In case you somehow missed the influx of Instagram stories, Spotify released its yearly “Spotify Wrapped,” which shows users which artists they listen to most frequently. While some responses were very much expected (oh, wow, another sad girl listened to Phoebe Bridges more than any other artist. Shocking). Others, however, sparked outrage. I sat down with someone who experienced such horror. Our conversation turned into an ethnographic case study which exemplified the 5 stages of Confronting your Spotify Wrapped:

1. Denial
“I simply cannot believe that I am in Taylor Swift’s 1% of listeners. One sec—I need to Google ‘Is Spotify Wrapped accurate?’”

2. Anger
“There MUST BE a mistake; their dumb algorithm must not be accurate. I know for a fact that I listen to Anderson .Paak, Tame Impala, and Rex Orange County way more often.”

3. Bargaining
“Okay, some people say folklore was not that bad of an album.”

4. Depression
“I don’t know; 2020 was a really hard year. I guess I was as sad and pathetic as my music taste.”

5. Acceptance
“At least it’s convenient. After all, I still am logged into my original email, swfitie4lyfe@yahoo.com.”