December 9, 2025

David Mascha for NPR

It’s the most wonderful time of the year — especially if you’re a music fan who doesn’t have the time to keep up with the weekly deluge of new songs. We here at NPR Music are super excited to unveil our list of The 125 Best Songs of 2025.

This is the sound of public radio in 2025. Our list was curated by more than 60 writers and DJs across the NPR Music Network, and runs the gamut of sounds, scenes and styles. If the variety feels chaotic at times, that’s somewhat by design. NPR Music’s mission is to broaden the scope of your fandom and introduce you to an array of musicians that algorithms wouldn’t know what to do with.

Our list is unranked, presented in alphabetical order, and you can look at it in two ways: A distilled version of our top 25 songs, or the complete list of 125 picks. (If you're more of a podcast person, All Songs Considered has you covered.) Dig around for a new favorite, and spend some time reading the passionate, pithy capsules accompanying each song — context breeds crushes. Plus there’s nothing artificial about any of them.

READ THE LIST

STREAM THE PLAYLIST

From our sponsor,Arm

Listen: Peter Gabriel on the role of AI in music and art

Perhaps best known for hit songs like “Solsbury Hill” and “Sledgehammer,” Peter Gabriel has long been an early adopter of new technologies in music. He was on the cutting edge of digital recording, download and distribution tech, and he joined Stability AI in 2023 to run a competition for AI-generated animated music videos set to his music. Peter joins Arm CEO and host Rene Haas to share his thoughts on the role of AI in music and the arts. He also talks to Rene about using tech to connect people and generate hope and compassion.

Listen sponsor free to All Songs Considered & Alt.Latino with NPR MUSIC+

Enhance your listening experience and support NPR Music. With NPR Music+, you can hear every episode of beloved podcasts like All Songs Considered and Alt.Latino completely sponsor-free. Plus, you’ll unlock exclusive new episodes in the latest All Songs Considered series where Ann & Daoud take you on deep dives into classic songs.

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