Topline
In a fascinating twist for 2025, Apple Music’s Top 10 most-streamed tracks predominantly feature songs not released in the current year. This pattern is expected to mirror in the upcoming year-end summaries from larger platforms like Spotify and Billboard. The phenomenon, driven by playlists on streaming services and traditional radio’s cautious approach, is prompting industry insiders to seek change.
The top three on Apple Music—comprised of duets “APT.” by Rosé and Bruno Mars, “Die With A Smile” by Lady Gaga and Mars, and “Luther” by Kendrick Lamar and SZA—dominated streams despite being launched in the latter part of 2024. Much of the remainder of the list also hails from the previous year, including Lamar’s “Not Like Us” and Billie Eilish’s “Birds of a Feather.”
Among the top 10, Alex Warren’s “Ordinary” stands out as the sole track released in 2025 to make the cut.
Deezer’s list of the year’s most-streamed tracks, released Monday, similarly reflects this trend, with only Warren’s “Ordinary” and Doechii’s “Anxiety” emerging from 2025 releases. Notably, “Anxiety” isn’t entirely fresh, having first appeared on YouTube in a preliminary form back in 2019.
This persistent trend, shaped by streaming patterns and radio preferences, sees older hits lingering on top charts, causing minimal turnover. This has even led Billboard to revise its rules to finally retire some longstanding tracks from chart positions.
This stagnation arises from two main factors: the nature of streaming and cautious radio programming. Throughout much of the year, Spotify and Billboard charts closely resembled last year’s, with tracks like “Die With A Smile,” “A Bar Song (Tipsy),” and “Beautiful Things” maintaining dominance. Billboard acknowledged in October that the charts have been slower to evolve lately because radio stations continue to heavily feature the same popular tracks. According to radio consultant Guy Zapoleon, the fragmentation of listeners across various platforms has ironically prolonged the popularity of major hits. He explained that with numerous sources available, it becomes challenging for lesser-known songs to break through. Gary Trust, Billboard’s managing director of charts and operations, noted to the New York Post that radio stations feel compelled to stick with proven hits due to competition from listeners who can easily switch to their personalized Spotify playlists or podcasts while driving.
Why Are Older Songs Dominating Charts?
Two primary reasons: Streaming and conservative radio strategies. For much of the year, the top songs on the Spotify and Billboard charts looked the same as last year as “Die With A Smile,” “A Bar Song (Tipsy),” “Beautiful Things” and more reigned. Billboard said in October charts have moved more slowly than ever in recent months because radio stations have kept the same songs in heavy airplay rotation. Radio programmer and consultant Guy Zapoleon told Billboard the fragmentation of audiences across streaming and other platforms has paradoxically made songs stay hits for longer periods of time, stating because there are “so many different sources to go to, it’s difficult for songs outside the very biggest songs to become hits.” Gary Trust, Billboard managing director of charts and operations, told the New York Post radio stations feel pressure to play songs they know are big hits because they face competition from audiences who can just put on their own Spotify playlists or listen to podcasts in their car.
