotify's app store ranking.

[7] Users can view information about their most-listened-to songs and artists[8] as well as their favorite music genres;[3] producers are invited to share the number and location of streams of their content.

[8] The data is organized in a visually appealing way, intended to boost engagement[9] and encourage viewers to share the campaign on social media, which benefits Spotify.

[10] While Spotify Wrapped is commonly referred to as an annual collection of data, Billboard and Newsweek have reported that only activity from between January 1 and October 31 of a given year is included.

[5] In 2021, a Spotify official told Newsweek that the reasons for activity tracking ending in October as opposed to December are logistical because time is needed for quality assurance and other preparation.

[3][6] In The Guardian, a 2019 article stated that the popularity of the Spotify Wrapped campaign "shows that some people not only accept their data being used and stored but embrace their intimate listening habits being put on public display.

[30] In 2021, Rachel Metz of CNN Business described Spotify Wrapped as an "impressively effective" marketing campaign, noting that it demonstrates "how a company can conduct in-depth surveillance of our personal behavior over a long period of time and package it as a fun feature that we want to share with others."

Metz quoted Chris Gilliard of the Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy, who said that Spotify makes Wrapped "viral and appealing" to "occlude the harms of the extractive practices" that enable its creation.

She and Gilliard both noted that Spotify Wrapped data can reveal personal information, providing the example that the presence of lullabies or songs by The Wiggles might suggest that a user has a young child.

"[33] Also in 2021, Elle Hunt wrote an opinion piece criticizing Spotify Wrapped in The Guardian, characterizing it as "an effective marketing scheme" but a "banal and depressing" experience.

Hunt argued that Spotify users' listening habits are largely shaped by the platform itself, and described Wrapped as "flat, functional, siloed" in contrast to Last.fm.

"[13] In response to the success of Spotify's Wrapped campaign, several competing music streaming services have introduced similar data compilation features.