Yahoo Lifestyle 
Spotify's Wrapped is here for 2022 - were these your top artists of the year?
It's the end-of-year ritual that's taken hold of the internet, with music lovers worldwide sharing their Spotify Wrapped playlist across social media.
Offering users a digital "mixtape", Wrapped creates a recap of Spotify users' annual listening milestones, with a shareable year-in-review compilation of their most played artists, songs and music genres.
This year's (im)patiently awaited release includes a listening personality generator, gamified billboards and everyone's favourite; an annual rundown of their most-listened-to tunes.
The music streaming platform has also revealed its top performing artists, albums, podcasts and playlists from the creators that helped put together the soundtrack of the year for Spotify's 465 million users around the world.
How do I find my Spotify Wrapped?
To find your Spotify Wrapped, users need to have a Spotify account and access the mobile version of the music streaming service. Then follow these steps:
1. Open Spotify on your phone. From the homepage of the app, a prompt to see your 2022 Wrapped should be visible. If not, visit spotify.com/au/wrapped/ on a mobile browser and you'll be redirected.
2. Once you're in, the Wrapped Story will take your through your listening habits.
3. Each slide of the Wrapped Story has a "share" button at the bottom. Click to save each slide to your camera roll or to share it on social media.
4. At the end of your Wrapped Story, there will be another chance to save and share, as well as change the colour scheme of your list.
Here's what those millions of music lovers were listening to in 2022.
Australia's most listened to music
In unsurprising news, iconic pop queen Taylor Swift is Australia's most streamed artist of 2022, while the song we were all hitting repeat on this year was Harry Styles' As It Was. In fact, Aussies are unashamedly massive Harry Styles fans, with Harry's House taking the number one spot for our most streamed album, followed by Ed Sheeran's = at number two.
Homegrown talent The Kid LAROI was most streamed local artist, whose collab with Justin Bieber Stay took top spot among songs by Aussie artists.
SHOP
Activewear must-haves: Shop stylish, comfy staples for under $60
Dog lovers - here's the perfect Christmas gift for your fur baby
Podcasts have also been high on the list of Aussie streaming, with Spotify's exclusive and controversial podcast The Joe Rogan Experience the most popular podcast in Australia. ABC News Briefing was the second most popular podcast for Aussie listeners.
Global recap
Globally, trends were similar, but Taylor Swift was pipped at the post for the most streamed global artist by Puerto Rican rapper Bad Bunny, who generated more than 18.5 billion streams this year and took the top spot for both artist and album.
Harry Styles, however, continued his winning streak, with As It Was the most-streamed song of 2022. As for podcasts, The Joe Rogan Experience took the number one slot for most popular podcast of the year globally, while Call Her Daddy came in at number two.
New Spotify Wrapped features
The latest and greatest Wrapped feature added by Spotify this year is "Your Listening Personality", with 16 different listening personality types categorising users according to their music tastes. According to Spotify, the Listening Personality feature brings a whole new layer of personalisation to the Wrapped experience.
Additionally, Spotify has launched its Wrapped creator experience for podcasters and artists. With access to their own individualised Wrapped microsite experience, creators can dive into all the ways in which their fans listened this year.
The wild story behind the birth of Spotify Wrapped
The phenomenon that is Spotify Wrapped in its current iteration begs the question, what of the intern who actually came up with the concept? In case you missed it, Spotify first introduced Wrapped at the end of 2016, but it wasn't packaged in the same social media-centric format until 2020. We now all know and love Spotify Wrapped as the unmissable, easy, customised video that we can share to our Instagram Story in a single click. In its original format however, it was presented on a microsite and simply sent out as a blink-and-you'll-miss it email link.
As it happens, Wrapped only started using its current format thanks to artist Jewel Ham, who claims she conceived the idea while interning at Spotify, not knowing it would become such an integral part of the streaming app's current experience, and indeed never getting the proper credit for her idea.
Ham revealed on Twitter how she developed the idea during her three-month internship at Spotify, sharing her concepts of the format in screenshots of her pitch. She reinvigorated the format to make it more interactive and sharable. In a now-viral Twitter thread, Ham wrote, "I really invented the Spotify Wrapped story concept as an intern project in 2019 and they haven't looked back since LMAO. When I gave the presentation at the end of my intern project, it was received really well. They liked the idea. That was my last day," she asserted.
Spotify officials have responded in a statement about Ham's claims, suggesting the concept was not in fact her idea. "Since Spotify's Wrapped concept was first introduced, hundreds of employees have contributed ideas and creative concepts that have made the experience what it is today. While ideas generated during Spotify's internship program have on occasion informed campaigns and products, based on our internal review, that is not the case here with Spotify Wrapped. It's unfortunate that things have been characterised otherwise."
Wherever the credit is due, the seasonal tradition is here to stay; is it even the end of the year if you haven't shared your Spotify Wrapped? For the full wrap of the year in music, see below.
Australia
Most-streamed artists in Australia
Taylor Swift
Drake
Ed Sheeran
The Weeknd
Kanye West
Most-streamed local artists in Australia
The Kid LAROI
The Wiggles
Hilltop Hoods
Vance Joy
Flume
Most-streamed songs in Australia
As It Was by Harry Styles
Heat Waves by Glass Animals
STAY (with Justin Bieber) by The Kid LAROI
Cold Heart — PNAU Remix by Elton John
First Class by Jack Harlow
Most-streamed local artist songs in Australia
STAY (with Justin Bieber) by The Kid LAROI
Cold Heart — PNAU Remix by Elton John
Glimpse of Us by Joji
Down Under (feat. Colin Hay) by Luude
Thousand Miles by The Kid LAROI
Most-streamed albums in Australia
Harry's House by Harry Styles
= by Ed Sheeran
F*** LOVE 3+: OVER YOU by The Kid LAROI
SOUR by Olivia Rodrigo
Planet Her (Deluxe) by Doja Cat
Most-popular podcasts in Australia
The Joe Rogan Experience
ABC News Briefing
Casefile True Crime
The Inspired Unemployed
Call Her Daddy
Global
Most-streamed artists globally
Bad Bunny
Taylor Swift
Drake
The Weeknd
BTS
Most-streamed songs globally
As It Was by Harry Styles
Heat Waves by Glass Animals
STAY (with Justin Bieber) by The Kid LAROI
Me Porto Bonito by Bad Bunny feat. Chencho Corleone
Tití Me Preguntó by Bad Bunny
Most-streamed albums globally
Un Verano Sin Ti by Bad Bunny
Harry's House by Harry Styles
SOUR by Olivia Rodrigo
= by Ed Sheeran
Planet Her by Doja Cat
Most-popular podcasts globally
The Joe Rogan Experience
Call Her Daddy
Anything Goes with Emma Chamberlain
Caso 63 (All Languages)
Crime Junkie
Most-viral artists globally
Taylor Swift
The Weeknd
Bad Bunny
BTS
Lana Del Rey
Most-shared lyrics globally
Heat Waves by Glass Animals
Heather by Conan Gray
I Love You So by The Walters
Summertime Sadness by Lana Del Rey
Somewhere Only We Know by Keane
Never miss a thing. Sign up to Yahoo Lifestyle’s daily newsletter.
Or if you have a story idea, email us at lifestyle.tips@yahooinc.com.
