December 2 was what could be called Christmas for music fans — the day Spotify Wrapped dropped. People love sharing their Spotify Wrapped results on social media and comparing their own with their friends, meaning it basically turns into one big marketing event for the streaming service. For several years now, there have been murmurings that the method Spotify uses to compile the data may not be as accurate as it could be, as multiple fans have found artists and songs in their top fives that they felt they hardly ever listened to.
This year, the discussion about whether Spotify Wrapped is accurate has been pretty much centered on Taylor Swift. While the pop star continues to break records and rake in tons of money, some fans are claiming that she showed up on their Spotify Wrapped even though they hardly ever listen to her. Since Spotify Wrapped was released, the internet has gone wild with conspiracy theories that could explain why Swift showed up on so many people’s Wrapped lists. It turns out that there are several reasons this might have happened.
If Taylor Swift is your 2025 Spotify Wrapped top artist even though you don’t listen to her music, these 7 things may explain why:
1. The conspiracy theory that Spotify is rigged
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TikToker Carter Wright presented the world with one possible explanation for why Swift is in everyone’s Wrapped despite people claiming they don’t listen to her. “This is going to sound like a conspiracy, because it is,” he said. “Spotify is rigging the numbers for Taylor Swift. No, maybe other artists too, but she’s been in [the] top artists of so many of my friends who, like, canonically and, like, by the data, know that is not true.”
Another TikTok creator named Val shared her own experience with the conspiracy theory and why she thinks it’s true, complete with screenshots to prove her point. She showed her list of top songs, which was full of ROLE MODEL. “Like, I kid you not, we go through this entire album before Taylor Swift pops up on my, like, most listened to songs,” she said. “But Taylor Swift is my top artist over ROLE MODEL?”
Additionally, a thread on the r/TravisAndTaylor subreddit, which, despite its name, is basically dedicated to hating on the couple, featured multiple Redditors asking why “blandie” (their not-so-affectionate nickname for Swift, based on actual fans calling her “blondie”) ended up in their Spotify Wrapped. “I want to know how on God’s green earth did [“The Life of a Showgirl”] become one of my top albums?” someone asked. “I listened to it once when released, and not in its entirety either. There was a lot of skipping.”
To some, the idea of a conspiracy that Spotify is inserting Swift into users’ Wrapped lists when she didn’t earn a top spot based on their listening may sound far-fetched. But Spotify Wrapped is really just a way for the streaming service to market itself, so would it really be that absurd to think that certain artists are in on that marketing, too?
2. It doesn’t cover the whole year
As longtime Spotify users might recall, Wrapped used to be released earlier, sometime in November. In more recent years, it’s dropped in December, but it turns out that the time period Spotify uses to collect listening data actually hasn’t changed. According to Shivali Best, science and technology editor at the Daily Mail, Spotify only includes what users listened to between January 1 and November 15 in their Wrapped roundup.
This year, Spotify Wrapped was released on December 2, and while there’s not a huge chunk of time between November 15 and December 2, it still means that some vital listening time was not included. If you had a new favorite song in the last few weeks, it didn’t make the cut. So, maybe if Swift showed up in your listening earlier in the year, you had a better chance of ending up with her on your Wrapped.
3. Random playlists count for more than you think
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If you’re trying to discover some new tunes and checking out playlists like “Discover Weekly” or “Release Radar” to do so, that could be part of your problem, Best said. The Daily Mail worked with ticket platform SeatPick to get to the bottom of why so many people felt their Spotify Wrapped was inaccurate. SeatPick noted, “This is how a lot of people end up with top artists they hardly remember.”
Basically, if you listen to something like Spotify’s “New Music Friday” playlist, each artist and song you hear gets counted as part of your listening. Of course, chances are you’re just passively listening to that playlist, and you’re not actually choosing to hear those artists or songs specifically. It seems small, but everything you listen to has an impact on that year-end list.
4. The length of the song matters
Let’s say you did listen to the 10-minute version of Swift’s “All Too Well.” Should that time count for more than a typical three-minute pop song? Apparently not, according to Spotify. In addition to a song having to play for at least 30 seconds to actually go towards your listening count, SeatPick also said, “Shorter songs also generate more plays, as in Wrapped, the ‘play count’ sometimes matters more than time spent. For example, a 1:30 hyperpop track played five times trumps your eight-minute prog rock track played once.”
So, the time you spent listening to something may not actually make a difference. You could listen to “American Pie” all you want, but if you keep those shorter songs in your rotation, too, they’ll count for more.
5. The algorithm knows when you’re listening obsessively
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We’ve all discovered a new artist before and listened to their music non-stop for a week before just … forgetting about them. It turns out that Spotify pays attention to these “listening spikes.” “If you obsessively listened to one artist for two weeks straight at some point in the year, but then never again, they might still show up in your top five,” SeatPick said.
That’s not exactly fair considering we all expect our Wrapped to reflect the year’s listening as a whole and not that brief period we couldn’t stop listening to that new indie artist. Still, it could explain a lot. If you’re not really a Swift fan, but one of the new songs on “The Life of a Showgirl” captured your attention and was on repeat for a month, she just got catapulted into your top artists list.
6. The shuffle issue
Just like with any music service, Spotify allows you to listen to music on shuffle. And, when the album or song you selected finishes, assuming you have nothing else in your queue, the algorithm starts playing “recommended songs” on shuffle. These songs count towards your Wrapped roundup, too.
As one TikTok user said in the comments section of Wright’s video, “I’m pretty sure they count skips as listens. My brother has had this issue for years that his top artist is usually an artist that gets recommended to him a lot and he always skips the songs.”
I can personally guarantee that my second most listened to song of the year got on my list of top songs this way. I listened to it by choice no more than a handful of times, but it was often played on shuffle as a recommended song when I listened to other music in the same genre. While not reflective of my own taste, Spotify still logged every time it popped up and played for me.
7. It’s all about marketing
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As many people suspected, Spotify Wrapped is just a marketing tool for both the streaming service and artists. True music fans want to know what their real listening statistics are, but that’s not how Wrapped is designed. SeatPick said, “Spotify most likely chooses the most fun narrative, and not the most complete data. Wrapped is designed for social sharing, not accuracy.”
So, in a year when Swift once again dominated the music industry, it makes sense that Spotify would want to push her onto as many top artist lists as possible. Although this is just speculation and a bit more sketchy, it also wouldn’t be far-fetched to say that Swift wanted to be on those lists and made a deal to get there. Chances are, ROLE MODEL was probably Val’s most listened to artist.
While we’d all like to excitedly look at our Spotify Wrapped and see a true representation of the music we listened to over the last year, there are so many factors that make it impossible to be truly accurate. Instead of treating it so seriously, users would be better off accepting that Wrapped just is what it is — a fun little gimmick that’s a part of the holiday season, not a real list of their favorite music.
Mary-Faith Martinez is a writer with a bachelor’s degree in English and Journalism who covers news, psychology, lifestyle, and human interest topics.