December 5, 2023

Are you joining me in Burlington, Vermont?

If you're on Spotify, you, like me, got its "Wrapped 2023," summarizing our taste in music based on what we actually listened to. It tells each of us that "one place listened just like you," as an image of the globe rotates and homes in on one place.

I got Burlington, Vermont:


Turns out Meade too got Burlington, Vermont — or "Burlington, USA" as Spotify puts it — even though he didn't have those same 3. 

Then I was watching TikTok and...
@dhtoomey Coziest sound town #burlington #spotifywrapped #foryou ♬ original sound - Dan Toomey
Time has passed and now it seems/Everybody’s having this dream/Everybody sees themselves/Walkin’ 'round Vermont with everyone else.... I’ll let you be in my dreams if I can be in yours/Bob Dylan said that...

77 comments:

vermonter said...

Sorry, I got nothing.

Vonnegan said...

Such a strange town, but it was the closest city to my hometown and so I have a lot of fondness for it. My orthodontist was there so my dad and I went to Burlington once a month for over 2 years, and those are great memories. The completely psychotic Grand Isle ferry in the dead of winter, the children's bookstore on Church Street if I was good at the dentist, Zachary's Pizza for lunch, driving through UVM campus and my dad (a prison guard) continuing his "you're going to college" brainwashing, where he'd say every time "ya know, if you go to school here I can come visit you pretty easily" - the town is full of oddballs but I'll always like it.

Spotify gave me Bozeman MT. I'll take it. Maybe it's a sign we need to escape the Texas heat a little more often?

Dave Begley said...

Burlington and Madison are the same, but Madison has a university and nice lakes.

RideSpaceMountain said...

According to the ESRI data, Burlington VT is 85.5% white, 52.2% female, and has a median home owner value of $338,100. I think that has more to do with it than that you all like Bob Dylan, Donovan, and The Band.

I wonder what titkock will reveal about areas that like Sexyy Redd, Lil Peep, and Nardo Wick.

tommyesq said...

My son listens to John Mayer and the Grateful Dead a ton, along with other stuff. He got Burlington Vermont. Maybe that is the default?

Enigma said...

It does not surprise me, as this matches the profile of a long series of Althouse music posts. I aggressively try to screw up automated preference and tracking algorithms -- I pick from things not recommended and then change course when the service gets in a rut and starts to recommend similar artists.

I used to walk through record/CD stores and buy blind based on album covers. I want to try things for myself and not live by calculated corporate programming. These days I mostly scan "new releases" album lists and once again try new stuff blindly.

tommyesq said...

Maybe not a default - I listened to a bunch of 80's metal, and I got Detroit Michigan.

planetgeo said...

I got Bozeman, Montana. Apparently, they like the Eagles, ZZ Top, Billy Idol, and Moby out in Big Sky Country.

Caroline said...

I’m worried about you and tik tok. Tik tok is the devil.

Eva Marie said...

Oh no. Something is up with Spotify Wrapped's new feature — it's telling way too many people they belong in Burlington, Vermont
Here’s the article in Business Insider
https://www.businessinsider.com/spotify-wrapped-sound-town-feature-matches-burlington-vermont-2023-11&post-bottom-piano-recommendations

Wilbur said...

"Talkin' World War III Blues" reminds me of my father, for whom I once played this cut and another similar song by Dylan.

Although his musical preferences tended strongly towards Eddy Howard and Wayne King, he got a kick out of both cuts, as they appealed to his considerable sense of humnor.

Thanks for the memory, AA.

rehajm said...

Six generations of rehajms from Vermont. I don’t understand the newbies. but if you wanna live in a tiny house and take pretty pictures of your garden bounty and hose flatlanders at the farm to table dinners knock yourself out. The WI = VT thing is weird, though…off to hide in the back room at Dan & Whits…

Bob Boyd said...

Turns out Meade too got Burlington, Vermont

Reminded me of Jules Winnfield's situation.

re Pete said...


"The whole world is filled with speculation

The whole wide world which people say is round"

rhhardin said...

I'm listening to the St John Passion right now, 28 minutes in. That probably matches me with Amsterdam.

Old and slow said...

