2025, A Year of Music in Review

Jan 1, 2026·

Jakob M. Helton

· 5 min read

This infrared image from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (also called Webb or JWST) was taken by the NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera) for the JWST Advanced Deep Extragalactic Survey, or JADES, program. The NIRCam data was used to determine which galaxies to study further with spectroscopic observations. In the background image, blue represents light at 0.90, 1.15, and 1.50 microns (filters F090W + F115W + F150W), green is 2.00 and 2.77 microns (F200W + F277W), and red is 3.56, 4.10, and 4.44 microns (F356W + F410M + F444W). The pullout image shows light at 0.90 and 1.15 microns (F090W + F115W) as blue, 1.50 and 2.00 microns (F150W + F200W) as green, and 2.77 microns (F277W) as red.

Image Credits: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Brant Robertson (UC Santa Cruz), Ben Johnson (CfA), Sandro Tacchella (Cambridge), Phill Cargile (CfA).

I listened to lots of music in 2025, primarily digital media with Apple Music and YouTube, but also analog media with vinyls that I have been collecting. In this blog post, I will summarize the music that I listened to in 2025, starting with the top artists and albums that I listened to on Apple Music, followed by the best live performances that I listened to on YouTube, and concluding with the vinyls that I acquired this year.

Digital Media | Apple Music

According to Apple Music, I listened to 46,115 minutes of music, which corresponds to roughly 770 hours or 32 days. This means that roughly 9% of my time in 2025 was spent listening to Apple Music! In total, I listened to 1,062 unique artists and 433 unique albums. I was a top 500 listener for MUST DIE!; I was also a top 500 listener for Pond. My top genres were electronic, dance, alternative, house, and electronica. My top artists by month were Daft Punk in January, Daft Punk in February, Daft Punk in March, Skrillex in April, Skrillex in May, Daft Punk in June, Justice in July, Daft Punk in August, Justice in September, Tame Impala in October, Justice in November, and Tame Impala in December.

Here were my top artists for the year:

Daft Punk: I listened to this artist for 5,189 minutes (or 86.48 hours).>
Justice: I listened to this artist for 4,639 minutes (or 77.32 hours).>
Tame Impala: I listened to this artist for 4,258 minutes (or 70.97 hours).>
Pond: I listened to this artist for 2,874 minutes (or 47.90 hours).
Skrillex: I listened to this artist for 1,988 minutes (or 33.13 hours).
Fred again..: I listened to this artist for 1,977 minutes (or 32.95 hours).
Tyler, The Creator: I listened to this artist for 1,662 minutes (or 27.70 hours).
Stevie Wonder: I listened to this artist for 1,039 minutes (or 17.32 hours).
MUST DIE!: I listened to this artist for 910 minutes (or 15.17 hours).
A Tribe Called Quest: I listened to this artist for 755 minutes (or 12.58 hours).
Mr. Oizo: I listened to this artist for 690 minutes (or 11.50 hours).
Boys Noize: I listened to this artist for 604 minutes (or 10.07 hours).
salute: I listened to this artist for 603 minutes (or 10.05 hours).
Jamie xx: I listened to this artist for 565 minutes (or 9.42 hours).
Charli xcx: I listened to this artist for 554 minutes (or 9.23 hours).
Radiohead: I listened to this artist for 507 minutes (or 8.45 hours).
Kendrick Lamar: I listened to this artist for 507 minutes (or 8.45 hours).
SVDDEN DEATH: I listened to this artist for 466 minutes (or 7.77 hours).
Cage the Elephant: I listened to this artist for 447 minutes (or 7.45 hours).
Green Velvet: I listened to this artist for 407 minutes (or 6.78 hours).

Here were my top albums for the year:

“Deadbeat” by Tame Impala: I listened to this album for 2,822 minutes (or 47.03 hours).
“F*CK U SKRILLEX YOU THINK UR ANDY WARHOL BUT UR NOT!! <3” by Skrillex: I listened to this album for 1,666 minutes (or 27.77 hours).
“Justice” by Justice: I listened to this album for 1,638 minutes (or 27.30 hours).
“Hyperdrama” by Justice: I listened to this album for 1,622 minutes (or 27.03 hours).
“Alive 2007” by Daft Punk: I listened to this album for 1,435 minutes (or 23.92 hours).
“Stung!” by Pond: I listened to this album for 1,268 minutes (or 21.13 hours).
“Homework (25th Anniversary Edition)” by Daft Punk: I listened to this album for 1,093 minutes (or 18.22 hours).
“Daft Club” by Daft Punk: I listened to this album for 1,010 minutes (or 16.83 hours).
“DON’T TAP THE GLASS” by Tyler, The Creator: I listened to this album for 885 minutes (or 14.75 hours).
“A Cross the Universe (Live)” by Justice: I listened to this album for 864 minutes (or 14.40 hours).
“Pride 2025 (DJ Mix)” by Rebecca Black: I listened to this album for 698 minutes (or 11.63 hours).
“9 (Deluxe Edition)” by Pond: I listened to this album for 661 minutes (or 11.02 hours).
“TRUE MAGIC, DELUXE” by salute: I listened to this album for 599 minutes (or 9.98 hours).
“Discovery” by Daft Punk: I listened to this album for 578 minutes (or 9.63 hours).
“CHROMAKOPIA” by Tyler, The Creator: I listened to this album for 573 minutes (or 9.55 hours).