What kept users moving in 2025 and why it matters for your business. Data, trends, and predictions from the Feed.fm curation team.
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2025 was a year of convergence. Pop and country blurred, R&B found its way into every workout type, and nostalgia proved it still has staying power in fitness music programming.
At Feed.fm, we track what moves people. As a B2B music platform powering fitness and wellness apps with fully licensed, curated music, we see what works in real time. From the songs that dominated our platform to the artists most requested by instructors, the data tells a clear story: music in fitness has become more diverse, more personal, and more culturally connected than ever.
With over 30 million plays across our top ten artists, we saw a clear shift toward music that feels current, emotionally resonant, and aligned with cultural moments. The tracks that topped our charts were the songs users did not skip. The ones that kept them moving.
This report breaks down the songs, artists, and trends that defined 2025 across the Feed.fm platform, with insights from our expert music curation team on what they see coming in 2026.
Feed Radio stations stream inside our partners’ fitness and wellness apps. Most listeners can choose stations and skip tracks, and some are able to like or dislike selections at the song level. Our curation team combines that feedback with proprietary data, brand and use-case relevancy as well as on- and off-platform trends to inform how the stations evolve throughout the year and understand which songs are best at keeping people engaged.
Beyoncé's "TEXAS HOLD 'EM" claimed the top spot, riding momentum from her 2025 Grammy Album of the Year win while crossing genres in a way that resonated with both pop and country audiences. "It's poppy enough for non-country fans, country enough for non-pop fans, and quintessential Beyoncé," said Eric "Stens" Stensvaag, Feed.fm's Director of Curation. "The 110 BPM, four-on-the-floor beat dead-centers the preferred tempo of most fitness soundtracks." The song works equally well in a spin class and a line dancing session.
Madison Beer's "Make You Mine" landed at number two, a sleeper hit that found its footing in fitness playlists before crossing to mainstream radio. Chappell Roan's "Good Luck, Babe!" came in third, cementing her rise from cult favorite to unavoidable pop force.
The rest of the list tells its own story: R&B and hip-hop energy from Paul Russell and d4vd, Kehlani proving R&B's crossover into fitness is real, and Dasha's "Austin" confirming country-pop has arrived in digital fitness. Paul Russell's "Lil Boo Thang" is the only track that carried over from our 2024 year-end list. Senior curator Claire McConnell, our resident pop historian, called it "pop perfection with a positive vibe and well-executed interpolation that will continue to be a crowd-pleaser for years to come."
Dua Lipa's “Dance the Night” was featured on our 2024 top ten chart, this year it was replaced with "Training Season" which was recently featured in an ad for the 2026 Winter Olympics, a sign this track won't be cooling down anytime soon.
Eight of the top ten tracks are from female artists. As Pop/Country, Pop/Hip-Hop, and Pop/R&B hybrids now equalling pure pop tracks, "Contemporary Radio Hits" better captures what the Pop genre has become. Programming that flows with these genre crossovers tends to outperform programming that sticks to rigid boundaries.
Sabrina Carpenter had the year most artists dream about. Following Short N' Sweet, she released Man's Best Friend, giving her two albums worth of momentum in a single calendar year. With over 5 million plays on Feed.fm, she claimed the top spot.
Her dominance came down to versatility. Her catalog works for warm-ups, cool-downs, and everything in between. She filled a lane her mentor Taylor Swift used to own exclusively: the pop artist whose music feels personal enough for headphones and anthemic enough for group fitness. "Sabrina strikes a perfect combination of well-crafted pop songs and an equally sweet and sassy personality that appeals to all ages," said Claire. "With consistent touring and multiple SNL performances, she has continuously occupied space in the pop culture zeitgeist in 2025 but miraculously managed to avoid oversaturation."
Chappell Roan and Dua Lipa tied for second at 4 million plays each. Chappell's rise from underground favorite to mainstream force happened faster than any artist in recent memory. The theatrical, 1980s-influenced production brought distinct energy to playlists dominated by sleeker pop songs.
