"It’s all about numbers and statics like the real impact" - Internet divided over Spotify honoring Taylor Swift with a Global Top Artist of 2024 badge

Taylor Swift took the crown as Spotify's Global Top Artist of 2024 and social media users had a lot to say. Spotify dropped their annual Wrapped feature on December 4, 2024, and revealed that Taylor Swift had the most Spotify streams this year with 26.6 billion global streams. As a tribute to the Blank Space hitmaker Spotify added a golden Wrapped badge to Taylor’s Spotify profile.

This was the debut of Spotify's latest annual distinction and the second year in a row that Swift became the Global Top Artist. To further celebrate Swift, Spotify debuted easter eggs sprinkled across Swift's catalog on Spotify, a Global Top Artist AR friendship bracelet on Snapchat, personalized video messages from Swift herself, and special billboards commemorating the singer across different cities.

Social media users had mixed responses to Taylor Swift's crowning moment. Some users thought that the distinction was deserved as proven by statistics. Swifties seemingly threw shade at Beyonce, who was named the pop star of the 21st century by Billboard earlier this month. One X (formerly known as Twitter) user who went by @taysmaroonn commented:

"they can’t talk about vibes in here bc it’s all about numbers and statics like the real impact,"

Netizens agreed with Spotify (Image via X/@PopBase)

Similar reactions followed as social media users thought Swift was the artist of "the century". A few Swifities even claimed that the achievement made up for Swift being "robbed" by Beyonce. Here are a few X reactions to Swift's achievement:

Netizens complimented Swift and threw shade on Beyonce (Image via X/@PopBase)

However, fandoms seemed to clash on X when a few netizens did not appreciate the achievement, with some even referencing Beyonce's Billboard position yet again.

A few netizens were not fans of Swift's Spotify achievement (Image via X/@PopBase)

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Spotify honors Taylor Swift with easter eggs

Apart from the golden badge, Spotify had way more in store for Swifties celebrating Taylor Swift becoming the Global Top Artist of 2024. The streaming service detailed that fans will now be met with little surprises when listening to Swift's catalog on Spotify.

A custom mini-animation based on the different eras of Taylor Swift's music will now be displayed on the Spotify Play Button. This includes Seagulls for 1989 (Taylor’s Version), sparkles for Fearless (Taylor’s Version), Butterflies for her self-titled debut album, Autumn Leaves for Red (Taylor's Version), clouds for Midnights, and more.

Keeping up with the Fortnight hitmaker and her association with friendship bracelets, Spotify also launched a Global Top Artist AR friendship bracelet available exclusively on Snapchat in augmented reality. 2024 Wrapped bracelets featuring Taylor's exclusive golden badge can only be found using an AR lens.

Furthermore, Spotify announced that it planned to put up billboards across different locations to commemorate Taylor Swift, based on how fans in those locations streamed her albums. The locations consisted of New York City, Nashville, Miami, Los Angeles, Mexico City, Toronto, London, Berlin, Jakarta, São Paulo, and Manila.