Emma Wood knew her Spotify Wrapped, an annual tradition that synthesizes usersโ listening habits, would be full of Taylor Swift.
What the 13-year-old didnโt expect, however, was being crowned the platformโs top listener of the artist โ quite a feat, considering Swift has over 100 million listeners on Spotify and was the second most-streamed artist of 2025, behind only Bad Bunny.
She learned of her No. 1 status through Spotify Wrapped’s new Fan Leaderboard feature.
โThink youโre one of your top artistโs biggest fans? This year, you might see where you rank among their listeners worldwide, based on your total minutes listened,โ an announcement on Spotifyโs website reads.
According to screenshots and screen recordings of Woodโs Spotify Wrapped, she is Swiftโs No. 1 listener. Spotify declined to comment for this story.
Wood personally amassed a total of 449,000 minutes listened to Swift, which Spotify equated to 312 days. Most of her minutes are from enjoying her favorite song, โThe Albatross,โ from Swiftโs 2024 album โThe Tortured Poets Department,โ which she streamed 83,601 times in 2024. (Her TikTok username, @thealbatrosswife, points to the obsession).
Wood says she was shocked when she saw the numbers.
โI didnโt think that it was going to be that high,โ Wood tells TODAY.com. โI thought it was going to be, like, maybe 12,000 or something.โ
โAt first, I was like, โIs my Spotify glitching?โโ she adds.
On Dec. 4, Wood shared her Spotify listening feat on TikTok. The video, with over 10 million views, showed screenshotted proof of Woodโs top listener title as she reacted in shock, writing on the video: โBefore you ask YES I have a therapist.โ
Woodโs video amassed reactions โ and skepticism. Wood followed up with another video of her scrolling through her Spotify Wrapped results on her momโs phone, to prove her case.
Before you ask: Yes, Wood does listen to Swift while she sleeps, which helped rack up her dayslong minutes-listened number.
Wood says she listens to music when she falls asleep because she โcanโt sleep otherwise.โ Itโs a habit that dates back to a sweet childhood memory.
โWhen I was little, and I couldnโt fall asleep, my dad would just play a song from his band, and I would be asleep,โ she says.
Instead of hearing her dad play a song, now she falls asleep to Swift.
Wood says she never gets sick of โThe Albatrossโ โ even on the 83,601st listen. โThe Albatrossโ plays on the legend of the albatross, a seabird said to bring bad luck to sailors and is now associated with burdens. Swift likens the albatross to a person, or more specifically โa woman, here to destroy you.โ
For her, this 2024 song is a background song she can play while relaxing or scrolling online, and itโs also a song she can tune her full attention to when she wants to belt the lyrics.
โI donโt think thereโs another song that I could actually like listen to that makes me feel that way,โ she says. โIt really is kind of just like a comfort song.โ
Wood explains how music, particularly Swiftโs, plays a large role in her mental health. Last year, Wood says she โwas not doing the best mentally,โ and while feeling down, she remembers turning on this song for the first time.
โSo just having a song that I really just look back and Iโm like, โThis song has been with me through some of the hardest times and some of the easiest times of my life,โโ she says.
Woodโs mother, Monica, attested to how much Swift has truly impacted her daughter.
โI saw a complete turnaround in Emma. She went from depressed to extremely happy,โ Monica told TODAY.com. โI never realized how much Taylor Swift meant to Emma until this happened,โ she adds.
โI never knew how much Taylor was helping her through music. Taylorโs music is Emmaโs therapy,โ she adds.
โItโs just so crazy to think like there was once an 11-year-old girl who was scared to even go to school, like literally just waiting for the โTortured Poets Departmentโ to come out and now thereโs a 13-year-old girl who canโt go a day without listening to it,โ Wood says.
Through all the viral videos and the continuous streaming, Wood says she has so much to tell Swift if given the chance.
โI would just say thank you so much for being the person that you are and being my comfort artist in so many different ways,โ she says. โYou donโt even know I exist, but thank you for understanding me.โ
โI would love to meet her one day, I really would,โ Wood adds.