AWARNESS FOR MENTAL HEALTH
ANIMATION & VIDEO EDITING
SPOTIFY WRAPPED
GRAPHIC DESIGN
HACKING
ANIMATION & VIDEO EDITING
SPOTIFY WRAPPED
GRAPHIC DESIGN
HACKING
CONCEPT
By analysing our listening behaviour, Spotify has become more than just a streaming service. Spotify uses the data it collects to recognise how we feel and can help us to manage our emotional state in a targeted way. One weak signal is the broadly diversified and officially recognised "Mood" category on Spotify, under which various playlists are collected.
By analysing our listening behaviour, Spotify has become more than just a streaming service. Spotify uses the data it collects to recognise how we feel and can help us to manage our emotional state in a targeted way. One weak signal is the broadly diversified and officially recognised "Mood" category on Spotify, under which various playlists are collected.
However, Spotify does not tell us anything about how our daily moods and our music consumption are connected. That's why I'm revealing it: I've recorded the connections between my own listening behaviour and my emotional state in the format of a new Spotify Wrapped.
This new Spotify Wrapped makes the connections between music and mental health clear and at the same time reveals how closely our use of the app and our identity are linked. Who knows, we soon might live in a future in which we use Spotify to regulate our acute emotional world.
PROCESS
I started by collecting and analysing my own listening habits. I observed myself from morning to night, on the train to university, in the shower (singing) and late at night, dancing or crying. This showed me how great the influence of my listening behaviour and my music really is on my feelings and moods. The biggest realisations were, on one hand, that when I'm in a sad mood, I reach for melancholic music, which makes me feel even sadder than before, and on the other hand, that certain songs, no matter what mood I'm in, have the ability to catapult me into the positive spectrum of emotions, so that listening to these songs suddenly makes me feel extremely self-confident.
I recorded everything I noticed on Miro; from top songs, to feelings triggered by these songs, to data points that are known about my listening behaviour. Since Spotify doesn't publish all of these on its own, I also used an app called stats.fm and my own listening behaviour as a basis to come up with new categories that can "measure" the moods and identities of users. For instance Spotify can measure at what time of day we listen to (what kind of) music, what languages the songs we listen to are in or even where we are located while using the app. It also knows how often we skip to the next song, how old the songs we listen to are or what we've searched for using the search tab. These and many more datapoints can lead to conclusions about user's patience, language skills, nostalgia, wanderlust or daily routine and much more.
I started by collecting and analysing my own listening habits. I observed myself from morning to night, on the train to university, in the shower (singing) and late at night, dancing or crying. This showed me how great the influence of my listening behaviour and my music really is on my feelings and moods. The biggest realisations were, on one hand, that when I'm in a sad mood, I reach for melancholic music, which makes me feel even sadder than before, and on the other hand, that certain songs, no matter what mood I'm in, have the ability to catapult me into the positive spectrum of emotions, so that listening to these songs suddenly makes me feel extremely self-confident.
I recorded everything I noticed on Miro; from top songs, to feelings triggered by these songs, to data points that are known about my listening behaviour. Since Spotify doesn't publish all of these on its own, I also used an app called stats.fm and my own listening behaviour as a basis to come up with new categories that can "measure" the moods and identities of users. For instance Spotify can measure at what time of day we listen to (what kind of) music, what languages the songs we listen to are in or even where we are located while using the app. It also knows how often we skip to the next song, how old the songs we listen to are or what we've searched for using the search tab. These and many more datapoints can lead to conclusions about user's patience, language skills, nostalgia, wanderlust or daily routine and much more.
check out my miro board, where collected all of my reserach and documented my process, here:
RESULT
To show how a new, more intimate and daring Spotify Wrapped could look like, I used my personal listening data and created one about my own year in music. The new Spotify Wrapped openly and honestly shows the connections between the music I listened to and my mental health. It uses my very own profile picture to begin with, shows a selection of moods that I've experienced throughout this year, asks questions and makes suggestions, but never in an intrusive way.
With this project I want to communicate that it would be desirable for us all to realise how much the music we listen to influences our moods and how much potential lies within this connection. Music can help and support us by enabling us to actively shape and change our emotional reality. In the near future, apps like Spotify could be a natural tool for regulating our emotions and feelings.
To show how a new, more intimate and daring Spotify Wrapped could look like, I used my personal listening data and created one about my own year in music. The new Spotify Wrapped openly and honestly shows the connections between the music I listened to and my mental health. It uses my very own profile picture to begin with, shows a selection of moods that I've experienced throughout this year, asks questions and makes suggestions, but never in an intrusive way.
With this project I want to communicate that it would be desirable for us all to realise how much the music we listen to influences our moods and how much potential lies within this connection. Music can help and support us by enabling us to actively shape and change our emotional reality. In the near future, apps like Spotify could be a natural tool for regulating our emotions and feelings.