Global Highlights: Bad Bunny Leads, Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars Dominate Songs
Spotify Wrapped 2025 has arrived, giving users their yearly snapshot of favourite artists, songs and albums. This year, Puerto Rican superstar Bad Bunny topped the world rankings with more than 19.8 billion streams, while his album Debí Tirar Más Fotos became the biggest album worldwide. His global success has also helped secure him the coveted Super Bowl halftime show next year.
The world’s top song was Die With A Smile, the retro-inspired duet from Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars. But the global charts didn’t always align with UK listeners. In the UK, Taylor Swift claimed the top artist spot, while the most-streamed track was Alex Warren’s Ordinary, a hit that spent 13 weeks at number one.
UK Trends: Old Hits Return While New Albums Surprise
Despite a surge in new releases in 2025, many of the UK’s most-streamed tracks were older songs that remained on repeat all year. Tracks by Lola Young, Billie Eilish and Gigi Perez dominated Spotify’s UK Top 10. Chappell Roan’s Pink Pony Club, originally released in 2020, climbed to the fourth most-played song of the year.
Although Sabrina Carpenter’s 2024 album Short’n’Sweet became the UK’s most-listened-to album of 2025, her latest project, Man’s Best Friend, didn’t break into the Top 10. Meanwhile, British acts enjoyed standout milestones, including Lola Young surpassing one billion streams and Central Cee generating 785 million streams for his debut album.
Across Platforms: Apple Music, YouTube and Shazam Reflect Different Tastes
A similar pattern appeared across competing platforms. On both YouTube and Apple Music, the year’s biggest track was APT, the Rosé and Bruno Mars collaboration that first landed in 2024. But YouTube users stood out for their enthusiasm for K-Pop Demon Hunters, with four soundtrack songs appearing in the Top 10 and Huntr/x’s Golden charting at number three.
Globally, Billie Eilish ranked fifth among most-streamed artists thanks to hits like Birds of a Feather and Lunch. Drake followed closely in fourth place, backed by the release of his latest album $ome $exy $ongs 4 U. Spotify’s global album chart placed the K-Pop Demon Hunters soundtrack second, followed by Eilish’s Hit Me Hard and Soft.
How Spotify Wrapped Shapes Listening Habits
Since launching in 2016, Spotify Wrapped has grown into a cultural event. Beyond providing personalised listening data, Wrapped encourages fans to share their results widely and even compete for top listener spots. Spotify’s in-app leaderboards now highlight users who rank among the top percentage of an artist’s fanbase.
However, this gamification may influence how people listen to music. “Wrapped is an incredibly effective viral marketing tool that turns millions of users into enthusiastic promoters,” explained Richard Whittle, Professor of artificial intelligence and public policy at the University of Salford. Many users reportedly adjust their listening patterns mid-year to “engineer” a more desirable Wrapped summary.
Other major services — including Apple Music, Amazon Music and YouTube — have created their own Wrapped-style experiences, each revealing distinct trends shaped by their audiences.
