Every year since 2016, Spotify has released Wrapped – a summary of your year as a listener and a celebration of music fandom. But eight years after launch, Wrapped was old news. So how could Spotify Sweden engage music fans – in particular listeners between 18-30 years old – in the Wrapped experience and celebrate the artists that have made the biggest impact?

With a highly limited media budget, the clear aim was to drive engagement and earned media.

Music merch has become fast fashion, sold cheaply at the world’s biggest retailers. The result? That any poser can get a cool band tee, without having even listened to a single song.

But there is still one way to prove if you’re a fan or not. With Spotify’s listening data. Using this data, we could determine exactly how much a user has listened to a particular artist.

For the launch of Wrapped 2022, we launched Super Fan Collection - the first collection of music merch that actually proves you’re a fan – based on Spotify listening data. It was created for the hottest artists in Sweden right now, with over 600 million streams collectively. The collection celebrated existing listeners and inspired more people to listen in order to become a 1% top fan.

Thanks to data, band merch can be a statement of true fandom once again.

Spotify isn’t just a music streaming service. It’s a unique source of listener data – the ultimate resource to find out how the world listens.

While data can be cold and statistical, this campaign transformed it into an emotional source of pride.

Super Fan collection turned a data point – into a wearable proof of fandom. By creating a data-led collection of merch. The first music merch that proves you’re actually a fan, proved by Spotify data.

By analyzing all the listener data associated with the standout Swedish artists in 2022, the campaign determined who were among the top 1% of listeners. Meaning, those who are truly their biggest fans.

And these fans were the only ones to get access to this limited-edition collection.

In this way, data showing seconds, minutes, and hours listened, was reinterpreted as something more than statistics. It became something every fan was proud to wear.

This data-led merch collection was launched through both the artists' and Spotify's social platforms (including TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat, etc.) and in a physical pop-up shop in central Stockholm. The most dedicated listeners got a notification saying they were among the top 1%. This gave them access to the limited-edition collection and their selected item was delivered to their door.

Super Fan Collection was released in December 2022. Created for the hottest artists in Sweden right now, with over 600 million streams collectively: BELL, LOAM, Miss Li, and Hooja. Each item in the collection was designed based on the artist’s look. It consisted of everything from faux fur hats to hoodies and balaclavas. A unique numbered tag on each item proved it was part of a highly limited collection, for the most dedicated fans. The collection was shot by a renowned fashion photographer who usually works with the likes of Vogue.

- Engagement rate 89% above average

- The collection sold out straight away

- The campaign generated over 13 million impressions in a land of 10 million people (with a very limited media budget.)

- Spotify loved the idea so much, talks about making it on a global scale is happening.

- One item resold second hand for roughly $3000

And most importantly, Super Fan Collection invented a new format. A new, data-led way for artists to celebrate and reward their most dedicated fans. This idea could be adapted by artists around the world – to once and for all prove who’s a real fan.