This year�s Spotify Wrapped reveals intriguing shifts in listener habits among industry insiders.
The annual Spotify Wrapped has returned, providing a glimpse into the listening preferences of the platform’s users. As part of a longstanding tradition, MIDiA Research has analyzed its staff’s Wrapped data, aiming to uncover insights about broader trends in the music industry. Despite the relatively small sample size�13 MIDiA staff members plus four friends and family�these findings often mirror wider patterns observed in music consumption.
This year�s analysis brings several notable observations to light. Among the nine staff members who shared their Wrapped figures from both 2024 and 2025, eight experienced a decline in their total listening time, averaging a drop of 25.1%. Many attributed this shift to an increase in music consumption on YouTube, particularly through DJ sets, which seems to be drawing listeners away from traditional streaming services.
In the competition for attention, YouTube poses a significant challenge to music streaming platforms. While these services are increasingly worried about the influence of content creators and podcasters, it appears that YouTube DJs are a growing concern as well. Spotify�s recent introduction of music videos might help, but it may not fully address the competition for listener engagement.
On average, the MIDiA staff members spent only 4.2% of their total listening time on their top artist, indicating a broad distribution of listening habits. Collectively, they listened to 2,728 songs from 1,488 different artists in 2025. This raises questions about the traditional focus on superfans by rightsholders, who typically drive ticket and merchandise sales but contribute less to overall streaming metrics.
Furthermore, the favorite song for each participant received an average of 55 plays throughout the year. If each song is roughly three minutes long, this means that it accounted for a mere 0.4% of their total streaming time. This statistic highlights an ongoing challenge for artists: while it�s easier than ever to achieve a single-stream, gaining significant repeat listens is increasingly difficult.
The average sample listener dedicated 642 minutes to their top album, which translates to just 1.7% of their overall listening time. Despite the trend towards singles, the staff still engaged with an average of 28 albums a year, suggesting that the album format still holds relevance even as streaming habits evolve. Additionally, some indicated a decrease in Spotify listening hours as they turned to vinyl records, showing a potential shift back towards physical media.
When it comes to podcasts, the analysis revealed that average listening time for podcasts was just 1,042 minutes, representing 2.8% of the total music listening time of 37,229 minutes. While podcasts are gaining in user engagement, they still lag behind music in terms of daily active users. This dynamic illustrates how music serves as a more flexible background option compared to the more focused nature of podcasts.
The findings also emphasized the dominance of catalog music in listener preferences. Many participants� �listening age,� an estimate of how their music tastes align with different generations, skewed significantly older than their actual ages, indicating a growing trend of rediscovery rather than a focus on new releases.
For those interested in a deeper dive into this year�s Wrapped, MIDiA�s top albums included works from artists like Sammy Virji, The Marias, and Lily Allen, while their top artists featured Olivia Dean, TOMORROW X TOGETHER, and The Rolling Stones.