This
Christmas, Spotify is helping listeners unlock 10 years of their personal streaming history. Culture writer Nathan Ma reflects on the stories
music can tell
![Britney Spears to Berlin techno: what did the decade sound like to you?](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/5ea98d14a3bcedafa6040f87a59cba31528e8a8e/563_338_1277_766/master/1277.jpg?width=700&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=2738d9a5714f00e6082b20de5aad8760)
We’re mere weeks away from the start of 2020. It’s a new year – the advent of a new decade – and a chance to reflect. In 2010, I wanted to be fitter, taller and wiser – at least, I think I did. Truth be told, the past 10 years have flown by. Who did I want to be? What did I stand for? And why did I think a topknot was a good choice? The jury’s still out on that one.
Still, a few moments stand out: there was the breakup in 2013, when I wore out Adele’s discography on Spotify until my phone was flooded with texts: “u ok hun xx”. There was the summer of 2015 when I was so deeply besotted with a new exercise regime that I was only ever one Britney Spears song away from breaking into a deep, heart-pounding sweat. There was the summer of 2018 that I spent wild swimming to the grimy, industrial beats of Berlin’s techno revival, and the following winter, spent in my flat, diving into Carole King’s back catalogue.