The Tool Desk
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What were the best songs of 2025?
If “best” means a song many people returned to, the year-end numbers offer two useful but different snapshots: Spotify’s global platform rankings and the UK’s official chart accounting.
| # | Preview | Product | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
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Nevermind | $29.99 | Buy on Amazon |
| 2 |
![Chronicle: The 20 Greatest Hits[2 LP]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/411qOkbEPUL._SL160_.jpg)
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Chronicle: The 20 Greatest Hits[2 LP] | $27.89 | Buy on Amazon |
| 3 |
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The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill | $26.97 | Buy on Amazon |
| 4 |
![Weezer (Blue Album) [LP]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51Z6SZBWlWL._SL160_.jpg)
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Weezer (Blue Album) [LP] | $26.98 | Buy on Amazon |
| 5 |
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Greatest Hits | $17.99 | Buy on Amazon |
Global: Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars, “Die With A Smile”
Spotify named “Die With A Smile” its top global song of 2025, with more than 1.7 billion streams on the service. That makes it a striking measure of reach among Spotify listeners—not a count of every stream or listener worldwide. Billie Eilish’s “BIRDS OF A FEATHER” placed second on Spotify’s global list, while ROSÉ and Bruno Mars’ “APT.” ranked third. Spotify’s 2025 Wrapped results also put Bad Bunny at the top of its global artist ranking.
UK: Alex Warren, “Ordinary”
For the UK, Official Charts named Alex Warren’s “Ordinary” the biggest song of 2025. It accumulated 2.2 million UK chart units, including 262 million combined UK audio and video streams, and spent 13 weeks at the top of the Official Singles Chart during the year. These are UK-specific chart measures, not global totals. Official Charts’ year-end report also placed HUNTR/X’s “Golden” fourth overall, another sign of the year’s connection to the KPop Demon Hunters soundtrack.
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- Nirvana- Nevermind
Which artists defined 2025?
Bad Bunny was Spotify’s global top artist for the fourth time, with 19.8 billion streams on the platform in 2025. Taylor Swift ranked second globally and first in the United States; The Weeknd, Drake and Billie Eilish completed Spotify’s global top five. The list captures listening on Spotify, rather than a comprehensive measure of music consumption across services, radio, sales and live performance. Spotify’s year-end rankings provide the platform-specific picture.
The artists who shaped a year are not necessarily just the most-streamed. The chart evidence gives Bad Bunny, Swift and the artists behind “Die With A Smile” and “Ordinary” a clear claim to prominence; editorial choices and personal listening can bring in artists who mattered to a smaller audience or offered a more distinctive experience.
Rank #2
- Records have been cleaned and new sleeved.
- 2 LP release.
- Made in Spain.
What albums should I listen to from 2025?
Start with the difference between a chart leader and a critic’s recommendation. Spotify named Bad Bunny’s DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS its global top album of the year, with the KPop Demon Hunters soundtrack second. In the UK, Taylor Swift’s The Life of a Showgirl was the biggest chart album of 2025. Those rankings reflect different markets and measures; none is a universal quality verdict.
For a wider set of listening paths, the Associated Press selected ten albums in no particular order. Its choices include releases by Bad Bunny, Rosalía, Hayley Williams, Dijon, Addison Rae and Sudan Archives, with recommendations framed around the kind of listener each record may suit. That makes the roundup useful if you want to move beyond the biggest chart names and choose by taste. Official Charts’ UK album-year account and the AP album roundup offer different ways into the year’s releases.
Rank #3
- Released: 2014-12-15...
- Format: Vinyl...
- Format: Vinyl...
- Genre: Rap...
- Best Sellers: Top Seller...
The UK albums market reached 210.3 million albums across all formats in 2025, up 4.9% on 2024, according to BPI analysis of Official Charts data reported by Official Charts. Vinyl album sales rose for an eighteenth consecutive year. Swift’s The Life of a Showgirl was the UK’s biggest-selling vinyl album of 2025, with 147,000 copies sold since its October release. Those figures describe UK sales in 2025; they do not establish current stock or availability of any particular edition. Official Charts’ account includes the year’s leading albums and vinyl releases.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What were the best movies of 2025?
For a film pick grounded in critics’ judgment rather than a supposed consensus, begin with One Battle After Another. Associated Press film writers Lindsey Bahr and Jake Coyle included it among the year’s standouts, and NME named it its film of the year. These are editorial selections from two outlets, not an objective or universal ranking. The AP roundup makes the case for looking beyond short-lived measures such as box office and awards, concluding: “The films are the things that last.” The AP film roundup and NME’s year-end list explain those choices.
Quick Recap
Best Value
- Format: Vinyl...
- Genre: Rock...
- Released: 2018-05-04...
- Format: Vinyl...
- Released: 2018-05-04...
Rank #4
- Supported by three singles `Buddy Holly', `Undone' and `Say It Ain't So' - this debut album brought Weezer mainstream success and eventually became certified triple-platinum in the United States
How to choose what to revisit
- For a shared pop moment: Try “Die With A Smile” or “Ordinary,” keeping in mind that the first led Spotify’s global song ranking and the second topped the UK year-end chart.
- For an album with broad reach: Choose between Bad Bunny’s Spotify-leading DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS and Swift’s UK chart-leading The Life of a Showgirl, depending on which market’s signal matters to you.
- For discovery beyond the biggest names: Use the AP’s album selections as a guide to distinct artists and listener tastes, including Rosalía, Hayley Williams, Dijon, Addison Rae and Sudan Archives.
- For a film to keep thinking about: Consider One Battle After Another, supported here by AP and NME editorial picks rather than a claim that every viewer will agree.
- For a soundtrack connection: The KPop Demon Hunters soundtrack placed second on Spotify’s global albums list, and HUNTR/X’s “Golden” ranked fourth in the UK song year-end chart.
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