Quarantine drove many of us insane. Being trapped within the confines of our homes, we struggled to find creativity at times, but for Boston University fresh graduate and graphic designer Melody You, it was quite the contrary.

Receiptify turns your top tracks on Spotify into shopping receipts

'Album receipts' was the project that turned from cabin fever into an overnight sensation for You. After drawing inspiration from a post on Reddit, she initially made the receipts of her favourite albums for fun, which she posted on her personal account. Soon, the novelty of her work caught the attention of her friends, who started requesting for albums to be featured. Eventually, she dedicated an Instagram account to album receipts, which had amassed 93,100 followers over a short span of three weeks.

"I thought this could be a cool, new way for people to share their favourite music albums online. I had no idea that my account would blow up in the way that it did!"

While the tremendous support from fans was encouraging for You, the most pleasant surprises were in the form of acknowledgements from the original artists whom she had done album receipts of. Some of them included Ariana Grande, Carly Rae Jepsen, Conan Gray, Gunna, Melanie Martinez, LANY's Paul Jason Klein, Anderson .Paak, and more. 

"I remember freaking out when I saw that Ariana Grande had reposted my work on her Instagram story. I created a thank u, next receipt and did not expect for her to notice it at all! I think every time an artist has shared/liked the work I made for them, or has followed my account, I am absolutely speechless."

Recently, You has been making album receipts of Asian artists in celebration of Asian Pacific Heritage Month, together with Asian artists Mariah Ao (@pinkart.jpg), Karen Xiao (@doodlesbykaren), and more to come. You featured the likes of Steve Aoki, TOKiMONSTA, BTS, Rich Brian, Beabadoobee, Higher Brothers, BLACKPINK, and more. Being Chinese-American herself, You was compelled to start this series.

"There are so many talented Asian artists in the music industry that I would love to spotlight on my Instagram account, so I don’t expect this collaborative project to completely stop in May - I would love for this to be an on-going series!"

Although You has been making album receipts of countless genres and styles, she shared with us that alternative music is still one of her favorite genres, having co-founded and co-hosted a radio show on campus called “It’s Alt Good” which championed alternative rock music. Lately, You has been listening to a lot more rap, hip hop, and R&B, with Anderson .Paak, Smino, Kanye West, and BROCKHAMPTON being some of her favorite artists.

You shared with us her excitement regarding the upcoming partnerships and collaborations that had surfaced with the popularity of her album receipts.

"I’m extremely grateful for the overwhelming positive reception this account has been getting, and I can’t wait to share a lot of the new content I’ve been working on!"

Check out the expanding collection of You's work here.

Cover Image Credit: Melody You