Knock Knock Knocking on Heaven’s (Music Elitism) Door
Previously published on Berkeley B-Side but I felt it deserved to be here. Halloween brought about several anxieties for me. Along with the typical worry of what function I would attend and which costumes my housemates and I were going to wear, another unrelated but essential thought ran through my mind: October 31 marks the (alleged) cutoff date for Spotify Wrapped. When November hits, the platform apparently ceases counting data so that the month can be dedicated to amalgamating listening history and streaming statistics for the annual launch of Spotify Wrapped in late November to early December. While there is no concrete proof that October 31 is the final day of streaming tracking, I personally mark it on my mental calendar as a soft deadline to fix my algorithm. In these final days, I make a last ditch effort to skew my results so that I am not humiliated by my basic or absurd musical taste when I inevitably post the summary graphic to my Instagram story. I am the first to admit t...