We say something like this every year, but now more than ever, a hit song is more than just a song. They’re always the soundtrack for years or moments in our lives, but now they’re also the soundtrack for thousands of videos and social posts and other digital ephemera we share with each other, creating even more memories (this Hallmark moment brought to you by Variety, cue any song from the Top 25 list below!).

Now that the mushy stuff is out of the way, you might notice something unusual about this year’s Top 25: Yes, in places it looks a lot like last year’s Hitmakers Top 25 — in 2024, there were 13 songs released that year in the final tally; this year, there are just seven from 2025, with a whopping 16 from 2024. There are even four songs in the 2025 Top 10 — “A Bar Song (Tipsy),”

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