OK, that was funny. Thanks. I'll be ordering hotel supplies later this morning through the portal.

Bob Boyd said...

I can see my Spotify location from my house.

rcocean said...

Tik-tok video was hilarious. Dont listen to spotify so I cant find my place on the globe. But if I did it wouldn't be Burlington VT.

I think spotify would have a hard time finding me a home, since I like a little bit of everything. Lets see, off the top of my head: Doris day, Frank Sinatra, classical music, Jazz, Elvis, the Beach boys, John Fogherty, Johnny Cash, The eagles, Queen, U2, Peggy Lee, R&B, and John phillip Sousa. I even liked some Rap.

There are 4-5 Dylan songs I like. Not enought to call me "Sam".

tim in vermont said...

"Burlington and Madison are the same, but Madison has a university and nice lakes."

Not sure how to take that one.

But Burlington is not what it used to be. The downtown has been gutted, and never rebuilt, and petty crime, drug addicts, and panhandlers have completely changed what the city used to be, even five years ago. But the view of the lake from the hillside city, with its backdrop of the Adirondack Mountains is still first rate, and the University of Vermont retains its status as the hockey factory of the Ivy League.

JT Neel said...

I got Ashville, North Carolina as my Spotify location. It must be my preference for Rhiannon Giddens and Americana.

Aggie said...

It may be a buzzkill, but I think you're all being played.

rehajm said...

Oh no. Something is up with Spotify Wrapped's new feature — it's telling way too many people they belong in Burlington, Vermont

HAHA- now that's hilarious! All ya'll with Burlington VT, Spotify is giving you the ...and over here is Lonnie, Jugdish... treatment.

farmgirl said...

Hey Dave- Burlington has UVM &Lake Champlain…

kwo said...

I wonder if/how much Burlington and others paid to be included on the list.

Breezy said...

Burlington hosts UVM and sits next to the beautiful Lake Champlain, complete with a perhaps-mythical monster named Champ. Does Madison have a perhaps-mythical monster?

cassandra lite said...

Ah, Donovan, who released, back-to-back in '66 and '67, two of the '60s least appreciated albums: Sunshine Superman and Mellow Yellow, with the only bad songs on either album the title tracks.

Mellow Yellow has two exceptional songs, Young Girl Blues and Hampstead Incident, that capture that moment in time and place with precision.

Jupiter said...

I knew a guy who would write "Meet your friends in Iowa" on every dollar bill he got his hands on. His theory was that there was enough room in Iowa for everyone in the US to have several square yards, and he and his girlfriend could have the rest of the country. He got a lot of people doing it, for a while back in the 70's. I'd get those bills in change once in a while.

BUMBLE BEE said...

Anyone get Los Angeles & Lil RT?

pwa31953 said...

I got burnaby bc canada. My top group is the wiggles because my wife takes care of our little grandchildren. Next is Van Morrison, Fleetwood Mac, Marvin Gaye.
top song is I'm a little teapot.

Narr said...

I Heart Vermont.

Is that still a thing? My wife and I have great memories of Vermont and Upstate NY.

rehajm, do they really hose flatlanders at those dinners?

Jake said...

Then there's this: Did Your Spotify Wrapped Place You In Burlington, Berkeley, or Cambridge? You May Be Gay

D.D. Driver said...

I also got Burlington and I listen to mainly pop and indie rock.🤷‍♂️

Birches said...

Provo, Utah over at our house. Maybe it defaults between Burlington and Provo if it thinks you're white. The determining factor is if you've listened to the Tabernacle Choir.

Birches said...

Provo, Utah over at our house. Maybe it defaults between Burlington and Provo if it thinks you're white. The determining factor is if you've listened to the Tabernacle Choir.

R C Belaire said...

When my Sirius subscription expires I may give Spotify a try.

Paddy O said...

Oxford, UK.

Feeling very sophisticated around all you yanks.

Joe Bar said...

Hmmm. Spotify is telling me it doesn't have a "Wrapped" for me this year. Probably because I use it mostly for podcasts that are exclusive there.

I have spent some time in the Burlington area, mostly in my youth, and I recall it pleasantly. My friends and I did a lot of skiing in the area, and it was nearby. I went back on a motorcycle ride about 5 years ago, and it was still very nice.

