TL;DR
A user describes a yearly routine that turns their Spotify 'Liked Songs' into a time-stamped music archive, enabling them to re-experience specific periods of their life. The method uses desktop/web playlist copying, an external Google Drive backup, and listening habits that preserve temporal order.
What happened
Over the past ten years, the author followed a repeatable system to archive music-linked memories using Spotify. Every January 1st, via Spotify’s desktop/web interface, they create a new playlist named for the prior year, copy all items from their Liked Songs into that playlist (preserving the order), then clear the Liked Songs list to start fresh for the new year. They also paste the playlist contents into a Google Drive sheet as an out-of-band backup to guard against account problems. During the year, the user listens to their Liked Songs from the top down without shuffle, so newly liked tracks naturally cluster near the front and form a rolling window of recent favorites. They also save tracks encountered in daily life—radio or venues—that become anchor points, and generally avoid re-saving older items to keep past lists distinct. A link to the author’s last decade of playlists is included in the source.
Why it matters
- Music can act as a strong emotional cue, allowing more vivid recall of moments than photos alone.
- Preserving the order of likes gives finer-grained temporal access inside a year, not just an annual snapshot.
- An external backup reduces the risk of losing the archive if the Spotify account is affected.
- A listening habit of avoiding shuffle and starting from the newest liked songs reinforces the connection between song order and specific dates.
Key facts
- The routine is executed every January 1st from Spotify’s desktop/web client.
- Step 1: create a new playlist and title it with the past year.
- Step 2: copy all Liked Songs into the new playlist to retain their order.
- Step 3: clear the Liked Songs library so new saves accumulate in the new year.
- An additional backup is made by pasting the playlist contents into a Google Drive sheet.
- During the year, the author generally listens to Liked Songs from the top without shuffle, creating a rolling window of favorites.
- The author saves songs heard in everyday contexts (radio, venues) as anchor points, even if they’re not immediately favorites.
- The author typically avoids re-saving songs from past years to protect the original memory associations.
- The source includes a link to the author’s decade-long public Spotify user playlists.
What to watch next
- The author stores an extra copy of each yearly playlist in a Google Drive sheet to protect against Spotify account problems (confirmed in the source).
- Whether future changes to Spotify’s web/desktop features (Liked Songs management or playlist copying) could break this workflow — not confirmed in the source.
- Risks such as account suspension, deletion, or other data loss scenarios affecting archived playlists — not confirmed in the source.
Quick glossary
- Liked Songs: A personal collection feature on Spotify where users save individual tracks they want to access easily.
- Playlist: An ordered collection of tracks on a streaming service that can be created, edited, and shared by users.
- Backup (out-of-band): A copy of data stored separately from the primary platform, here meaning a playlist’s track list pasted into a Google Drive sheet.
- Rolling window: A moving subset of items that reflects recent additions over time; in this context, the user’s current front-loaded Liked Songs as they add new music.
Reader FAQ
How often is the archive updated?
The author performs the archive process once a year, every January 1st (confirmed in the source).
How does the method preserve the order of songs?
By copying Liked Songs into a new playlist from the desktop/web client, the author preserves the order of saves (confirmed in the source).
Where is the backup stored?
An extra copy of each yearly playlist is pasted into a Google Drive sheet as an out-of-band backup (confirmed in the source).
Can the author re-save songs from past years?
They generally avoid re-saving songs from past years to protect memory links, though they sometimes make exceptions (confirmed in the source).
JAN 04, 2026 How I archived 10 years of memories using Spotify Music and smells are two of the most effective ways to re-experience the emotions of a specific time…
Sources
- How I archived 10 years of memories using Spotify
- Spotify Wrapped – Access Previous Years' Wrapped S…
- Archiving My Life Through Playlists
- Your Rediscover Past: Proposing a New Personalized …
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