Welcome to the sound of public radio in 2025. Our list of the best 125 songs of the year was curated by more than 60 writers and DJs across the NPR Music Network, and runs the gamut of sounds, scenes and styles. (Don't call them genres!) If the playlist (which you can add to your collection here ) 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. Dig around for a new favorite, and spend some time reading the passionate, pithy capsules accompanying each song — context breeds c

See Full Page