In this study, wrinkling failure in conventional spinning of a cylindrical cup has been investigated by using both finite element (FE) analysis and experimental methods. FE simulation models of a spinning experiment have been developed using the explicit finite element solution method provided by the software Abaqus. The severity of wrinkles is quantified by calculating the standard deviation of the radial coordinates of element nodes on the edge of the workpiece obtained from the FE models. The results show that the severity of wrinkles tends to increase when increasing the roller feed ratio. A forming limit study for wrinkling has been carried out and shows that there is a feed ratio limit beyond which the wrinkling failure will take place. Provided that the feed ratio is kept below this limit, the wrinkling failure can be prevented. It is believed that high compressive tangential stresses in the local forming zone are the causes of the wrinkling failure. Furthermore, the computational performance of the solid and shell elements in simulating the spinning process are examined and the tool forces obtained from wrinkling and wrinkle-free models are compared. Finally, the effects of the feed ratio on variations of the wall thickness of the spun cylindrical cup are investigated.