I don’t know if this is a reflection of Spotify Wrapped, them or me, but it’s all the same. I talked about music for hours with about a dozen people but could no better pair them with their Spotify Wrapped as I could pair them with their brand of toothpaste. I was surprised to not see the same sort of predictability from my friends. I’m embarrassed about this, but I shared it because I know everyone who has entertained themselves in their own imaginations while I droned on would get a kick out of my predictability. True to my personal brand, they were not only my favorite artist but also all of my top five songs. I can only hope that people sometimes think of me when they listen to their favorite songs.Ĭountless guests teased me over the fact that my show would be better labeled as a Vampire Weekend fan show. Many of these people topped their lists, along with artists in stratospherically different genres. I think of my best friend playing Caamp as we looked at houses we could never afford in Mequon, Wisconsin. I look at my music choices and think of the person who played Vampire Weekend the first time I really listened to the music in the basement of South Dining Hall, to the greasy high school boy who first mentioned Dylan seriously. Looking at all of your Spotify Wrappeds, I’m reminded of just how much of my music taste I borrow from you. People are taught to present what makes them happy between spouts of humility, to be ashamed of it and all the parts of ourselves we borrow from others, especially when we are young. It brings them pleasure, and it’s profoundly personal. Everyone is a little ashamed of their music taste because everyone’s music taste brings them joy. It doesn’t matter what it is, all that matters is that it matters to you. It may be sappy, but the truth is music is music. In all fairness, another guest argued that you’re a Deadhead if, after listening to the first half of “Truckin,” you liked it. Data betrayed him, and the Grateful Dead was his number one artist on this year’s Spotify Wrapped. I remember one person saying he didn’t want to call himself a Deadhead because the fan base was so hardcore. They were surprised when we talked about One Direction, 5 Seconds of Summer or songs they discovered off of teenage soaps as seriously as one might talk about Indie Rock or Jam band music. It’s strange the way some people took it so seriously as if they spent hours waiting for the opportunity to talk at length about music, and how some people came in, sat down and proceeded to mock their music taste, giggling every chance they got. The guests on my show wiggled in their seats the same way when picking which live version of a Grateful Dead song they wanted and when deciding which Glee cast song to play - spoiler alert: it will always be “Teenage Dream (Acoustic).” One person is just as afraid of appearing pretentious as the other is afraid of appearing shallow - society offers no middle ground. The truth is everybody is a little ashamed of their music taste. It also only takes two seconds to look at them instead of a full hour talking on a show. The short, engaging graphics presenting a person’s most-streamed artists and songs offer a peek inside their listening habits. Maybe it’s my insufferable knack for nosiness, but I love seeing people’s Spotify Wrapped - I love seeing everybody’s Spotify Wrapped so much that I am making people I enjoy a lot spend time over their winter breaks editing this. The show didn’t introduce me to many new artists, but it did display in full color all the ways that I and my friends talk about music. We redefined which bands were boybands and if One Direction is as culturally important as the Beatles. Often this music has a community around it, a generational value that we were both a part of in different ways, that we are all a part of in different ways. People would bring music they knew we could talk about, music they were passionate about and what was important in their lives. I went into the show thinking I would find new artists left and right, but I didn’t really. I hosted a radio show this semester where I talked to friends about why they like the music they do. I’ve noticed similarities between people I know and their favorite artists countless times over the years - there is no secret that the artists we love become a part of us. Their Midwestern accents were paired with a syncopated rhythm and constant mystery that had me hanging on every word. The first thing I realized when I watched my first Bob Dylan interview was that he talked like my uncle who grew up in the ’60s and ’70s.
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