Make Your Spotify ‘Playlist in a Bottle’ While You Still Can

I’m an Apple Music guy, but I have to admit, Spotify knows how to have fun. While Apple Music Replay has come a long way, it’s still no Spotify Wrapped. (You all looked like you were having so much fun with those last month.) But it isn’t just end of year roundups that makes Spotify a bit more ambitious than Apple. The company’s “Playlist in a Bottle” feature, for example, is a neat way to build your future self a playlist for the new year—2025, that is.

What is Spotify’s Playlist in a Bottle?

Spotify introduced this new feature last year. The idea is you take a short questionnaire from Spotify, providing your answers being in the form of songs. Once you’re done, those songs will form the basis of playlist, which Spotify will hold onto for the remainder of the year. Once the following January hits, you can take a look at your playlist again, see what you said a year earlier, and gauge how your musical preferences have changed (or not).

It’s a fun idea, but I do wish Spotify would hold onto it for longer than a year. Yearly recaps work well because you likely listen to so much music that it’s fun to look back on stats and tunes you might not remember playing earlier in the year. But a short playlist of songs isn’t quite as novel after a limited period of time. Maybe one day, they’ll stretch it to two years, or five, or fifty. (If there’s anyone left working at Spotify by then, anyway.)

How to open your 2023 Playlist in a Bottle (if you made one)

If you made a playlist last year, it’s time to open it up. On your smartphone, head to http://spotify.com/playlistinabottle, then tap Claim Your Playlist. Here, you’ll be able to save and listen to your 2023 playlist whenever you want. If you don’t do so by Jan. 31, however, you’ll miss your chance.

How to make your 2024 Playlist in a Bottle

Whether or not you made a playlist last year, you can make your 2024 playlist to open in January 2025. To start, head to spotify.com/playlistinabottle on your smartphone. You’ll first start by picking what type of container you’re actually putting your playlist in—a cute but ultimately meaningless decision. There’s “an actual bottle,” but you can also choose a snow globe, a dumpster, a rice cooker, a flip phone, or a bird’s nest. Choose one, tap Next, then answer three questions from Spotify. If you don’t like the question being asked, you can hit New Question to mix it up.

My questions were thus:

• a song you’d play for aliens if they visited earth
• a song you need to hear live in 2024
• a song you’d bring to a desert island

Your questions may be totally different. You only need to answer three questions in order to generate your playlist, but you can keep going if you want. Whenever you’re ready to lock in your playlist, hit I’m Done.

Next, you can draw yourself a note to include in your “bottle.” Perhaps “Happy 2025,” or “I hope democracy still exists!” (Just kidding! There’s not enough room to write that.) Hit Next when finished, then review your options. You can remove and add songs as you wish. When you’re ready, tap Lock In.

You only get one playlist per account, so make it count! Just make sure to make yours before the Jan. 31 deadline.