Tomorrow, The Bias Record‘s complete end-of-year countdowns will formally kick off with the primary ten songs on my Prime 50 countdown. Over the course of the subsequent few weeks, you’ll get round-ups from each angle of Ok-pop: rookies, artists, b-sides, and so on. I’ll additionally proceed my custom of recapping the trade’s year-end music festivals. In different phrases, issues can be busy round right here so make sure that to test again day by day!
This has been a dramatic yr for Ok-pop, and never all the time in a great way. I’ve no exhausting proof for this, nevertheless it feels just like the Ok-pop bubble has burst — not less than for Western audiences. I’ve observed a giant dip in on-line interplay/commentary from Western followers in virtually each nook of the web. Increasingly more, it seems like fandoms and curiosity have change into siloed to particular artists. In different phrases, folks intently comply with the few acts they’re focused on and aren’t essentially in search of extra outdoors of that bubble. Large acts grew even larger however total curiosity within the Ok-pop trade appears to have softened. Once more, that is purely observational from my perspective, however I’ve adopted on-line Ok-pop chatter for over a decade now and one thing has positively modified this yr.
In fact, issues have been nonetheless hopping over at The Bias Record. For title tracks alone, I revealed 515 critiques from final December to the top of this November. That’s not counting “buried treasures,” J-pop releases and all the opposite posts I write. I turned focused on seeing how these 515 critiques broke down by sure classes, which finally ends up being a fairly correct illustration of the Ok-pop trade’s output since I write about virtually each small-to-major launch every year. Right here’s what I discovered from my 515 tune critiques:
Boy Group – 214 critiques
Woman Group – 133 critiques
Soloist (male) – 82 critiques
Soloist (feminine) – 67 critiques
Duo (male) – 10 critiques
Duo (feminine) – 3 critiques
Combined/Co-ed Act – 6 critiques
This wasn’t too shocking. Boy group releases eclipsed woman teams, as did male soloists when in comparison with feminine soloists. Make of this what you’ll, however basically it appears that evidently male acts are usually a safer funding for firms. With that mentioned, woman teams and feminine soloists continued to chart higher digitally and usually acquired extra curiosity from readers of this weblog. As common, my “Prime 50” listing is about 75% male, 25% feminine, which is a bit of off the general ratio of releases. I’ve lengthy most popular the sound coming from boy group music, and that has shifted much more so previously few years as sure developments have crystallized. Humorous sufficient, this ratio is reversed in the case of world pop.
The yr’s musical developments have been a combined bag. I’ve loved how vivid and energetic the fabric has been from most fifth-gen boy teams, and basically it felt just like the tempo amped up a bit this yr. I’ve additionally favored seeing newer teams debut and keep on with their very own signature sound. This has been one of many advantages of Ok-pop fandom silos. Oftentimes, artists are catering on to their fan base reasonably than to as many potential listeners as attainable. If “beigepop” was my most derided development final yr, 2025 delivered manner too many songs I’d describe as “speaking over a dance beat.” Once I say this, I don’t imply rap. I actually imply idols talking catchphrases in monotone on prime of club-ready manufacturing. Just a few of those songs labored for me, however the majority felt like big missed alternatives for partaking melody.
As I all the time warn this time of yr, my countdowns are totally different from those you’ll see coming from larger publications. I’m not looking for consensus or symbolize the yr as a complete. I don’t take recognition or chart placement into consideration. In different phrases, there can be no Ok-pop Demon Hunters right here (a undertaking whose widespread adoration continues to baffle me). That is merely a listing of my prime 50 favourite title tracks of the yr. The identical applies to my different countdowns. Due to this, you might not agree with my decisions however you will be sure they’re coming from an sincere place.
And for these of you who take pleasure in stats, this year-end prelude is my 850th publish of the yr, which is up thirty from this time final yr. That’s a whopping 287,000 phrases. No marvel I’m drained!
Eligibility standards for my Prime 50 Singles listing hasn’t modified since final yr, however for many who are new to the weblog, listed here are the foundations.
Eligibility standards:
- A tune will need to have been launched as a title, follow-up or promoted observe between December 1, 2024 and November 30, 2025.
- A tune should be paired with a full music video or big-budget efficiency video (the traces get extra blurred every year and I give myself some leeway right here).
- English-language singles are eligible. Japanese singles by Ok-pop artists can be a part of the J-pop countdown.
Earlier than kicking off the countdowns tomorrow, listed here are the ten songs that didn’t fairly make the Prime 50.
60. n.SSign – Itty Bitty (overview)
59. Shut Your Eyes – SOB (with Imanbek) (overview)
58. Primrose – Cinema (overview)
57. ifeye – r u okay? (overview)
56. CIX – Thunder (overview)
55. XLOV – 1&Solely (overview)
54. BOYNEXTDOOR – I Really feel Good (overview)
53. ZEROBASEONE – Physician! Physician! (overview)
52. 1VERSE – Shattered (overview)
51. NCT Dream – Chiller (overview)
