The Wiggles, The Kid LAROI & AC/DC Top Australia's Spotify Wrapped 2025 Stats

As the end of 2025 rolls around, so too does that mean it's time for Spotify Wrapped to grace us with its presence.

Often described as Christmas for music-lovers, it's the annual day in which the ubiquitous streaming service unveils the top artists, albums, and songs for its massive listener base, and details all the specific big takeaways for its global markets.

As Ben Watts, Spotify's Head Of Music for Australia and New Zealand explains, it's a rather hectic time for the company, with so much data at play and so many eyes on the platform and its release of the top-end figures.

"There's a lot of work behind the scenes happening in the lead up to it," Watts admits, "And then on the day, there's a sense of pride because – and I've said this before – I feel like Spotify is always kind of at the centre of culture, but on Wrapped day we are the centre of culture.

"It feels really exciting, and on a personal level, I still enjoy that experience of finding out what my biggest songs were and who my biggest artists are.

"At Spotify, I think we are all music fans; that's why we work here," he adds. "We also just really enjoy that experience of discovering our Wrapped data each year."

So, who are the biggest acts this year? 

While Bad Bunny tops the global list for the fourth time (having hit the No. 1 spot three consecutive times from 2020 to 2022), in Australia, it's another frequent flyer, with Taylor Swift taking out the top spot for the third year in a row, followed closely behind by Drake, Morgan Wallen, The Weeknd, and Billie Eilish.

In terms of top local acts, The Wiggles, The Kid LAROI, and AC/DC again take out the top three spots, with the Hilltop Hoods and Tame Impala rounding out the top five, and the latter joining for the first time.

Kevin Parker isn't the only local debut in the top spots, however. While the No. 6 position goes to RÜFÜS DU SOL (No. 5 last year), it's fresh faces for the rest of the top ten, including Royel Otis, Sia, Dom Dolla, and Spacey Jane.

"The first thing I think we see in this list is the continuing wave of Australian dance music, which is growing and growing and is a big one this year," Watts says.

Indeed, Dom Dolla's position comes after he sold 170,000 tickets on his 2024 Australian tour, and RÜFÜS DU SOL's recent tour was recently crowned the biggest electronic tour of all time, with 750,000 tickets sold globally, and 180,000 in Australia alone.

"We've been talking about this for a couple of years, but it feels like it's just getting bigger and bigger," Watts continues. "For Wrapped day we've got Cyril (the most-discovered local artist) in a helicopter, literally flying a very, very big flag for Australian dance music to launch it all. That flag is going to say that there were 409 million streams of Australian dance music this year on Spotify, which is incredible.

"Another thing I look at is seeing those Australian acts that we've seen building up over the last few years hitting that top 10 artists on the Australian list. Spacey Jane is a big one to call out. 

"They've been around for a while, but I feel like they've hit a new level and to be in that top 10 for the first time is a big deal," he adds. "And it just shows just how good their songwriting is, how good their performances are, and we've really enjoyed working really closely with them this year."

While a rising trend in dance music in Australia might not be that surprising, is there anything that has surprised Watts in his role as Head Of Music?

"One interesting thing I think we see on the global list of artists is seeing Morgan Wallen in there in the company of really the biggest global superstars," he notes. "We had Zach Bryan in there last year, so the presence of country artists is something that is not a complete surprise, but it's interesting to see them sitting up there very consistently in the middle of Taylor Swift, Drake, and The Weeknd.

"It's an interesting thing to see, because that country wave is not a flash in the pan, it's just where culture is now."

There is indeed a sense of sameness in the global list this year. As Watts pointed out, this year sees Morgan Wallen replacing Zach Bryan in the No. 3 position, while The Weeknd and Billie Eilish simply swap positions for the No. 4 and No. 5 spots.

Of course, that sameness also translates to the Australian, with the top three of The Wiggles, The Kid LAROI, and AC/DC continuing for the second year in a row, while the top two acts have remained consistent (albeit occasionally switching positions) since 2021. Does this sameness raise any red flags for Watts, or does it make sense?

"The reality is that this is about what people are listening to, it's not purchase data," he explains. "I think a lot of people kind of still think of it with a purchase mentality where 20, 30 years ago it was about people buying albums.

"This is about what they're listening to now. So people were buying a Madonna album or a Nirvana album in the past, and they were listening to it for multiple years, but that wasn't being counted in that sales data. 

"Now that listening over a number of years is being counted really clearly, that's where we are seeing – the biggest superstars of today and the biggest local artists really dominating in that space," he adds. "I think it's something that we need to remember as we look at it through that lens."

Indeed, that sort of thinking is indicative of how music tastes have changed. While music fans were indeed buying physical copies of big name albums back in the day, what soundtracked their day-to-day lives wasn't being tracked. Of course, radio still exists as a prominent entity, but as many people replace radio with streaming audio, it presents a greater picture of our listening habits.

