Listen To UTR's 2025 End Of Year Playlist

Where other local music sites scratch the surface, we go deep. Welcome to our 2025 End Of Year Playlist, bringing together the very finest Aotearoa tunes of the past twelve months. 102 tracks selected by our traditionally brutal in-office voting system, sequenced (not ranked) for your listening enjoyment by editor Chris Cudby.

Many music lovers have been seeking alternatives to the reality distorting Spotify paradigm in 2025, very convincingly critiqued by music journalist Liz Pelly (author of Mood Machine: The Rise of Spotify and the Costs of the Perfect Playlist) and Martyn Pepperell's live conversation together in August. We've included a Bandcamp Buy Music Club playlist of every available track below, featuring even more local standouts than the Spotify playlist. Let's look forward to a 2026 where the idea of ethical consumption in music / sound culture can be unpacked even further.

Please note: Spotify's algorithm disproportionately benefits only a small percentage of artists. You can support Aotearoa artists directly by seeing them live (this also supports venues) and purchasing their recordings at your friendly local record shop / over on Bandcamp where available. This playlist only includes tracks currently available on Spotify. Spotify won't display more than 100 songs on websites, listen to and view the full 102 track playlist HERE.

Hit play on any track below to listen via Bandcamp — includes even more Aotearoa tunes than the Spotify playlist!