Dua Lipa continued her reign as pop's most reliable hitmaker. Her distinctive dance-pop sound is practically engineered for workout music, with driving beats and vocals that cut through even the loudest gym speakers.
The middle of the list held few surprises: Ariana, Taylor, Charli, Beyoncé. But Myles Smith at eight stood out as the lone male artist, breaking through with emotional, guitar-driven pop that cut against the high-gloss production everywhere else. "He's representative of today's folk-pop tradition that also includes Noah Kahan and Hozier," said Stens. And Lady Gaga at ten set the stage for her Mayhem comeback.
Reflecting on the female-forward pop, Claire quipped: “Brat Summer lived on through 2025, and all the other pop girlies showed up ready to work.”
Platform-wide data tells us what listeners prefer. Instructor requests reveal something different: what the people programming classes believe will push their clients harder. In 2025, instructor requests leaned into two themes: pop anthems with unrelenting energy, and a surprising resurgence of 2000s and 2010s pop punk.
Taylor Swift wins for most-requested artist. Her catalog is deep enough to support diverse class formats. Rihanna, Britney Spears, Dua Lipa, and Katy Perry followed, delivering bold, confident tracks that match the intensity of high-energy training.
The real story is further down the list. Fall Out Boy and My Chemical Romance both cracked the top ten. Juan Hernandez-Cruz, bassist for metal band Black Sheep Wall by night and senior Feed.fm music curator by day, noted: "A couple of years ago we were talking about MGK and the pop punk revival. Now what we are seeing from trainers is a resurgence of 2000s and 2010s pop punk."
Instructors are programming for emotional peaks, not just tempo. Fall Out Boy and My Chemical Romance tracks bring energy that today’s pop cannot replicate: nostalgia layered with intensity, lyrics that hit emotionally, and production that builds to cathartic releases. The result, as Juan puts it: "A 2025 fitness soundtrack that's dynamic, familiar, and fiercely motivating."
Newer artists like Sabrina Carpenter and Chappell Roan might get the most spins, but there’s strong demand for nostalgia and proven performers who have deep catalogs and reliable energy. The best fitness programming incorporates both.
Three interconnected forces shaped fitness music this year: the staying power of nostalgia, the rise of R&B, and a broader shift toward emotional resonance.
From Britney and Katy dominating instructor requests to the 1980s-influenced production powering Chappell Roan's breakout, familiar music creates immediate emotional connection. When users hear songs tied to positive memories, they experience a mood boost that translates into workout performance and app engagement, which is why we're still working out to "Toxic" in 2025. Platforms offering nostalgic programming alongside current hits see stronger retention than those focused exclusively on new releases.
Three nostalgia lanes performed well this year:
As Claire put it: "Nostalgia never goes out of style. Reunion tours will continue to drive appetite for catalog tracks from seminal artists of the 90s and 00s."
2025 was the year R&B found its ideal balance of energy and vibe for fitness. The genre showed up across almost every type of workout. SZA, Tyla, Doja Cat, Teddy Swims, Kehlani, Beyoncé, and Rihanna were in constant rotation. The newer, pop-leaning R&B wave kept things moving too, with fresh heat from Brent Faiyaz, Kali Uchis, Ravyn Lenae, Ella Mai, and Daniel Caesar fitting effortlessly into both high-intensity sets and cool-downs.
The crossover has history. "There was a time where R&B and Hip Hop and Pop collided," said curator Juan. "In the 90s and 2000s, that produced classic hits like Method Man and Mary J. Blige's 'I'll Be There For You/You're All I Need To Get By' and the high-energy women's anthem 'Lady Marmalade.' Today we see that with Kehlani, Latto, SZA, Tyla, and Normani." The timing matters too: "It's coming at a time where hip-hop is in a lull for the first time in its 50-year history."
