For years, the buzz has been that Spotify Wrapped leaves Apple Music users wishing for a similar feature. While Apple Music has been working on its Replay tool for almost as long, Spotify Wrapped has consistently made Apple Music subscribers feel envious each December.
This year, however, it looks like a shift has taken place for two main reasons.
The Best Replay Yet
First off, the Apple Music Replay for 2024 is its most impressive edition to date.
Apple has finally tackled the major criticism of its Wrapped counterpart: the requirement to sign in on a website instead of using the Music app. While this still applies in some cases (like Mac and Vision Pro), the iPhone and iPad versions allow users to enjoy the complete Replay experience within the app itself.
This year’s Replay is also exceptionally engaging. Insights that reveal whether you’re among the top 100 or 1000 listeners for specific artists, as well as total listening minutes, provide a data-rich and intriguing perspective on your listening habits. Plus, Replay is designed for easy sharing, complete with an Instagram Stories-like format, shareable images, and a brief video for social media posting.
In addition, Apple offers Replay playlists that refresh throughout the year, but the true enchantment lies in the comprehensive Replay recap.
AI Wrapped Disappointment?
Conversely, Spotify, the pioneer of this concept, is receiving considerable criticism from dissatisfied users this year. Sarah Perez from TechCrunch has compiled a selection of user feedback expressing disappointment.
The main issues highlighted include Spotify’s decision to feature an AI podcast for Wrapped, overshadowing the clever and creative data insights that users typically expect — such as profiling music personalities, matching users with cities based on musical tastes, revealing their “audio aura,” and gamifying listening history for friends to enjoy. Additionally, many users are frustrated by the missing detailed statistics and commonly anticipated information like top genres and podcasts. Spotify has not clarified its criteria for feature selection.
On X, numerous users are sharing their experiences under the #SpotifyWrapped2024 hashtag, describing this year’s listening recap as “boring,” a “flop,” “underwhelming,” a “disappointment,” and various other negative terms. Although users continue to share screenshots of their Wrapped, the hashtag reveals more complaints than praise.
The AI podcast, developed using Google’s Notebook LM tool, showcases the technology to Spotify users effectively. Personally, I have enjoyed my experimentation with Notebook LM and found the generated AI podcast to be quite impressive. However, this endeavor seems to have resonated negatively with listeners.
What are your thoughts? Have you observed improvements in Apple Music Replay, or has Spotify Wrapped declined? As an Apple Music member since its days as Beats Music, I’ve never found Spotify’s user experience appealing. But I’m curious about your opinions. Has Apple surpassed Spotify now that it seems to be faltering?
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