Tevelle Bitton ’24 and her boyfriend Nathan Mulnick ’24 have been dating for two years and their connection was instantly sparked through music. Tevelle says that they “originally made a connection through Apple Music replay, sharing similar artists, and by enjoying classic rock.”

In a society that’s often divided, music is a unifying force for many. No matter the differences that people may share, music is a universal language that allows for human connection. Listening to music is a shared experience with many, and often sparks a mutual appreciation for the music itself. 

As each year winds down, Apple Music and Spotify offer features within their apps called respectively, “Spotify Wrapped” and “Apple Music Replay.” These features allow users to look back on their listening habits over the past year or so. This fun and interactive feature provided by these apps is used as a vehicle for people to either find music in common or discover new music from others, through sharing it with friends or posting it on social media. 

Here’s a glimpse into some Milken teachers’ and students’ Apple Music and Spotify Wrapped experiences from 2023.

Physics teacher Mr. Gallway spent exactly 7,500 minutes, (125 hours) listening to music in 2023. His top five artists from the year varied from genre to genre. Mr. Gallway’s official top five artists of the year were as follows: 

1. João Gilberto, a Brazilian guitarist and singer
2. Stan Getz, an American saxophonist  
3. Antonio Carlos Jobim, a Brazilian composer  
4. Maceo Plex, an American DJ 
5. Disclosure, an electronic duo

Mr. Gallway has an interesting list of artists in his top five. Two out of his five top artists were Brazilian artists. “My fiancé is Brazilian so I started listening to a lot of Brazilian music.” Mr. Gallway also shared some insight on a specific genre of Brazilian music, called Bossa Nova, “which I discovered and grew to really enjoy. So much of that year was spent exploring that genre.” Prior to seeing Gallway’s list one may be unfamiliar with the artists he listened to, but by looking at it now, they can become familiar with a musical genre that they may not have discovered before, expand their musical taste, and maybe even connect with Gallway about it. 

Rona Levi ’25 accumulated a total of 63,000 minutes, and 43 days worth of music in 2023, when her top five artists were: 

1. Frank Ocean, American R&B artist 
2. A$AP Rocky, an American rapper 
3. Travis Scott, an American rapper 
4. Fred again, English record producer, singer, and songwriter 
5. The Beatles, English rock band 

Frank Ocean, A$AP Rocky, and Travis Scott are all closely connected within the R&B and Hip-Hop world, having collaborated on multiple records, whereas Fred Again and The Beatles have not. Some may be confused about how these two vastly different artists ended up on this list, but Levi explained she’s “open to all genres of music,” and has “a lot of appreciation for different styles of music.” Each of these five artists has greatly contributed to their genre of music and has evolved their sounds to music outside of their respective genres. 

Jacob Lefferman ’26, garnered a total of 13,000 minutes of music in 2023, where his list included the likes of: 

1. Travis Scott, an American rapper 
2. Metro Boomin, American record producer 
3. Don Toliver, American rapper and singer
4. Drake, Canadian rapper and singer
5. Lil Tecca, American rapper and singer

Each of these five artists is within the same musical genre and has often collaborated to make some hit songs, showing a shared listening experience among Hip-Hop fans. This is a list that people should be rather familiar with. Each of these artists has over 20 million monthly listeners on Spotify. Lefferman’s list ultimately reflects the popularity that these Hip-Hop artists have within contemporary music culture.