R&B works in fitness because it delivers emotional depth without sacrificing rhythmic drive. Tyla works for dance cardio. Daniel Caesar works for cool-down. The genre became connective tissue across workout formats because it serves emotional needs that pure pop or electronic music cannot address alone.
Dasha ℅ WMG
Beyoncé's "TEXAS HOLD 'EM" sits at number one. It's her first country single, and it dominated workout floors. Dasha's "Austin" landed in the same list as Chappell Roan's indie-pop breakthrough and Kehlani's R&B. Genre tags matter less than they used to. Listeners follow energy and feeling, and they're pulling from everywhere.
This tracks with how fitness itself has evolved. Classes blend formats now. Strength with cardio, HIIT with mobility, bootcamp with breathwork. The music has to move with that. A cycling sprint might pull from Electro, a cooldown from acoustic pop, a strength block from Beyoncé's country era. It's part of a larger shift we explore in our 2026 Digital Fitness Ecosystem Report: more platforms are no longer just fitness or just wellness, they're building experiences that flow between both. Programming by genre alone misses how people actually work out now. The better approach is programming by moment: what does this part of the class need to feel like? The tracks in this year's top 10 suggest listeners are already there.
Stens, Director of Curation, noted that 2025 was a transitional year following a significant 2024: "Instead of Gaga/Sabrina/Miley's new albums going gangbusters, the K-Pop Demon Hunters soundtrack stole the pop music crown, seemingly out of nowhere. Expect to see at least the juggernaut “Golden” in next year's EOY report. Typical for fitness, there's a slight delay, so we also heard a lot of late '24 hits and artists in stations."
What's a Sizzle Station? Sizzle Stations are limited-edition, artist-driven stations curated in direct collaboration with artists and labels. Available exclusively on Feed.fm partner platforms, they feature pre-cleared tracks from new releases alongside catalog hits and fitness favorites, letting platforms tap into cultural moments as they happen.
Cardi B's Am I the Drama? demonstrated how Feed.fm's music licensing partnerships create value for artists, platforms, and end users. The album debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 with 200,000 equivalent album units. Cardi became the first female rapper with two albums debuting at number one.
Feed.fm partnered directly with Cardi's team to launch Cardi B Selects, a limited-edition Sizzle Station curated in collaboration with the artist. The station features pre-cleared tracks from the album alongside catalog hits and fitness favorites hand-picked by Cardi B.
Cultural alignment in real time. No waiting for licensing deals to clear. No scrambling to update playlists. The music was there when users wanted it. Familiar artists, fresh releases, and cultural credibility from artist and label collaboration.
How Brands Activated
Aescape, the AI-powered massage company, brought Cardi B Selects to their robot massage experiences. Building on their 2024 success with our Charli XCX station, they promoted the activation on Instagram with the tagline "Massage, but make it Cardi." They made the stations accessible in their music menus, and it paid off. "End users loved finding surprise stations to customize their robotic massage experiences," said Melissa Clark, Feed.fm's marketing manager.
Tonal featured the Cardi B station in their monthly newsletter. Kendall Toole's new app, NKO, made it a part of their launch plan."NKO prides itself on being edgy," said Juan. "Cardi B was not only a station Kendall wanted but one she felt was needed to help launch NKO since Cardi was on brand."
lululemon Studio activated genre-blending stations including Mad Decent Summer featuring Diplo, Aluna, and Major Lazer. By leading with recognizable artist names, they positioned music drops as cultural moments rather than routine updates. “This partnership lets fans discover new artists in unexpected places,” says Jessica Navarro Tenorio, Director of Commercial Partnerships at Mad Decent. “We’re meeting people in their moments of movement when they’re already fired up and engaged.”
All three activations shared one thing: the brands committed to promoting them. "Sizzle stations are all about helping brands get loud about their music," Melissa said. The music is the foundation, but marketing determines engagement.
We predicted continued dominance of women in pop. Claire McConnell, a former YouTube Music and Rhapsody curator with a boundless appetite for pop said: "Check-check-check: from Ari to Zara the ladies of pop can't be stopped." Every artist in our top ten is either female or making music aligned with female-forward pop.