"From an Australian point of view, you see Tame Impala, you see the Hilltop Hoods, RÜFÜS DU SOL – these are artists that have built careers over the last 10, 20 years and who are just doing so well and consistently doing well over a series of years," Watts adds.

"You're seeing these Australian artists do consistently well with really solid listening over a number of years."

When it comes to the top songs in Australia, there's an interesting trend at play. While cuts by Alex Warren, Gracie Abrams, Billie Eilish, sombr, and ROSÉ and Bruno Mars make up the overall top five, the Australian top five has a noted lack of recency.

It's topped by Vance Joy's 2013 single Riptide and followed closely behind by Crowded House's 1986 single Don't Dream It's Over. It gets more current as Sonny Fodera's Somedays and The Kid LAROI's NIGHTS LIKE THIS make an appearance, before going back to 2008 with The Temper Trap's Sweet Disposition.

Currently, we're closing in on four years since the first local ARIA chart-topper (which was The Kid LAROI's Justin Bieber collab Stay in January 2022), and given that the list of monthly top songs features no local cuts either, does this mean that Australian fans simply prefer to take a retrospective look at local content in favour of contemporary tunes?

"I think our focus is that we want to see new Australian music up there in, in any form we can," Watts explains. "And I think we're really focused on working with the whole industry on that visibility of Australian artists and particularly new artists.

"There are Australian songs that have done really well this year. One I'll call out and it's interesting because I think it's doing so well at the moment, Dancing2 by Keli Holiday. That's come out at the end of the year and I think that's going to probably go over two years in terms of data.

"I don't want us to focus on thinking that there isn't great Australian music coming through," he adds. "II think that when you look at this data, you might see those big names, but then the next layer under that, you really see so many things coming through. And the focus of Wrapped for us as well is that personal experience and so many people are going to look at their Wrapped data and see Ninajirachi, Five Seconds of Summer, or AC/DC.

"I think the reality is that the total growth in Australian music is what we're really focused on there, and Wrapped is really showing that in terms of the scale of the amount of artists that get profiled across the whole campaign."

Another interesting addition to the Wrapped data this year is the inclusion of a chart called Australia Top Throwback Songs, which tracks the most-listened to songs released prior to 2000.

In keeping with the theme of mentioning the ARIA charts, this also follows on from ARIA announcing new rules for the singles and albums charts and introducing the new On Repeat charts.

Notably, the Throwback list is rather similar to the On Repeat charts of late, with AC/DC taking up the top three spots with Thunderstruck, Highway To Hell, and Back In Black. Elsewhere, Crowded House, Kylie Minogue, Natalie Imbruglia, Men At Work, and Rick Springfield make up the top ten, though 50% is made up of AC/DC's ubiquitous rock anthems.

As Watts explains, one only need to look at the strength of these artists' catalogues (and AC/DC's current tour) as to why they're such a strong presence in the chart.

Interestingly, when it comes to global success for Aussie names, one needs to look at the podcast charts to see our only homegrown appearance.

While The Joe Rogan Experience takes out the top spot in both Australia and around the world, the top homegrown podcasts show true crime Casefile up top – which also serves as the only Australian entry in the list of our overall favourite podcasts. 

Given that Watts spent almost four years as Head Of Podcasts at Spotify, maybe he can answer why it is that Casefile is such a huge draw on the podcasting front.

"Casefile is a global phenomenon," he states. "They have consistently been the biggest Australian podcast, but also one of the biggest globally. It's funny to be comparing AC/DC and Casefile, but they are both truly global phenomenon that have come from very humble Australian beginnings.

"And we are really excited to support all creators," he adds. "I mean, AC/DC is obviously at a very different part of their career, but Casefile is such a good example of an Australian creator who is just doing their thing and doing it so well on a local and global stage concurrently."

Of course, with the Wrapped data arriving today, there are bound to be countless listeners wondering about what they can do to change their results in the wake of some potentially embarrassing top artists and songs.

That's not to say there is music that is inherently embarrassing, but given that Watts has to note that the presence of KPop Demon Hunters in his top five is due to a young child in the house, we can understand why some folks might look for tips on how to change their data.

"I mean, they can change their taste profile," Watts helpfully offers. "I would say that the most important thing is that they always have. the ability and the right to change their own listening.

"We are always encouraging people to really think about what they want to listen to, and I think that that's kind of the simplest answer. But  I also think another thing to mention is that taste profiling on our platform is quite dynamic.

"I'm always amazed at – if I start listening to a new type of music or a new artist that kind of sits outside of my regular personal listening – how quickly the recommendations I get respond to that. 

"My suggestion would be just to think adventurously about your own listening and go for it," he adds.

Of course, something else worth remembering is the time frame in which Wrapped collects your data. As Watts explains, the period of data collection goes from the start of the calendar year until "mid-November."

