Spotify users out there have been a fan of the Spotify Wrapped format ever since it started, but legend has it that Jewel Ham, a former intern, conceptualized the ideas that would revolutionize Spotify Wrapped and take it into the stratosphere for music-loving social media fans.
While many people have contributed to the development of Spotify Wrapped, the throughline of the story — Ham’s struggle to be recognized for her contributions — would make Spotify Wrapped go viral, with the tale of an intern looking for acknowledgement hitting just the right places on social media.
Based off a number of interviews across the years that discussed her involvement with Spotify Wrapped, here’s what’s been said about Jewel Ham: once an intern, but forever an artist.
The ‘interactive user experience’ concept for Spotify Wrapped was a proposal she made as an intern
Spotify Wrapped used to be, as Ham said, “an email and a playlist” back in the day, but she said she presented an idea to make it a more interactive user experience in 2019 while interning for Spotify.
Spotify, in a statement, denied the assertion’s accuracy
In a December 2020 feature on the then 21-year-old Jewel Ham on Refinery29, Spotify released a statement saying it was, for lack of a better term, a team effort, denying the accuracy of Ham’s assertions regarding her involvement.
A company spokesperson told Refinery29, “Spotify is proud to provide young talent from all backgrounds with the opportunity to create, contribute, and learn alongside some of the best teams in the business.”
“Since Spotify’s Wrapped concept was first introduced in 2013, hundreds of employees have contributed ideas and creative concepts that have made the experience what it is today. While ideas generated during Spotify’s internship program have on occasion informed campaigns and products, based on our internal review, that is not the case here with Spotify Wrapped. It’s unfortunate that things have been characterized otherwise,” the spokesperson’s statement went on to say.
While Spotify’s internship had a stipend, it’s not quite a substitute for compensation
The interview goes on to mention how Ham thought stipends did not adequately compensate people for worthwhile ideas.
The Refinery29 interview mentioned she received a stipend, but her independent work to improve Spotify Wrapped became owned by Spotify as its content by virtue of her internship.
“Stipend — that word alone doesn’t sound right for major ideas, but that’s it [for pay.] How would you have any idea when you’re onboarding that you’re going to create something so groundbreaking?”
The power imbalance of internships
Ham said she enjoyed her internship, but mentioned the power imbalance at play for internships and (mostly) unpaid-for efforts. While she was tasked to make Wrapped more appealing to Gen Z, the amount of work it took did not get ample recognition.
Said Ham, “You should be going for paid [internships], but it almost doesn’t matter how much you’re paid because it will never be enough.”
Referring to the Spotify Wrapped execution she conceptualized, Ham said, “When you’re coming up with ideas like that, that have reach like that, at an age like that? You can’t even put a dollar figure to it. If I were to sit in a corporate meeting, I would have no idea what to say, how much it was worth. But I know it’s exponentially more than the stipend.”
“I’m hearing a lot of people saying, ‘Oh, that’s what you do. That’s how companies work.’ I feel like the most dangerous thing to say is, ‘That’s how it is because that’s the way we’ve always done it.’ That is not right,” Ham added.
What she learnt from her Spotify internship
In a January 2021 feature on Working Not Working, Ham said she interned at other places prior to her Spotify internship, but said that what she learned from the Spotify experience was “a lot about how designing works at a large scale company.”
Said Ham, “Before, I had interned at AMC Networks, and I had also worked at the Air and Space Smithsonian. So I’d had a lot of different backgrounds and I think that they all kind of move differently. And if you’re going into art, and you just don’t necessarily know anything about the field in which you will be contributing your art, I think it was a really great experience to learn how it looks in a digital space and in a music environment.”
A personal definition of creativity
The Working Not Working feature also asked Ham about what she thought creativity was about, and her answer was essentially to think of creativity as the work involved in using one’s own ideas.
Ham said, “I think creativity is really just getting up in the morning and using your ideas. You’re thinking about how could this be done differently, or if you can contribute to something. And just walking in that truth. I think honestly, a lot of people are creative. It’s a general term. Gen Z is a popular group for creativity as a personality trait. But I feel like when you actually have something tangible for you utilizing and expressing these ideas, that’s the creativity.”
Advice for creatives: ‘Continue to do your craft’
Asked about her advice for creatives, there are two bits of information online that point to how her views creativity have influenced her into action.
In the Working Not Working feature, Ham said, “Bro, just do it. That’s really it. Just do it. Because the thing is, especially as my community of Black and Brown folks that are doing their own thing widens, I feel like so often we get bogged down in what we see other people doing, what we think we should be doing, yada, yada, this, that. But that all clouds your journey so much. And it sometimes even creates self-doubt and insecurity in your craft that just don’t need to be there.”
Meanwhile, in an April 2022 South Side Weekly feature on her and an art exhibition she had, Ham said, “I would say continue to do your craft. Keep doing it and keep doing it non-stop. Continue to experiment with new things. And if anybody is telling you that you cannot, ignore it. By all means, ignore it all.”
Ham added, “If you really have the drive and the passion to have it, it will be yours. All you have to do is put in the practice behind it. I think anybody saying that you can’t be an artist for a living or it’s not a career only speaks from fear. If you have the conviction and the work to back up your craft, no one can take that from you. So keep doing it and post about it. You never know who you’ll meet.”
Where can I find out more about Jewel?
If you’re interested in learning more about Jewel Ham, you’re in luck!
She has a website and a Linktree with a list of her body of work and other feature about her, her art, and her creative vision. – Rappler.com