YouTube’s 2025 Year‑End Trending Lists: Songs, Shorts, Creators and Cultural Moments That Defined the Year

YouTube has published its 2025 Year‑End Trending Lists, highlighting the creators, songs, podcasts and cultural moments that resonated most across the platform this year.

Topping YouTube’s year‑end Top Songs chart is Bruno Mars and Lady Gaga’s collaboration “Die With a Smile.” The full list also features ROSÉ and Bruno Mars’ “APT.” and four tracks from the KPop Demon Hunters soundtrack — “Golden,” “Soda Pop,” “How It’s Done” and “Your Idol.” The rankings reflect in‑country views of songs that either debuted in 2025 or experienced notable year‑over‑year growth, aggregating official music videos, lyric videos and art‑track uploads.

On the Shorts front, contemporary Christian artist Forrest Frank’s “Your Way’s Better” leads the Top Songs on Shorts list, buoyed by a viral dance that helped propel the track to the summit of Billboard’s Hot Christian Songs chart and earn RIAA Gold certification. Other prominent Shorts hits include Billie Eilish’s “Ocean Eyes” and Skrilla’s “Doot Doot (6 7).” These rankings are based on in‑country Shorts creations for songs that either premiered in 2025 or saw meaningful increases in user‑generated Shorts activity.

The year‑end collections arrive as YouTube marks its 20th anniversary, underscoring the platform’s role in amplifying global trends and turning new releases into cultural phenomena.

Kevin Allocca, YouTube’s global director of culture & trends, noted that these lists capture the year’s cultural pulse: creators transformed new releases — from shows like Squid Game to franchises like KPop Demon Hunters — into shared global moments, while Shorts helped revive older songs and elevate international sensations like “Labubu.” In his view, YouTube continues to act as a central engine for collective pop‑culture experiences.

Below are the full lists for YouTube’s 2025 Year‑End Top Songs, Top Songs on Shorts, Trending Topics, Top Creators and Top Podcasts.

Top songs

1. Bruno Mars, Lady Gaga — “Die With A Smile”
2. ROSÉ, Bruno Mars — “APT.”
3. HUNTR/X (KPop Demon Hunters Cast) — “Golden”
4. Saja Boys (KPop Demon Hunters Cast) — “Soda Pop”
5. Saja Boys (KPop Demon Hunters Cast) — “Your Idol”
6. Victor Valverde, Jr Torres — “El Mayor de los Ranas”
7. HUNTR/X (KPop Demon Hunters Cast) — “How It’s Done”
8. Alex Warren — “Ordinary”
9. Kendrick Lamar, SZA — “Luther”
10. Kendrick Lamar — “tv off”

Top songs on Shorts

1. Forrest Frank — “Your Way’s Better”
2. ATLXS — “Passo Bem Solto (Slowed)”
3. Black Eyed Peas — “Rock That Body”
4. Connie Francis — “Pretty Little Baby”
5. Joyful — “Chess”
6. Doechii — “Anxiety”
7. Skrilla — “Doot Doot (6 7)”
8. Saja Boys (KPop Demon Hunters Cast) — “Soda Pop”
9. Jiandro (feat. ola.wav) — “Confess your love”
10. Billie Eilish — “Ocean Eyes”

Trending topics of 2025 (not ranked)

• Squid Game
• User‑generated Roblox experiences: Grow a Garden; Dandy’s World; Forsaken; Steal a Brainrot
• KPop Demon Hunters
• Brainrot
• Charlie Kirk
• Labubu
• Nintendo Switch 2
• Cookie Run Kingdom
• Blue Lock
• KATSEYE

Top creators

1. MrBeast
2. CaylusBlox
3. IShowSpeed
4. Double Date
5. Cadel and Mia
6. Charlie Kirk
7. Law by Mike
8. CoryxKenshin
9. Zack D. Films
10. Outdoor Boys

Top podcasts

1. The Joe Rogan Experience
2. KILL TONY
3. Good Mythical Morning
4. Rotten Mango
5. The MeidasTouch Podcast
6. 48 Hours
7. Shawn Ryan Show
8. Smosh Reads Reddit Stories
9. This Past Weekend w/ Theo Von
10. The Diary Of A CEO

 

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