Spotify Wrapped Drops New 'Listening Age' Feature—and Users Are Screaming at Their Supposed Music Tastes

Spotify has launched its 2025 Wrapped campaign with a new feature called 'Listening Age', generating amusement and confusion among users worldwide. The tool assigns an age range to listeners based on the periods of music they played most throughout the year. Many found their Listening Age to differ dramatically from their real age, sparking widespread discussion online.

According to Spotify, the feature analyses the release years of tracks streamed most frequently and compares them with patterns typical of different age groups. Those who favour older music may be tagged with a higher Listening Age, while fans of recent releases can appear younger. Spotify emphasises that the feature is intended as a playful reflection of musical tastes, not a literal measure of age.

The launch of Listening Age accompanies other interactive Wrapped features, including shared comparison tools, listening clubs, and in-app quizzes. These additions aim to make the year-end summary more social and engaging, encouraging users to share results and reflect on their personal listening habits.

How Listening Age Works

Spotify's 'Listening Age', introduced in its 2025 Wrapped recap, estimates a user's musical age by analysing the release dates of all the songs they streamed over the year. The algorithm identifies the five-year period played most heavily, assuming these years correspond to the listener's formative years, based on a psychological phenomenon known as the 'reminiscence bump'.

The feature is intended as a light‑hearted reflection of a user's 'music soul'. As Spotify and several media commentators note, the Listening Age can be misleading if a user repeatedly streams older or niche music as all plays count equally, so heavy rotation of older tracks can inflate a user's Listening Age well beyond their actual years.

Online Reaction

Wrapped 2025 quickly became a talking point on social media. Many younger listeners were surprised to see themselves with Listening Ages in the 50s or 60s, particularly if they favour classic rock, jazz or soul. Older listeners were sometimes tagged decades younger for favouring contemporary releases.

NME reported that the feature inspired a flood of memes, while other commentators suggested it risks reinforcing generational stereotypes. Critics argue that treating taste as an age indicator oversimplifies personal music habits and can feel reductive.

Cultural and Commercial Implications

Spotify has positioned Wrapped as a social and commercial tool as well as a personalised summary. The Listening Age feature encourages sharing online, increasing engagement and visibility at a time of intense competition among streaming platforms.

However, some experts caution that reducing musical identity to a numeric label risks misrepresenting the reasons behind people's listening choices. Researchers note that users often explore music across eras, moods and genres, making age-based metrics inherently limited.

Why This Matters

For many, Wrapped is a yearly reflection on identity and taste. While the feature is clearly intended for entertainment, it sparks wider conversations about how algorithms interpret culture and personal preference. Spotify has not indicated whether it will adjust Listening Age in future updates.

Wrapped 2025 highlights the dissonance between playful, data-driven features and the personal, nuanced ways people experience music. Users are laughing, debating, and questioning just how well an algorithm can capture the soundtrack of their year.