Dear Spotify,

We’ve come a long way. The first song I added to my Liked Songs nine years ago was “Love Me Harder” by Ariana Grande. Now, here we are, four favorite genres, three password changes, 112 playlists and 2,000 songs later. 

You know me well, Spotify – I would say better than anyone else. I play a lot of Phoebe Bridgers’s “Savior Complex” late at night, and you never judge. I sometimes listen to the original versions of Taylor Swift’s re-recordings and you don’t rat me out. My top album in 2018 was Drake’s “Scorpion” and apart from a horrifying and humiliating Spotify Wrapped, you let me be. We know each other. We get each other, but I didn’t see it at first. I was never a huge fan of your algorithms before, but you’re the one who introduced me to Van Halen and Joan Jett and the Blackhearts all just in one accidental algorithmic queue.

When I told people I liked hip hop music because I thought I would sound cool, you’re the one who dealt with 21 Savage as my top artist. You’re the one who heard my struggle, then put on a list of the must-know tracks, including a few from Watch the Throne, which I claimed as my favorite album because I heard “H*A*M*” once.

And of course, there was my incessant obsession with Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. You knew I hate new music and you knew I like wallowing in the old stuff and claiming to have some in-depth knowledge of it. Yet you allowed me to go on with my pathetic method of appearing more worldly by going track by track through music from every genre, whether I liked it or not. You stuck by me as I listened only to Blue all of last summer, watching me get frustrated and skip to “California,” the only valid track on what is considered Joni Mitchell’s greatest album because why oh why is anything on here even comparable to Court and Spark. 

All in all though Spotify, I bet you’re pretty impressed. Because see, every album, track and artists I so subtly name dropped here, I know because of you. Coming from a girl who was convinced that the backing vocals in “Love Me Harder” were sung by Harry Styles, despite the Weeknd’s name clearly put in the credits of the song, we’ve learned a lot together. Thank you, Spotify (can I call you Spotty?).

Here’s to many more extremely specific playlists and kitschy live albums.

All the love,

Follow Anjali (@anjalikrishna_) and @CHSCampusNews on Twitter.