Junior Peyton Ayala opened her Spotify app on November 29, 2023. To her surprise, she saw her Spotify Wrapped, which contains her top artists and songs for the year of 2023, accurately illustrating her listening habits. She sees various artists such as Lil Uzi Vert, Metro Boomin, and Juice WRLD. Emotions and interests were what drove Ayala to listen to certain music. 

Over the course of 2023, many different artists were trending. The top 5 artists for the year were Taylor Swift, Bad Bunny, The Weeknd, Drake, and Peso Pluma.  The top 5 albums were “Un Verano Sin Ti” by Bad Bunny, “Midnights” by Taylor Swift, “SOS” by SZA, “Starboy” by The Weeknd, and “MAÑANA SERÁ BONITO” by KAROL G. Music popularity is based on how the music gets spread throughout the media and what people enjoy.

“I listen to A Boogie Wit da Hoodie and Drake, it describes me because that’s the music that uplifts me,” Ayala said.

Listening to music is an activity that is globally shared. Many platforms are used in the listening process, including Spotify and Apple music.

“I use Spotify because it’s easy to navigate and I pay for premium so I don’t have ads or anything, and I can make set playlists,” Ayala said.

Amongst these platforms, instructor David Bossman uses Apple Music. Along with Spotify, Apple music platform summarizes the users’ most listened to music for each year in Apple Music Replay. Among many artists that appeared on Bossman’s Replay for 2023, Noah Kahan, Tyler Childers, Wednesday, Zach Bryan, and Kendrick Lamar were included.

“I want to expose myself to lots of stuff. If I have students that tell me about an artist, I will look it up and listen to them,” Bossman said.

Along with teachers listening, senior Paris Plough has a very diverse Apple Music Replay. Plough shares how her replay demonstrates her music patterns.

“I listen to a bunch of different genres all the time, so if I’m in a bad mood I will listen to rock, or if I want to be basic I’ll listen to Miley Cyrus. It describes how I’m feeling,” Plough said.

Different components go into why artists are trending. It could be what artists are on social media the most or what artists are found to be talented. 

“I feel like [social media] affects it a lot, it has a really big impact on most of the community, especially on teens,” Plough said.

According  to  Hopkins  medicine, music reduces anxiety, boosts mood, and improves memory. Students listening to music can greatly benefit from these effects. 

“Music is important because it helps me stay focused in school and it’s a getaway from the outside world,” Ayala said.