While some might view this as an option to simply listen to all their "guilty pleasures" throughout December, or to cleanse their palates following the arrival of the annual Wrapped data, it does give those who might want to curate their listening habits throughout the year an insight into when to listen to their favourite tracks on repeat.

"I'm always kind of careful to explain [that timeframe] because we want it to be as current as possible," Watts explains. "That's what we're aiming for, but the integrity of the data is so important. And think of the millions and millions of people that have to get that experience – a personalised experience for everyone on the same day. 

"It's funny, you can talk about Wrapped being like a Christmas gift, but it's a little bit like Santa Clause's task of trying to deliver to every kid in the world at once. It's almost impossible, but it happens. Yeah. 

"So we need, we need that time [in November] to make sure all that data is sorted and has total integrity."

With our Wrapped data out in the world now, Spotify has also offered up a few different ways of experiencing the results this year. 

There's the introduction of the Wrapped Party, letting you experience your year in music live with friends; there's the Listening Archive, offering personalised snapshots of your most memorable streaming days; your Listening Age; the chance to see your top albums, and more.

Most notably, there's the introduction of a Fan Leaderboard, allowing listeners to really see if they're a top fan.

"In the past you've had the ability to, say if Ninajirachi is your top artist, you would find out that you are in the top 1% of Ninajirachi fans," Watts explains. "This year, you actually get a ranking of whether you are the 500th biggest Ninajirachi fan, the fifth biggest, or the number one Ninajirachi fan.

"So you actually get an actual ranking, which we think is going to be really cool for fans of particular artists, and something that they will want to share with their friends."

Spotify Wrapped is live now, with further details on Spotify's website.

Spotify Wrapped 2025

Australia's Top Artists

1. Taylor Swift

2. Drake

3. Morgan Wallen

4. The Weeknd

5. Billie Eilish

Australia’s Top Local Artists

1. The Wiggles

2. The Kid LAROI

3. AC/DC

4. Hilltop Hoods

5. Tame Impala (Top Local Artist List debut)

6. RÜFÜS DU SOL

7. Royel Otis (Top Local Artist List debut)

8. Sia (Top Local Artist List debut)

9. Dom Dolla (Top Local Artist List debut)

10. Spacey Jane (Top Local Artist List debut)

Australia's Top Songs

1. Ordinary – Alex Warren

2. That’s So True – Gracie Abrams 

3. BIRDS OF A FEATHER – Billie Eilish

4. back to friends – sombr

5. APT. – ROSÉ & Bruno Mars

Australia's Top Local Songs

1. Riptide – Vance Joy

2. Don’t Dream It’s Over – Crowded House

3. Somedays – Sonny Fodera 

4. NIGHTS LIKE THIS – The Kid LAROI

5. Sweet Disposition – The Temper Trap

Australia's Top Albums

1. KPop Demon Hunters (Soundtrack from the Netflix Film) – KPop Demon Hunters Cast 

2. You’ll Be Alright, Kid – Alex Warren

3. Short n’ Sweet – Sabrina Carpenter

4. So Close To What??? – Tate McRae

5. SOS Deluxe: LANA – SZA

Australia's Top Local Albums

1. THE FIRST TIME – The Kid LAROI

2. Dream Your Life Away – Vance Joy

3. Currents – Tame Impala

4. Back In Black – AC/DC

5. Kick – INXS

Australia's Top Podcasts

1. The Joe Rogan Experience

2. The Diary Of A CEO with Steven Bartlett

3. The Mel Robbins Podcast

4. Casefile True Crime

5. Huberman Lab

Australia’s Top Local Podcasts

1. Casefile True Crime

2. Hamish & Andy

3. The Imperfects

4. It’s A Lot with Abbie Chatfield

5. ABC News Top Stories

Australia’s Top Audiobooks in Premium

1. Fourth Wing – Rebecca Yarros

2. Iron Flame – Rebecca Yarros

3. A Court of Thorns and Roses – Sarah J. Maas

4. Lights Out: An Into Darkness Novel – Navessa Allen

5. Quicksilver: The Fae & Alchemy Series, Book 1 – Callie Hart

Australia’s Top Throwback Songs (pre-2000)

1. Thunderstruck – AC/DC

2. Highway To Hell – AC/DC

3. Back In Black – AC/DC

4. Don’t Dream It’s Over – Crowded House

5. You Shook Me All Night Long – AC/DC

6. Can’t Get You Out Of My Head – Kylie Minogue

7. Torn – Natalie Imbruglia

8. T.N.T – AC/DC

9. “Down Under – Men At Work

10. Jessie’s Girl – Rick Springfield

Australia’s Most Discovered Artists

1. sombr

2. Alex Warren

3. HUNTR/X

4. Chrystal

5. Lola Young

6. Ravyn Lenae

7. Saja Boys

8. Doechii

9. ROSÉ

10. Olivia Dean