One of the best bits of Spotify isn't the enormous streaming library, the ebooks or even the AI DJ. We all know what it really is that keeps up coming back to the big green circle: It's those end-of-year Spotify Wrapped screens that show us all of our most embarrassing Spotify listening preferences.
It's almost that time of year again when the notification arrives on your phone display — "What are your most-listened-to artists? Find out in Wrapped 2024!". Now, if you're anything like we at Tom's Guide, we spend loads of time listening to music, and a whole bunch of it is on Spotify. You can sometimes tell what artists, albums and tracks are going to be on your Wrapped, so I asked the Tom's Guide team what they expect is going to be on their Wrapped playlists this year.
Wrapped with Tom's Guide
Tammy Rogers
Audio Editor
Who, me? Fine, I'll start. So I don't use Spotify as much as my colleagues — my Spotify account only exists to listen to my 36-hour death metal playlist in my car. In that case, it's likely to be filled with the likes of Cannibal Corpse, Baest, and other heavy stuff. Having said that, my most used streamer, Tidal, also does a wrapped-esque wrap-up at the end of the year — and I think I'll see the likes of Ghost appear, whose 2022 album Impera continues to be heavily rotated. Likely to be fairly close to the top of the list though is Swords of Dajjal by Necrowretch. I simply cannot stop listening to it. It's about as pure and angry as music can get in 2024, and sounds deliciously evil.
Dave LeClaire
Senior News Editor
This was the year of Dance Gavin Dance for me. I've become obsessed with the post-hardcore band in a way I haven't since seeing them open for Falling in Reverse earlier this year. Also filling in the gap were deathcore band Lorna Shore and hardcore band Knocked Loose. Those are my top three bands of 2024 if I had to wager a guess. Some other bands I've had on repeat include Falling in Reverse, Signs of the Swarm, Black Veil Brides and Mushroomhead, and I expect two of them to round out my top five.
Nikita Achanta
Staff Writer, Reviews
I think Glass Animals and Green Day will make the cut as I was listening to them on repeat before and after seeing both live in concert. Twenty One Pilots will definitely secure a spot in my top three too because of their new album Clancy — and because they've made my top five every year for the last four. Embarrassingly (or not, depending on your persuasion), Space Bards will make the cut too. They're a duo who make parody songs based on Baldur's Gate 3. And if I had to wager a guess as to who would take the last spot, it would be either Mother Mother or Porcupine Tree.
James Frew
Fitness Editor
Like almost everyone else this year, I heard Chappel Roan's Good Luck, Babe! and was instantly mesmerized by her seemingly effortless blend of modern synth pop with Kate Bush-esue quirks. I dove headfirst into Roan's debut, The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess, sliding songs like Pink Pony Club and Hot To Go into regular rotation. She sat right in the middle of my split pop obsessions; every decadent track on Charli xcx's Brat and each big stadium moment on Griff's album Vertigo. There were a lot of metal highlights for me this year, but they took a backseat to the hours I spent listening to Taylor Swift's monumental The Tortured Poet's Department (including absolute favorite But Daddy I Love Him) before the Eras Tour hit London. I also stumbled on Headache's The Thing With the Rabbit, which includes the best line I've heard all year: "The thing is, I'm not just a nose with legs."
Amber Bouman
Senior Editor, Security
As with last year, this year They Might Be Giants (For Kids) will dominate my most played artists since my twins request their albums non-stop. The rest of my most played artists will likely be composed of a mishmash of lo-fi and ambient options (DIIV, Craft Spells, Brian Eno), early goth/80s/punk (the Cure, Cocteau Twins, PJ Harvey, the Sundays, Minor Threat, Bikini Kill), and old school R&B (Al Green, Otis Redding, Etta James).
Malcolm McMillan
Senior Streaming Writer
I don't have to guess what the top song in my Spotify Wrapped will be — I know. I have a 10-month-old child and their favorite song is "Stick Song" by Duggee and the Squirrels from the BBC children's show "Hey Duggee." Getting fussy? "Stick Song." Want to jump around? "Stick Song." I guarantee it's my top song by a country mile, and it likely means Duggee and the Squirrels will be my top artist. But as for the rest of my Wrapped? My money is on lots of Oasis, Idles, Fontaines D.C. and Kasabian, though I hope "Fascist Bob" by the Scottish punk band Soapbox and "Spiked" by the Essex indie band Bilk make appearances.
