This year’s 2023 Spotify Unwrapped has been released, and it has personally been a stellar year of exploring new genres and discovering new musical artists.
So here are the pertinent stats for 2023: 72,166 minutes streamed, placing me in the Top 2% of all listeners worldwide. By comparison, last year in 2022, I had enjoyed 69,339 minutes listened, placing me in the top 5% of all listeners in Canada.
According to Spotify’s stats, my most explored musical genres are pop dance, chill house, progressive trance, pop and pop EDM. I would add that I have also enjoyed sessions of R&B, easy listening and country. I am surprised that R&B didn’t place on the chart. Perhaps it would have been number 6. My top 5 artists, according to Spotify, are: Snoh Aalegra, Mikalyn, Neriah, Victoria Monét, and Ari Lennox. I would also stretch the list to include Alana Rich and earth2zoe since their music appear on my top 5 songs list. With all due respect to Snoh and Neriah, I believe their musical presence was more predominate in the first half of this year, and so in all honesty, I am a little surprised upon retrospect (contrary to what I said on X/Twitter) of their appearance on my top 5. But, who’s to argue with Spotify?
I try to discover, appreciate and explore female-identifying indie musicians especically, and the connections I have made with many have been very rewarding and reciprocal. A lot of these ladies have to be a “one stop shop” handling their own writing, arranging, producing, publicity, bookings and transportation to venues. Initially, their rewards can be minimal, relative to the artists who have agents and recording contracts. As a result of this observance for indie artists, I have espoused their music, bought their merch, and on occasion, purchased show tickets as a donation and then gifted them back to the organizers to provide them to other worthy fans. Yes, really. I have. I’m thinking of you, Alana.
On the subject of streaming, let me take a moment to say that I have always invested in the Premium service of Spotify. I absolutely do not regret the ongoing financial commitment. Music has brought a great deal of joy into my life, and has gotten me through a few rough patches, as I am sure it does for a lot of people. Frankly, for the comparative cost of a few coffees or cocktails, it is quite affordable. I take pleasure knowing that some percentage of my money will eventually trickle into the pockets of those musical creatives who are up all night pouring their heart and emotions into music and lyrics. I truly hope that the Spotify folks (and Apple Music) are mindful of providing equitable streaming payments to the artists in a timely fashion. While the revenue stream must support the cost of maintaining expensive server equipment and staff, there would be no product to stream if it were not for the efforts of musical artists. And, as much as my premium service fees go to service infrastructure, I want the artists to know that I am appreciatively paying them for their efforts as well. To all the creatives, thanks for your music. Cheers.
So, without further adieu, here is a playlist of what Spotify has determined, are my top 100 songs for 2023. I encouage you to listen, experience and add selctions to your own playlists. Enjoy.
If the above embed does not appear on your mobile device, here is a link to open: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/37i9dQZF1Fa1IIVtEpGUcU?si=18ffe51af94a40fc
