Spotify Knows You Better Than You Think: The Secret Link Between Your Playlist and Your Personality
In today’s digital age, your playlist may say more about you than you realise. A groundbreaking study using Spotify streaming data shows that the music you choose can predict your personality traits with surprising accuracy.
I recently came across a research article titled “Just the Way You Are: Linking Music Listening on Spotify and Personality” written by a couple of academics (details of the authors in the bibliography of this article). As an avid music listener who primarily uses Spotify (and Apple Music), I found this article to be quite interesting.
Researchers analysed nearly 18 million songs streamed by thousands of listeners over three months. Using sophisticated machine learning, they found that your musical preferences and listening habits can reveal your personality, including traits like openness to new experiences, conscientiousness, and emotional stability.
Contrary to previous research suggesting only weak connections between music choices and personality, this study, utilising real-world data rather than self-reported preferences, presents compelling evidence that personality significantly influences musical taste.
Spotify’s data also showed behavioral clues: highly conscientious individuals stuck to routines, listening consistently at certain times, while extroverts frequently embraced music recommended by their social circles.
While the findings illuminate our understanding of how personality shapes everyday choices, they also raise questions about privacy and data ethics in our algorithm-driven world. As platforms collect more detailed snapshots of our habits, the balance between insightful personalization and personal privacy remains an ongoing conversation.
Ultimately, the music streaming quietly through your earbuds is doing more than keeping you entertained—it’s telling a digital story of who you are.
Source:
Anderson, I. Gil, S. Gibson, C. Wolf, S. Shapiro, W. Semerci, O. Greenberg, DM. 2021. “Just the Way You Are: Linking music listening on Spotify and personality”. Social Psychology and Personality Science. Vol 12 p 561 – 572. Sage.