So, the news is out. Apple Music has crowned its Artist of the Year for 2025, and it’s none other than Tyler, The Creator.
Don’t get me wrong, Tyler is a visionary. Between the release of CHROMAKOPIA, the surprise drop of DON’T TAP THE GLASS, and his massive Camp Flog Gnaw festival, he’s had a monster year. Apple even cited his “outstanding impact on music and culture” as the main driver. But if you’re a data nerd like me, or just a die-hard Swiftie, you might be looking at the charts and scratching your head.
Don’t miss the best of The Mac Observer
Set us as a preferred source and our Apple reporting ranks higher in your Google Search results and Discover feed — one tap, no account changes.
Tyler clocked in a massive 4.5 billion minutes of listening time on Apple Music this year. That’s a huge number. But is it the biggest number? Probably not.
If this award were purely about raw data, the trophy would likely be sitting on a very different mantle. Let’s look at the real heavy hitters of 2025 who might feel a little “snubbed” today, and why Apple decided to go with vibes over volume.
1. Taylor Swift: The Undeniable Titan
Let’s be real: if this were a numbers game, Taylor Swift wins every year. With the release of The Life of a Showgirl in 2025, she didn’t just break records; she obliterated them. While Apple is notoriously secretive about exact total stream counts compared to Spotify (where she dominates globally), industry estimates put her streaming numbers in the stratosphere, likely double or triple Tyler’s 4.5 billion minutes.
From re-recordings to new eras, her catalog keeps people subscribed. But Apple has given her the nod before (2023), and they often prefer to spread the love to artists pushing new cultural boundaries rather than just rewarding the reigning champion.
2. Drake: The Streaming Algorithm
Drake is basically a utility at this point. He’s as essential to streaming platforms as the servers themselves. Even in an “off” year, he does numbers most artists dream of. But 2025 wasn’t an off year. With tracks like “What Did I Miss?” and the $ome $exy $ongs 4 U project keeping him in the Top 5 globally, his raw engagement is relentless.
However, Drake’s relationship with streaming awards is complicated. He’s the volume king, but Apple’s AOTY tends to favor a specific artistic narrative for the year, whereas Drake’s year felt more like sustained dominance rather than a singular “moment.”
3. Sabrina Carpenter: The 2025 Breakout
If we’re talking about who owned the cultural conversation in 2025, you have to talk about Sabrina. Her album Man’s Best Friend, released in August, was a pop juggernaut. It hit #1 on the Billboard 200 and dominated TikTok and Instagram Reels (which, let’s be honest, drives Apple Music streams).
While her career totals don’t match Taylor or Drake, her 2025 specific velocity was insane. She’s the definition of a rising star who made the transition to superstar. Apple ignoring her feels like a slight miss on capturing the “pop girl” energy of the year, but perhaps they felt Tyler’s multi-hyphenate creativity (fashion, directing, producing) carried more weight.
4. The Weeknd: The Global Behemoth
Abel continues to be a global force. He consistently ranks in the top 3 most-streamed artists worldwide alongside Taylor and Drake. His reach is truly international, often outperforming US-centric rappers in global markets.
He’s an audio-visual pioneer who usually aligns perfectly with Apple’s “tech + art” brand (remember the immersive video stuff?). But without a singular, earth-shattering album drop that redefined 2025 specifically before the cutoff, he might have been a victim of his own consistency. He’s always great, which makes it hard to say this was his specific year.
5. Bad Bunny: The International King
We can’t ignore the global impact of Bad Bunny. He consistently pulls billions of streams and drives massive subscriptions in Latin America and beyond. Apple Music prides itself on being a global platform, and ignoring the sheer volume of his listener base is always a choice.
However, similar to Taylor, he’s been recognized heavily in the past (AOTY 2022). Apple seems to be avoiding repeats to keep the award feeling fresh and curated.
FAQ
Unlike Spotify Wrapped, which is largely data-driven, Apple Music’s editorial team has a huge say. They look at streaming numbers, sure, but they heavily weight “cultural impact,” creative risks, and how much the artist engaged with the Apple ecosystem (Spatial Audio, interviews, etc.).
Yes! Apple confirmed this stat in their press release. It was his biggest year ever on the platform, driven by CHROMAKOPIA and his back catalog.
They do. It’s a custom silicon wafer (yes, like the chip in your Mac) suspended in polished glass. It’s honestly one of the coolest trophies in tech.
Summary
Here is the TL;DR on why Tyler won, and others didn’t:
- Curation Over Calculation: Apple Music values the “story” of the year over raw spreadsheet data. Tyler’s creative output (albums, festivals, fashion) told a better story.
- The Repeat Rule: Taylor Swift and Bad Bunny have won recently. Apple prefers crowning new royalty.
- The “Cool” Factor: Tyler brings a level of street cred and artistic prestige that aligns perfectly with Apple’s brand image.
- The Numbers: While 4.5 billion minutes is massive, artists like Taylor Swift and Drake likely had higher raw totals but less “new” impact.
- The Ecosystem: Tyler utilized the full Apple stack—visuals, Spatial Audio, and radio—making him a perfect ambassador for the platform’s features.
So, was Taylor Swift snubbed? By the numbers, absolutely. Was Sabrina Carpenter snubbed? culturally, maybe. But Apple Music has never been about just rewarding the person with the most zeros in their bank account.
Discussion