During this time of year, something people wait for is their Spotify Wrapped or Apple Music Year Replay.

If you are unaware of what either of these things are, they are yearly statistics based on a user’s music listening habits. For example, it will show you your top artists and songs, as well as how many minutes of music you listened to on that app.

For me, mine consisted of around 16,000 minutes of listening to Spotify but some I have seen are upward of 100,000 minutes.

Originally, a few years ago, I did not understand the point of why my music app kept track of what I listened to and how often. Then, I realized how nice it was to see how often I listened to some of my favorite songs.

I got to see how different my music taste changes over the months as well as the different genres I have listened to. Previously, I did not know there were so many sub-genres to music.

Examples include ‘Midwestern Emo’ or ‘New Wave Pop.’ These were all terms that I had never heard before seeing some of my Spotify Wrapped in the past couple of years.

Since these yearly recaps are so popular, when they are released, people start posting them all over.

These statistics allow people to connect with each other over the topic of music. Music taste is different for everyone but can allow us to find common ground as humans.

Just this week, I found out a few of my friends listen to the same artists I do but I never knew. At the same time, I found out that people who I thought had a certain taste in music had completely different music stats than I had previously thought.

On paper, keeping track of things like this seems a bit silly, but in the long run, it gives us insight into people.

So, is it dumb? Maybe to some, but to some it keeps track of something that they love, something that makes them happy, or just gives them something to look forward to at the end of the year.

Whichever way you want to spin it, it is up to you on whether you say it is dumb or not. In my opinion, I enjoy seeing what I listened to during the year as well as how much my musical interests have changed over the year.

I also like to see all of the screenshots of people’s favorite artists and songs as I do not see people who are embarrassed of their listening. It just shows humans being unapologetically human.

Kierstyn Budz can be reached at krbudz@eiu.edu or 217-581-2812.