Tis the season and with every holiday season comes the highly anticipated Spotify Wrapped. For the past 24 hours, I bet your newsfeed has been overflowing with Spotify Wrapped posts—just like mine. This is a highly anticipated holiday brand marketing campaign that fans have enjoyed since 2016. It wasn’t until 2019, however, that Spotify Wrapped was delivered in bright, bit-size animated packages that allow users to share their personalized results across social media. For the first few years, Spotify Wrapped was presented on a microsite and sent out as an email link.
Fast forward and a lot has changed since the beginning of Spotify Wrapped. What started as a simple data reveal as a treat for existing Spotify listeners has grown into a highly anticipated holiday tradition. Now you can’t escape Spotify Wrapped—unless you live under a rock. In the first year, Spotify Wrapped generated a mind-boggling 5 million site visitors and over 1 million social shares (Variety 2021). According to Forbes, last year “more than 60 million users engaged with the in-app story experience” in just a few weeks, and it was mentioned on Twitter over 1.2 million times.
Have you ever wondered what—or who—inspired the idea of revolutionizing the way we receive our Spotify Wrapped? While Wrapped and Instagram Stories both debuted in 2016, it wasn’t until 2019 that Spotify embraced the story-style format we all know and love now. The creative mind behind this idea? Jewel Ham, a Spotify design intern at the time, who had no idea her vision would become such a pivotal part of Spotify's iconic Wrapped experience—or that she wouldn’t receive the recognition she deserved for it.
In 2019, Ham stayed quiet as the concept took off, but by 2020, as Wrapped’s story format became a cultural phenomenon, she decided to share her side of the story. Reflecting on the shift, Ham remarked:
“Now that it’s gained traction and is so much more popular, I’ve seen so many memes about it. People use it like horoscopes almost—it’s crazy. That simply wasn’t there before.”
According to Refinery29, Ham was a 21-year-old senior studying at Howard University; in the summer of 2019, she completed a three-month summer with Spotify. At the end of the summer, she delivered a presentation showcasing ideas for how to build Spotify Wrapped. Ham said, “When I gave the presentation at the end of my intern project, it was received really well.” That was her final day of the internship. She later revealed her ideas and pieces of her presentation on Twitter in December 2020, expressing concerns about her ideas being used when she was not asked to remain on staff full-time after her presentation at the end of her internship.
Refinery29 reached out to Spotify and a spokes person said, “Spotify is proud to provide young talent from all backgrounds with the opportunity to create, contribute, and learn alongside some of the best teams in the business. Since Spotify’s Wrapped concept was first introduced in 2013, hundreds of employees have contributed ideas and creative concepts that have made the experience what it is today.” The Spotify rep went on to say:
“While ideas generated during Spotify’s internship program have on occasion informed campaigns and products, based on our internal review, that is not the case here with Spotify Wrapped. It’s unfortunate that things have been characterized otherwise.”
While it may be true that nothing as conceptually complex such as Spotify Wrapped can be attributed to just one person (or one intern), it certainly is difficult to overlook that Ham’s internship project contributed to the rise of how social Spotify Wrapped has become. In fact, Ham is uncanny with her comparison to horoscopes. Spotify Wrapped isn’t just about music stats—it’s a glimpse into each user’s identity. It’s about how we understand ourselves, how others perceive us, and the narrative we want to share with the world.
Posting your Wrapped is more than a flex. It’s a conversation starter—a way to say, “This is me,” while inviting others to chime in. That’s the real holiday magic of Spotify Wrapped. It’s not just data or a playlist; it’s an ongoing conversation, a communal experience. It’s like the old saying goes about a tree falling in an empty forest: if your Wrapped drops and you don’t share it on social media, did it even happen?