Worth a visit. Oh, and, Begley, there are several colleges in that town, and it's on friggin' Lake Champlain, fer chrissakes.

rrsafety said...

Sorry, I got Knoxville.

Whiskeybum said...

Dave Begley - Burlington has a university and is on Lake Champlain. Also, both towns are chuck full of weirdos. The thing Burlington doesn’t have that Madison does is a capitol building.

Big Mike said...

I’ve been to Burlington and I’ve been to Bennington and I did not much like either place. Or the state itself, for that matter. What sort of weird people think Pat Leahy and Bernie Sanders ought to represent them in the US Senate?

Quaestor said...

Here's a word like rizz, it's creds. Does Spotify have creds? It certainly lacks rizz.

Quaestor said...

...and it's on friggin' Lake Champlain, fer chrissakes.

...where allegedly well-balanced people keep an eye peeled for plesiosaurs.

Kay said...

I’ve actually been many times and I love it. Burlington is a great place and also home to the largest filing cabinet in the world as well as the largest kaleidoscope.

Kay said...

I’m skeptical in many ways about the accuracy of spotify wrapped’s data, but regardless, it’s still pretty fun.

tim in vermont said...

I got Burlington, VT too. I seriously doubt we listen to the same stuff, except I do listen frequently to the Rolling Thunder era Dylan.

Wa St Blogger said...

I got Seoul.

Mr. D said...

It put me in Burlington as well. I’ve been there once. My top artists included Steely Dan, the Clash and the Stones, so I don’t understand the connection either.

farmgirl said...

“What sort of weird people think Pat Leahy and Bernie Sanders ought to represent them in the US Senate?“

Implants, mostly.
I think.

Just like Bernie is.

Heartless Aztec said...

Try 'Radio Garden".

Iman said...

Sons of Champlain? I thought they were from Marin…

sprx said...

Burlington USA here also.
Chris Isaac my top performer.
Top Song was Cars Double Life.

Breezy said...

Bernie was Mayor of Burlington at one point….

Jay Vogt said...

. . . . Burlington, who knows?

I did recently stumble on to a music video, while I as obsessed with Rick Beato. This one though, was of the Cowsills, whom I thought were way too "easy poppish" back in the day. However they are and were really good. I was sure they were from California. - but no! They are from Rhode Island. And, they've had a rough couple of decades, but good Lord, they're talented!

The rain, the park & other things

KellyM said...

I was in Burlington this summer and I could not believe the traffic and how much the city had grown! The highway arrangement seemed chaotic; I guess I'm now used to driving in California where the freeways are wide and everything is well-marked.

@Vonnegan: I too considered Burlington to be the closest "city" to my hometown, being in the hinterlands of VT. Since I was lucky enough to turn 18 before the state's drinking age was raised (1986) I and some of my legal friends would trek in for 25 cent draft beer night at Minerva's, followed by chowing down on fries and gravy at Nectar's. The 80s were a great time in that town.

who-knew said...

Breezy. no mythical sea creatures in Madison's lakes but we did have the Statue of Liberty in Lake Mendota. I don't use spotify, but I listen to a fair amount of internet radio, Mainly The Whip (somewhere between Chicago and Memphis) and WDVX out of Knoxville. Both are country/americana stations so I'm guessing it would pick Knoxville for me. Right now, it's John Prine on the WHip.

who-knew said...

That tik tok video is hilarious. Worth letting the Chinese government spy on me for the laughs.

Kevin said...

I got a rock.

Earnest Prole said...

Short version: The algorithm says you’re a whiter shade of pale.

Michael said...

Bach and Karen Dalton got me Berkeley CA

Temujin said...

Well...honestly. How surprised is anyone that you and Meade got matched up with Burlington, VT?

who-knew said...

Jay Vogt, you are right about the Cowsils. Susan has a large, excellent catalog of albums. She was in The Continental Drifters, recorded at least one album with Vicki Petersons (of the Bangles) as the Psycho Sisters, and a few solo albums. I'd especially recommend her solo album Just Believe It. Her brother Bill was in an excellent Canadian country rock band called The Blue Shadows.

dbp said...