Kate Kozuch
Managing Editor, social/video
A combination of The Eras Tour hype and the release of The Tortured Poets Department double album converted me to a certified Swiftie this year. An artist that never so much as cracked my top 10 will, beyond doubt, deliver a sweep in my Wrapped standings. The only surprise will be which of all the blonde mega-stars bops will earn the top spot - my bet is on I Can Do It With A Broken Heart, but one of the vault tracks from 1989 (Taylor’s Version) could very well prevail.
Millie Fender
Senior Home Editor
Last year Spotify called me a vampire on account of my "dark and emotional" music taste. I tried my best to have a Brat summer, but two of my go-to playlists this year have been "Songs on the same level as Silver Springs Live" and "Mitski songs ranked in order of sadness", so I don't think I'm beating the vampire allegations in 2024. Chappel Roan will definitely feature, as will Noah Kahan and Hozier. And while Phoebe Bridgers and Mitski have appeared on my Spotify Wrapped for the last few years, I wouldn't be surprised if Charli XCX or Raye overtook them. I'm also interested to see how much time I spent on Spotify this year — I listened to 43,113 minutes in 2023, and I think I can hit 50,000 in 2024.
Jason England
Managing Editor, Computing
With the sight of my top songs playlist, I can make an educated guess of what will be on my Spotify wrapped this year. So I'm going to take a different approach — instead of telling you myself what it will be, I headed to Tune My Music to export my playlist as a text file, followed Erin's guide, and asked ChatGPT to roast my music taste. The result has left me questioning everything:
"This playlist is the musical equivalent of ordering every flavor at an ice cream shop and ending up with a chaotic mess of melted sludge. Jack Harlow and Kid Cudi are here for your cool-kid vibes, but then Four Year Strong and Bring Me The Horizon crash the party with angst so intense it’s practically throwing furniture. Sprinkle in Usher for smooth-talking transitions, only for Beartooth to barge in screaming about their existential crises. It’s like someone couldn’t decide between a mosh pit, a dance floor, or a therapy session—and instead just asked, “Why not all three?” Absolute bedlam."
Rory Mellon
Entertainment Editor
As per usual, I'm confident my Spotify wrapped will be dominated by my three favorite artists: The Front Bottoms, The Wombats and The 1975 (clearly I’m very partial to bands with “the” in their name). However, with only The Wombats dropping new music this year, I expect my wrap might have a little more variety than normal. I spent a solid month listening to The Smith Street Band’s phenomenal 2017 album “More Scared of You Than You Are of Me” on a loop, and like everybody who attended The Eras Tour in 2024, my summer was dominated by Taylor Swift (and support act Paramore). Other acts likely to feature include Texas-based indie pop artist Dayglow, pop-punk legends blink-182 (a childhood phase I’ve yet to grow out of), and Love Fame Tragedy, the criminally overlooked side project of Wombat’s frontman Matthew Murphy.
Cynthia Lawrence
Content Editor, Homes
I share my Spotify with my 'tween' son so I can imagine just how "eclectic" my Unwrapped playlist will be. It will probably range from "chilled coffee shop" vibes for when I'm WFH, to deep house music, classic disco hits (I know), thrown in with a bit of Billie Eilish "Birds Of A Feather" and KSI "Thick Of It" (who is a famous YouTuber, so I'm told!).
Mike Prospero
Managing Editor, US
My family shares a single Spotify account, which we tend to use the most on car trips — which means keeping our kid entertained. Ever since she heard "Defying Gravity" on her camp bus this summer, we've had the Wicked soundtrack on heavy rotation in our car, along with other Broadway show tunes, so I'm expecting our Unwrapped playlist to be big on Idina Menzel, Kristin Chenoweth, Lin-Manuel Miranda, and other big hitters from the Great White Way.
Erin Bashford
Staff Writer, Reviews
Although I switched to Apple Music for 3 months of 2024, I'm pretty certain my Spotify Wrapped will follow the same formula as ever. My top artist always seems to be Muse, despite surfacing from my embarrassing Muse obsession circa 2015. I think it's because I have their entire discography in my 'liked songs' playlist and when I'm feeling lazy, it's a 'liked songs' shuffle all the way, baby. Other than Muse inevitably taking first place, I'm guessing this year will be all about Brat. I don't know about you, but I had the Brattest summer out there. If, by 'Brattest summer' I mean I spent it reading and lying in the garden, then, yeah, I had the Brattest summer ever. Semantics aside, Charli xcx dominated my Spotify and still does, so if she doesn't make my Wrapped, I'll be gobsmacked.
