The Playlist You Didn’t Choose

Your listening history became a personality test. You never signed up.

Every December, millions of people find a brightly colored card on their phone — a curated highlight reel of their year in music. The top artist, the embarrassingly high play count, the genre they swore was ironic. It feels personal. It isn’t.

The Algorithm Knows Your Commute

I spent two weeks last November reverse-engineering how year-end summaries actually work. Your top song isn’t the one you loved most — it’s the one the engine played when you didn’t hit skip.

“We don’t measure enjoyment. We measure inertia. And inertia, it turns out, is a surprisingly good proxy for identity.” — Former product lead, major streaming platform