Just earlier this month, Spotify Wrapped 2025 came out—and I learned that my toddler (and I) really, really like the Lion King soundtrack.

This annual ritual of learning more about myself made me wonder about its origins.

I’m back from the rabbit hole and here’s what I learned!

Gorick

TODAY’S TAKEAWAY

Give a “so what”

Don’t just do data dumps. Offer at least one observation or suggestion when you’re sharing data with others.

THE STORY

They turned data into a viral event

Many of you likely use Spotify, the biggest music streaming service in the world.

In fact, given that Spotify has 97.5 million monthly active users in the U.S. alone, if you’re in the U.S., I can guess that about a third of you have a Spotify account and 53% of you pay for Premium.

But did you know that Spotify acquires a significant portion of its paid subscribers at the end of the year?

The secret to Spotify’s growth is called “Spotify Wrapped.” It’s a personalized round up of your listening habits released every December that highlights:

• Your top songs, artists, albums, and genres

• How your listening habits compare to those of all other users

• What your “listening age” is based on your habits (new this year)

Users love Wrapped so much that Spotify users shared their Wrapped dashboard 575 million times in the first 65 hours.

(I’m no exception: Here’s a quick peek into mine! At the top was the Dune: Part Two soundtrack. Last year, I covered director Denis Villeneuve’s story and how his search for fulfillment led him to direct his favorite childhood book.)

The Wrapped campaign creates a substantial bump for Spotify. At the end of 2024, it was associated with adding a record 11 million new Premium subscribers.

(Fun fact: For the fourth time, Puerto Rican performer Bad Bunny is Spotify’s top global artist. Last year, I wrote about his journey from grocery store clerk to superstar.)

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THE UNSPOKEN RULE

Give a “so what”

Spotify Wrapped offers an important career lesson—on the power of thinking not in terms of data (i.e., “here's what the spreadsheet looks like”) but in terms of “so what?” (i.e., “here's what the data suggests”).

Consider if Spotify had given you a spreadsheet overview of your yearly listening history that you could download to your computer and go through, row by row, every December.

What would you do? Probably mark the email as "read" and move on with your life.

But no: Spotify doesn't do this. Instead, it takes that spreadsheet and transforms it into information that makes you go, “No way… really!?”

So, the next time that your manager asks you for data (or the next time you get a data crunching exercise as part of an interview), don't give them just the data.

Give them a summary along with the following talking points:

• “I was surprised to see ______.”

• “I noticed this trend: ______.”

• “What this suggests is ______.”

• “Given this data, could I help with ______?”

The more you include this “insight” (fancy speak for a key takeaway), the less thinking your manager or clients have to do—and the more people will see you not just as a data monkey but as someone to listen to.

See you next Tuesday for our next story and unspoken rule,

Gorick

WHAT I’M READING

Here are 3 articles that I found interesting recently (no paywalls, although it may depend on your cookies):

1. “Most Gen-Z Employees See Traditional Career Paths Coming to an End” (Inc.)

2. “Higher fluid intelligence is associated with more structured cognitive maps” (PsyPost)

3. “AI buzzwords are making the job hunt harder - for everyone” (ZDNET)

MORE OF MY WORK

Every newsletter is free and a fraction of my work. Here are 4 of my paid offerings that may interest you:

1. Keynote speaking​​: If your organization is looking for speakers for your internship program, new hire orientation, new student orientation, manager training, all-hands meetings, recruiting season, year-end performance evaluation season, or something else, let's chat!

2. How to Say It: Flashcards that teach you to know what to say in every high-stakes professional setting via hundreds of fill-in-the-blank scripts (just like the examples above). Free shipping on all orders over $40.

3. The Unspoken Rules​: My Wall Street Journal Bestseller that Arianna Huffington calls “a blueprint for anyone starting their career, entering a new role, or wanting to get unstuck.” Used by top companies and MBA programs.

4. Soft skills crash course: Hard skills get you hired, but a lack of soft skills gets you fired. Equip your interns and early career talent with the essential behaviors of high performers in just 3.5 hours.

Gorick Ng
[email protected]​
Harvard career advisor | WSJ bestselling author | Fortune 500 keynote speaker | First-gen

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STORY SOURCES

1. the biggest music streaming service in the world

2. given that Spotify has 97.5 million monthly active users in the U.S. alone

3. But did you know that Spotify acquires a significant portion of its paid subscribers at the end of the year?

4. Spotify’s Premium Subscriber growth in Q4 alone, from 2020 to 2024

5. Users love Wrapped so much that Spotify users shared their Wrapped dashboard 575 million times in the first 65 hours.

6. At the end of 2024, it was associated with adding a record 11 million Premium subscribers

7. For the fourth time, Puerto Rican performer Bad Bunny is Spotify’s top global artist.