Spotify’s 2024 Wrapped results arrived this week. The overall package seems a little thin compared to previous years, but it’s still exciting to see our listening habits laid bare. Now that Apple Music has also canceled its annual Replay and Tidal’s 2024 Rewind has arrived, non-Spotify users also have some data to scrutinize. If you haven’t used any of the big streaming apps, it’s a good time to reflect on some of your personal favorites from this year.
Here, the Engadget team highlights some of the most listened to songs, artists, and albums of 2024 (and how we feel about those picks).
spotify rap
I hate to add to this list because of all the controversy surrounding Spotify lately, but I have to say that the layoffs at the company seem to be impacting the accuracy of the reports I’m wrapping. I don’t get it. While I certainly listened to a lot of Ariana Grande in 2024 (and wrote about it on our site too!), I felt the section about what I was listening to in August was inaccurate. According to Spotify, I was listening to Rose and Bruno Mars’ APT in August, but I guess that song was released much later?
Anyway, judge me or don’t judge me based on my listening. All I can say is that the data feels both inaccurate and incomplete, and at the same time fun and insignificant. — Cherlynn Low, Associate Editor, Reviews
This year, I was feeling pretty sick, so I spent many hours listening to music on Spotify in waiting rooms at hospitals and clinics. Apparently, March was my “Pink Pilates Princess Strut Pop” period, as I mainly listened to Dua Lipa, Ariana Grande, and Charli XCX. However, my top artist of the year was Kaze Fujii. His music gave me so much comfort when I needed it most. — Mariela Moon, Contributing Writer
Rest in peace with your new jeans — Aaron Soupporis, Editor-in-Chief
Apple Music Replay
I’ve had the GNX on repeat ever since it was released, and it was one of the things that got me through the extremely busy Black Friday reporting season. We can’t wait to see which of these tracks will be performed live at the Super Bowl. My guess is that we’ll “turn off the TV” (there’s at least one shout of “mustard!”) and at least have an “argument.”
A kid’s summer has become a kid’s fall, and for me it will always be a kid’s winter. Top tracks: “Club Classic”, “Empathy is a Knife”, “365”.
Grasa is the true album of the year for me and a must-hear for any Urbano-Latino fan. It’s a great album experience from start to finish, and the edits you make based on your personal tastes are sure to be great. My favorite songs, “Legendario,” “Manhattan,” and “Menina,” are still on repeat in my personal playlist and will continue into 2025.
So far, Renaissance remains my favorite album in this Beyoncé cycle, but Cowboy Carter has no skips. “Daughter,” “Spaghetti,” and “Sweet Honey Buckin'” are my favorites.
The Death of Slim Shady makes sense to me as a concept album, and I think it’s a success in its own right. However, “Tobey” was the reason I decided to listen to the entire album when it was released, and I’m glad I did. “Tobey” remains a top track for me, along with “Renaissance” and “Somebody Save Me.” —Valentina Palladino, Associate Editor, Purchasing Advice
Despite the fact that music streaming services push playlists and radio channels, I’m still an album guy. And as always, my top albums of the year, although relatively recent releases, were not released this year. “Daughter’s Stereo Mind Game” was near the top of my list last year, but it skyrocketed up the list in April of this year and kept me hooked for the rest of the summer. That’s largely thanks to the live studio sessions they put out on YouTube, and since Daughter wasn’t touring with Stereo Mind Games at all, they were the only time I got to hear these songs performed in a somewhat live setting. It was an opportunity.
And since I’m an album person, the first four songs on the album were the second through fifth most played songs of 2024. Canadian pop-rockers The Beaches’ ridiculously catchy “Blame Brett” goes from being a great song to number one. This is also the Blame My Ex album released last year. I fell in love with that album in late 2023 and it definitely carried over into early 2024. The same thing happened with Toole’s 2019 work Fear Inoculum. I saw the band for the first time in 21 years in November of 2023 and fell in love with them again, continuing to play them all year.
Finally, we have something new from a very old favorite. David Gilmour, best known as the guitarist and co-lead songwriter for the legendary Pink Floyd, has released his first solo album in nine years. He then did a very short tour that only visited four cities, including New York City. I was lucky enough to go see him a few weeks ago. At 78 years old, this may be his last tour, but he’s still doing it. He’s my favorite guitarist of all time, and the last song on Luck and Strange, “Scattered,” is the best song of all time, rivaling just about anything else he’s ever written.
Last up is another new album from an old favorite, Pearl Jam. More than 30 years after their debut Ten, they still know how to make a great rock album. Both Pearl Jam and Gilmour sought to work with producers much younger than themselves, looking beyond the work they had done earlier in their long and impressive careers. As far as I’m concerned, it worked in both cases.
Other songs include Base Alone’s “I Don’t Do Humidity,” Adrienne Lenker’s “Bright Future,” Billie Eilish’s “Hit Me Hard and Soft,” and Medium Build’s “Country.” Albums from much younger and less established artists were playing throughout the year, including “I” by Girl in Red. We’re doing it again, baby! and Tiger’s Blood in Waxahatchee. They’re all worth a listen, but it seems like this was the year I sought comfort and familiarity through repetition. — Nathan Ingraham, Deputy News Editor
Tidal Rewind
This year for me has obviously been all about obsessing over some new music and playing it to the hilt. And, um, Ariana Grande. I don’t have Spotify, but Eternal Sunshine songs are all at the top of my Tidal year-end playlist, and I’m embarrassed to say I can’t argue with their validity. The album was playing on a loop. Several months have passed since its release. She’s really talented, isn’t she? After that, the songs I listened to the most were “Cry For Me” by Castle Rat, “Bloom” by Baroness (which is probably my absolute favorite song), and “How Far Will We Take It?” “Birds of a Feather” by Orville Peck and Noah Cyrus, “Weird World” by Billie Eilish, “Weird World” by Ally X, and “Red Wine Supernova” by Chapel Lawn. I have…many…
However, I’m going to take these results with a grain of salt, as I’m suspicious of the overall lack of emo in the 2024 recap. So my favorite playlist is titled “rawr xD”. — Cheyenne McDonald, Weekend Editor
personal choice
I don’t have Spotify, so my recollection of music that stands out to me is necessarily inaccurate and skewed by recency bias. That being said, oh my, can we talk about that Cindy Lee album?? My journey with Diamond Jubilee went something like this.
– What is this?
-No, really, what is this??
-Why can’t I listen to anything else? ? ?
Its two-hour runtime unfolds like a secret radio station broadcasting alternate versions of ’60s girl groups into the year 2024, and I’m hooked. That was before I realized that Pat Flegel was playing in Women’s (another band that was also very cool, but very nice).
Honorable mention goes to Adrianne Lenker’s absolutely shocking A Bright Future. This work helped me recover from major surgery. And “Wild Guess” by “Robber Robber” is a nervous bop song. What about the songs I actually listen to the most? It’s probably the ones that are on my running playlist (Sheer Mag, Every Time I Die, Red Fang, 100 Gecs, IDLES, Femtanyl, Pissed Jean, etc.) ) — Avery Ellis, Associate Editor, Report
