As this year is coming to an end, it’s time to dive into what the music industry has brought to 2025. From artist breakthroughs to albums, this article is going to go over all the music highlights from this past year.
First off, I will be going over multiple artists who gained popularity from songs they released this year. In my opinion, here are the top five for 2025. First up is Alex Warren, a pop/indie-pop artist. He initially launched his music career in June 2021. His breakthrough came, however, this past February when he released “Ordinary.” His single climbed the Billboard Hot 100 for multiple weeks and eventually hit No. 1 in August. According to Songstats, he has had 50.5 million listeners on Spotify in the last 28 days, just showing how his popularity has continued.
Next, KATSEYE, an all-female pop and R&B group that has K-pop influence, grew in popularity this year. They originally debuted on June 28, 2024, with their single called “Debut.” They however didn’t gain a lot of attention until they released their song “Gabriela” on June 20, 2025. Their song hit and peaked at No. 31 on Billboard’s Hot 100 and stayed there for multiple weeks. “Gabriela” also hit No. 16 on Billboard’s Global 200. Currently, KATSEYE has 32.5 million listeners on Spotify.
The third artist that has gained a ton of popularity this year, especially in the beginning of 2025, is Doechii. She performed at the Grammys back in February with two songs from her album “Alligator Bites Never Heal”, which won best rap album of the year that same night. She originally started her music career in 2016, and her music falls under hip-hop, R&B, and pop. “Anxiety,” her hit song that gained her so much popularity, was originally released back in 2019 on her YouTube channel. The song then went viral at the beginning of 2025, and she rereleased it on March 4. “Anxiety” peaked on Billboard Hot 100 at No. 9. Doechii continues her popularity throughout the year and has had over 22.1 million listeners on Spotify in the last 28 days.
Another artist who really took off this year is RAYE. She started her music career back in 2014 as an R&B, pop, soul, and jazz artist. Before this year, she was known for her and 070 Shake’s song “Escapism,” which was released and popular in 2023. This past September, however, she released “Where Is My Husband,” which went viral. Her song peaked at No. 37 on the Billboard Hot 100. Her popularity continues to show in her listener stats, with 49.2 million listeners on Spotify in the last 28 days.
Finally, the last artist, Olivia Dean, is a soul, R&B, and pop artist. She started making music in high school and released her first single in 2018 called “Reason to Stay.” However, on Aug. 15 of this year, she released “Man I Need,” and it climbed the charts fast, peaking at No. 4 on Billboard’s Hot 100. She also has a whopping number of Spotify listeners in the last 28 days, with 56.9 million listeners, the most out of all the new artists I have mentioned.
This year has seen a lot more from various artists. Some notable albums that have been released this past year include “Addison” by Addison Rae, who was previously known as an influencer and actor. Then there is Sabrina Carpenter’s “Short n’ Sweet,” which was my personal favorite album that was released.
Another popular album, though released in November of 2024, gained a lot of traction in 2025 includes Kendrick Lamar’s album “GNX,” which features SZA on the album for the song “Luther,” which I loved. It hit No. 1 on the Billboard 200 twice, in December 2024 and then again in February 2025 after Lamar performed in the Super Bowl halftime show. The next album that was in the top albums of 2025 was Bad Bunny’s “DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS.” “Nuevayol,” the first song on the album, debuted high on Billboard’s Hit 10, becoming one of the most popular songs of this year. Finally, Taylor Swift’s “The Life of A Showgirl” that was released in October, held the No.1 spot on Billboard’s 200 chart for over ten weeks, making it another top album of the year.
Overall, it has been a big year of music, with known artists growing in popularity, releasing hit songs and albums, as well as new artists breaking through.
Feel free to DM me on Instagram @isabel_gstudios with anything music-related you would like me to cover.
