Bad Bunny becomes world’s most-played artist on Spotify in 2025

The streaming giant said that Puerto Rican star Bad Bunny was the world’s most-played artist of 2025, with more than 19.8 billion streams.

His acclaimed album Debí Tirar Más Fotos, which embraces his island’s musical heritage, was also the year’s biggest album - paving the way for him to perform at next year’s Super Bowl half time show.

However, the Puerto Rican star didn’t even make the Top 10 in the UK, where Taylor Swift was the year’s most popular artist.

Spotify Wrapped began rolling out for its users at 13:00 GMT on Wednesday.

Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars had the world’s biggest song, with their throwback duet Die With A Smile.

Meanwhile, UK fans chose Alex Warren’s Ordinary as their top track of the year.
Ordinary, which spent 13 weeks at number one, was one of the only new songs to feature in Spotify’s Top 10 tracks for the UK.

Instead, previous hits by Lola Young, Billie Eilish and Gigi Perez lingered in the charts all year, pushing aside newcomers.

Chappell Roan’s Pink Pony Club, originally released in 2020, was the fourth most-streamed song of 2025.

Meanwhile, Sabrina Carpenter’s 2024 album Short’n’Sweet was the UK’s most listened to album, propelled by hits such as Taste, Espresso and Please Please Please, but her newer album Man’s Best Friend did not make the top 10.

A similar picture emerged in year-end charts by Spotify’s rivals.

The top track on both YouTube and Apple Music was Rosé and Bruno Mars’ pop smash APT, which was originally released in October 2024.

However, YouTube users were notable for their obsession with K-Pop Demon Hunters.

Four songs from the Netflix animation featured in the site’s Top 10, led by Huntr/x’s Golden at number three.

The soundtrack was also the second biggest album of the year on Spotify, globally followed by Billie Eilish’s Hit Me Hard and Soft.

Spotify Wrapped first launched in 2016, and has grown bigger every year.

It compiles users’ listening habits to discern their most-played songs, favourite artists and top podcasts.

The results are shared in the app, with fans encouraged to share their top tracks on social media.

This year’s offering comes with a bespoke film, highlighting the achievements of British artists like Lola Young (1 billion streams in 2025) and Central Cee (785 million streams of his debut album, Can’t Rush Greatness).

Spotify also creates leaderboards, letting listeners know who is the biggest fan of a particular artist, and even who might be in the “top 0.1 per cent” of their listeners.

But “gamifying” people’s data in this way, can actually change how they listen to music, says Richard Whittle, Professor of artificial intelligence and public policy at the University of Salford.

“Wrapped is an incredibly effective viral marketing tool that turns millions of users into enthusiastic promoters,” he says.

“Many users even adjust their habits throughout the year to engineer a ‘cooler’ Wrapped next time, which shows how powerful the feature has become.”

Rival streaming services including Apple, Amazon Music and YouTube also release their own version of wrapped, tallying their users’ data and creating bespoke playlists of their favourite songs.

Here’s a look at how the services’ audiences differ:

YouTube top songs of 2025 (UK)

• Rosé and Bruno Mars – APT
• Alex Warren – Ordinary
• Huntr/x (KPop Demon Hunters Cast) – Golden
• Saja Boys (KPop Demon Hunters Cast) – Soda Pop
• Chrystal – The Days

Spotify top songs of 2025 (UK)

• Alex Warren - Ordinary
• Gracie Abrams - That’s So True
• Lola Young - Messy
• Chappell Roan - Pink Pony Club
• Billie Eilish - Birds of a Feather

Apple Music top songs of 2025 (UK)

• Alex Warren - Ordinary
• Gracie Abrams - That’s So True
• Rosé and Bruno Mars – APT
• Lola Young - Messy
• Chappell Roan - Pink Pony Club

Spotify top albums of 2025 (Global)

• Bad Bunny - DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS
• K-Pop Demon Hunters cast - K-Pop Demon Hunters OST
• Billie Eilish - Hit Me Hard and Soft
• SZA - SOS Deluxe: Lana
• Sabrina Carpenter - Short ‘n’ Sweet

Spotify top albums of 2025 (UK)

• Sabrina Carpenter - Short ‘n’ Sweet
• Alex Warren - You’ll Be Alright Kid (Chapter 1)
• K-Pop Demon Hunters cast - K-Pop Demon Hunters OST
• Chappell Roan - The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess
• Tate McRae - So Close To What

Shazam’s most searched-for songs of 2025 (UK)

• Lola Young - Messy
• Rosé and Bruno Mars – APT
• Gracie Abrams - That’s So True
• Chrystal & Notion - The Days (NOTION Remix)
• Alex Warren – Ordinary

If emerging British pop singer-songwriter Samira’s frenetic recent single, Cardio, sounds purpose-made for high octane gym playlists, that’s because it is.

Her top artist of the year was Lily Allen. “I’ve been obsessed with her since I was young,” she tells BBC News. “She is an icon.

“Growing up in London as well, Lily’s music always felt relatable to me. I love how her new album, West End Girl, takes us on a journey and it feels like you’re watching a show.”

Tate McRae and Addison Rae were among her other most-played artists. “I have so much love for the pop girlies who really put their all into their performances,” she adds.

As well as underlining their influences, Spotify Wrapped also provides artists such as Samira (pictured above) with additional data driven by their own fans.

She was interested to note how Valentine’s Day, one of her more “confessional songs” - about being ghosted by a date - proved to be her most popular. “I love that the songs I wrote with the most personality in the lyrics are the ones that resonate best,” she says.

And she was “really surprised” to learn that the UK was only her third biggest market, after the US and Germany. “That’s really amazing to find out and it also helps guide us with our [gig] planning for next year.”

Sunderland rocker Tom A. Smith, who has previously supported Sir Elton John, also had a look as his Spotify Wrapped and found that “a lot of what I’ve been listening to this year has been inspiring a lot of what I’ve been writing”.

“Quite a bit of LCD Soundsystem and Soulwax,” he tell us. “Bruce Springsteen has topped for the third year in a row though.”

Smith, who is set to play a young Dave Stewart in a forthcoming Eurythmics movie, prefers to go with his gut instinct though rather than crunch the numbers when it comes to making his own music.

“As an artist that believes that the best way to express myself is to do what I think is right for me, musically I don’t really think the data is relevant,” he says.

“I do it for me and hopefully people will love it. But it is interesting to read.”
Singer Rose Gray, meanwhile, released her debut album Louder, Please in January, and has discovered that she is the top artist from her management stable.

However, the pop star says her own Spotify Wrapped doesn’t reflect her taste as she shares her account with her 17-year-old brother.

“That’s my brother’s - dark ambient, drill, slow core, pop, emo, rap - sorry that’s not me,” she tells BBC Newsbeat. “I love those genres, but that’s not me.”

The 28-year-old says she knows who her real top artists should be.

“Mine is Madonna, I think it’s Rosalía, Sega Bodega or something a bit old school - Zero 7 or Air. Probably Charli  is in there, and Shy Girl.”

Source: BBC 

--Agencies