I lived in Burlington VT for 4 years and then four more in adjacent Colchester, so I wasn't too shocked at seeing Burlington USA (the map centered on the VT Burlington and not the one closer to us in MA).

OTOH I don't consider my tastes to be particularly Vermontish--my wife didn't get Burlington and listens to Noah Kahan incessantly.

Pretty sure it was a joke but Burlington is on Lake Champlain and is the home of the University of Vermont.

Joe Smith said...

I've never owned Birkenstocks so I would not get Burlington.

If I had Spotify I'm guessing I'd get Tulsa or Nashville...

rehajm said...

I played lots of space invaders at the table machine in tortilla flats back in the day…

Josephbleau said...

"Come Onn People! ARE YOU READY TO ROCK AND ROLL GRAND RAPIDS!!"

Semi famous band.

farmgirl said...

Oh, shit. I just watched that tick-tock.
Lmao. Seriously!! So funny.
Thank you for that.

That barn they showed is supposedly iconic- so much so to leaf peepers that they closed down about 2roads in the town to prevent gawkers lol. I suppose real Vermonters act a little like Walter- that puppet of idk who- his n… Jeff Dunham. That’s it.

“Welcome to Vt. Now get your shit and get out!”

farmgirl said...

Oh, shit. I just watched that tick-tock.
Lmao. Seriously!! So funny.
Thank you for that.

That barn they showed is supposedly iconic- so much so to leaf peepers that they closed down about 2roads in the town to prevent gawkers lol. I suppose real Vermonters act a little like Walter- that puppet of idk who- his n… Jeff Dunham. That’s it.

“Welcome to Vt. Now get your shit and get out!”

Linda said...

I got Charleston, with other fans of Widespread Panic, The String Cheese Incident and Umphrey's McGee

William said...

Anyone match up with Peoria? I'd be interested in knowing what plays in Peoria. I bet the good citizens of Peoria are a lot more adventurous and eclectic than entertainment execs give them credit for.....Remember those awful days before playlists when you only got to listen to music on the radio and even worse, before FM, you only got to listen to the top forty on AM stations....I guess the plus side of that was that I knew what the hit songs were. Maybe if I heard Taylor Swift or Beyone repeatedly I would get into their music. There no longer exists a common music culture in America.

Whiskeybum said...

If Ann and Meade get matched to Burlington, then who gets matched to Madison?

Iman said...

I’m a big Lowell George/Little Feat fan so I’m in Rock ‘n Roll Hell, I’d wager…

Mary Beth said...

I got Bozeman, Montana. Apparently, they like the Eagles, ZZ Top, Billy Idol, and Moby out in Big Sky Country.

12/5/23, 8:46 AM


I also got Bozeman, but with different music - The Band, John Prine, and Steely Dan - none of whom made into my top 5. The top 5 were Moody Blues, John Fahey, Supertramp, Simon & Garfunkel and Fred Neil. It's all listening at work music. I use a different platform at home and in the car. After this December, it's going to think that Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin are my favorites. (They kind of are.) Their Christmas songs are the ones I can hear over and over and no one else objects to them. Many of the others make me feel decidedly unChristmasy.

Dave Begley said...

Sorry. My mistake about Burlington. Now watch Creighton lose to Vermont in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

But I did write “lakes;” plural.

Douglas B. Levene said...

Spotify picked Burlington VT for me, too, but that was a mistake. Spotify had my favorite song as the cover of Strong Enough by Boy Genius, which I liked, but it was a cover and so not eligible for my best-of list. My top two songs were, Olivia Rodrigo, bad idea right? and Liza Anne, Rainbow Sweater. I don’t know if anyone in Burlington listened to them.

Bunkypotatohead said...

When I visited Burlington it was a run down city full of stoners and old hippies. Nothing about it made me want to return.

tim in vermont said...

"Paint" with Owen Wilson has some pretty good inside Vermont gags. Like the lady who hangs out in the beer aisle at Price Chopper to get laid, "Sometimes I can finish up without even leaving the store!"

For the people who don't like Vermont, the more the better.

tim in vermont said...

Why is Vermont always in the NCAA Tournament? Lowest academic standards in the Ivy League.