This is an opinion article piece. Ryan Nelson is a sophomore at Mendham who writes for Arts and Entertainment. All opinions expressed in the following editorial are his own and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Patriot. 

As the end of the year approaches, many people take time to reflect on their lives and what they’ve accomplished. Many music services offer year-long summaries of their users’ activity. The most notable such program is Spotify Wrapped, a program that notifies users of their top songs and artists, along with the top artists and songs around their country and the world (Screenrant). Similar programs also exist for those who use Apple Music and Youtube Music (Screenrant).

Spotify Wrapped includes a variety of unique features. Users can see their top songs, artists, and genres, along with how many new artists and genres they discovered (Screenrant). The interface is also interactive, allowing users to guess their top artist and the time period they listened to the most (Screenrant). Data is also available for podcast listeners, and those with Spotify Premium are told bonus statistics (Screenrant). 

Youtube Music Year in Review is more simple, offering users a playlist of the songs they listened to most over the year, along with the overall songs of the year on the platform (The Indian Express). Apple Music Replay uses the music listened to across all Apple devices under the same account, and also offers a playlist of your most listened to songs (Apple). Users can also see how many different artists they’ve listened to, and for how long, along with their top 10 albums and how long they spent listening to each. 

However, which streaming program offers the best overview of your music year? Undoubtedly, it is Spotify. Wrapped offers a lot more statistics for individual users, unlike Youtube Music’s program; the service is also free for all users, while Apple Music users have to pay monthly to even have access to the streaming service. However, more information is available for those with Spotify Premium- including if users were in the top 1% or 0.5% of listeners for their top artist. The layout of Wrapped is also much more visually appealing and is even interactive, allowing users to guess who their top artists could be.

Simply, Spotify Wrapped has the best year-end program due to its thoroughness and interactivity. If you want a music platform that offers a lot of statistics about your music streaming for free, Spotify is the way to go.