We predicted big things from Gaga's new album. Mayhem reminded the industry she can still make albums that feel urgent and culturally relevant.
We predicted Sabrina Carpenter and Chappell Roan would be central to the pop conversation. Sabrina's two-album year paid off with the number one spot. Chappell's strategically timed singles kept her in the conversation.
We said watch for exciting developments in pop, and indie pop stylings from artists like sombr and PinkPantheress delivered diversity in a sound shaped heavily by R&B and hip-hop production.
Our predictions have a strong track record because they are grounded in data. We see what users are streaming, what instructors are requesting, and what cultural currents are building momentum.
Nostalgia takes center stage. Mike Savage, a radio industry vet who now leads artist relations and A&R for Feed Originals, is watching the touring calendar closely: "80s rock icons like Bon Jovi and Def Leppard, and new-wave staples like Duran Duran and The Cure are readying new album releases and will be touring again. Metal giants Iron Maiden will be on their 50th anniversary tour, while Megadeth kicks off their farewell run. Even the Backstreet Boys' Las Vegas residency is reviving fan nostalgia." Juan expects "nostalgia-but-loud" to become a fitness staple, with 90s/2000s pop punk getting big catalog lifts: "Next year brings major pop-punk album anniversaries from My Chemical Romance, Paramore, and Panic! At The Disco. After two strong years of the genre’s resurgence, there’s no sign of it cooling off anytime soon."
Pop keeps evolving. Claire, whose curation champions women, BIPOC, and LGBTQ artists, sees UK talent breaking through stateside: "We'll see growing popularity of UK-based female artists in the US, including RAYE, Olivia Dean, and Lily Allen, who all released new music at the end of 2025." Stens predicts charts will split between superstar hitmakers and TikTok-powered breakthroughs like Alex Warren, sombr, and Lola Young. He's also watching a new R&B wave take shape: "More retro-flavored, uptempo R&B in the vein of Olivia Dean, Raye, Leon Thomas, and Ravyn Lenae." Think 90s and 2000s influences meeting modern production—a natural next step from the R&B crossover that defined 2025.
Genre lines keep blurring. Stens: "Country artists like Morgan Wallen are dominating pop charts, while savvy non-country artists are borrowing from country's DNA." Juan sees Afrobeats pushing past its typical BPM range with more dance-oriented hybrids, and big-room EDM returning for high-intensity classes. But not every genre is thriving in the blend. Claire sees EDM at a crossroads: "Using pop artists for vocals leads to mainstream appeal, but overall I think the genre has been weakened by cross-pollination with pop. I'd love to see some true innovation in the genre à la The Chemical Brothers."
Visual media drives discovery. K-pop Demon Hunters proved what happens when music and screen tie together at the right moment. Claire: "The fandom of the music took on a life of its own for a unique moment of cultural dominance that other streaming services may try to replicate." Expect more film and television to mint hits in 2026.
The common thread is convergence. Nostalgia and newness coexist. Genres blend. A unified music system that can draw from diverse catalogs and respond quickly to cultural moments will be essential.
2025 was the year music proved its weight in fitness. Genre walls kept falling, and the artists who crossed them came out on top. Women dominated pop in a way that felt less like a trend and more like a permanent shift. R&B stopped being a niche and became essential programming, connecting with users in ways that pure pop and electronic never quite managed. Nostalgia showed it still has pull, not as a retro gimmick but as a genuine emotional driver that keeps people coming back. The throughline was cultural connection. The platforms that understood what their users were listening to outside the gym brought that energy inside, and they outperformed the ones still programming by genre tag alone.
Those forces aren't slowing down in 2026. The fitness brands that win will be the ones treating music as a strategic asset, not an afterthought. That means staying close to culture, moving fast when moments hit, and understanding that the right song at the right time is worth more than any feature update. At Feed.fm, that's the work we do. Here's to another year of music that moves people.
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