Martin Shore
Staff writer, streaming
I wouldn't have described myself as a big country music guy, but after becoming a “Twisters” superfan over the summer, I’m pretty confident that half the soundtrack will occupy my Spotify Wrapped this year. Otherwise, I’m guessing the rest of my playlist will be comprised of tracks from Sabrina Carpenter, Hozier, Chappell Roan, Last Dinosaurs, Childish Gambino, Raleigh Ritchie, Dua Lipa, and mxmtoon. And as a certified theater kid, I also wouldn’t be shocked if at least one or two tracks from the “Wicked” soundtrack made a late appearance; I’ve been blasting it practically nonstop since it hit theaters.
Kelly Woo
Streaming Editor
My top artist this year will be Taylor Swift, like she has been for last four years. The only real questions are: 1. Which of her songs will take the No. 1 spot (I feel like it's a three-way race between "Cruel Summer," "August" and "The Prophecy"); and 2. How highly I'm ranked among Swifties (guessing in the top 1-2% range). As for the runners-up, the most likely names are Chappell Roan, Waxahatchee and Fleetwood Mac.
Scott Younker
West Coast Reporter
My 5-year-old runs the Spotify feeds in my house. Somewhere he heard "360" by Charli XCX and decided he was going to have a brat summer which has turned into a brat autumn. It's club bangers all the time in my house. If for some reason Charli isn't the top spot then it's probably going to be Noah Kahan's "Stick Season" as his other musical taste is dad's "sad boy guitar music."
Alix Blackburn
Staff Writer, Streaming
Guessing my Spotify Wrapped is a real challenge because my music taste is all over the place. I’m constantly discovering new artists and bands, especially in the indie and alternative pop/rock scenes, and I’m always on Spotify hunting for the good stuff. One thing’s for sure — my playlist is all about happy, upbeat vibes. There’s no room for sad songs here! Listen to “Sugar Rush” by Ferraro and I guarantee your mood will be boosted.
So, if I had to predict, Bad Suns and Ferraro will probably make the cut since they were both at the top in previous years. Glass Animals are a definite yes after seeing them live recently. Lately though, I’ve been hooked on Step Rockets and the criminally underrated Peking Duk, so I’m betting one of them will land in my top five too.
Philip Michaels
Managing Editor
I'm not the big Spotify user in the house, as the musicians I like tend to be dead and, thus, unlikely to spend much time in the studio these days. So I asked the member of the household who's most likely to have her finger on the pulse of today's music scene — a teenage daughter — who is likely to show up in her Spotify Unwrapped. "I have _theories_," she said excitedly, launching into a 10-minute dissertation on how Taylor Swift was once a lock to appear only to trail off as the year went on. (Apologies, Tay Tay, but the teenager is quite unimpressed by the carbon footprint left by your private jet.) Instead, my daughter expects Frank Ocean, Kendrick Lamar, Olivia Rodrigo and Laufey to lead the list, and judging by the fact that I, a hopelessly out-of-it old man, find myself inadvertently humming "Good Luck, Babe" due to repeated plays, I think Chappell Roan has a shot.
Oh, and my daughter believes Tupac Shakur could show up in Unwrapped, too. Because when it comes to listening to dead musicians, I guess the apple doesn't fall too far from the tree.
Dan Bracaglia
Senior Writer, Fitness & Tech Wearables
My music listening has been all over the place this year, so I suspect my top genres will be some mix of hip-hop, indie rock, classic rock, dance/electronic, and post-rock. As in years past, Explosions in the Sky tends to be my most listened-to artists simply because they are one of the few bands I play in the background while I'm writing. More recently I went down a several-week-long Kraftwerk rabbit hole, which I'm sure will be reflected in some form, too. Other artists I predict popping up in my most-listened-to include my favorite sad dads, the National, horror punk legends the Misfits, political punk OGs Bad Religion, hip-hop pioneers Gang Starr and perhaps even a little Tom Petty for good measure.
Wrapped is coming soon
So that's who we can see appearing on our Wrapped(s). We expect to see Wrapped start to appear towards the beginning of December. Last year we got it on 30 November, the same as the year prior, and the year before that it fell on December 1. Given the Black Friday sales dominating the end-of-year news at the moment I reckon we'll see it closer to the 1 December, and then we'll come back and see if everyone's predictions were correct.
