Q1 2025 hinted at a shift in in-car listening behavior, and Q2 confirmed it. Genre-blended tracks seem to have staying power, rediscovered songs are getting a second life and new voices are breaking into the top 10.
Xperi’s In-Car Listening Report for Q2 2025, which ranks the top 10 most listened-to songs in the U.S., U.K. and globally, draws insights from over 11 million vehicles across 150 countries via the DTS AutoStage platform and shows an in-vehicle music landscape defined, in part, by staying power, genre blending, and fresh voices gaining serious traction.
Top 10 Most Listened-To Songs In-Vehicle U.S. Q2 2025
Top 10 Most Listened-To Songs In-Vehicle U.K. Q2 2025
Top 10 Most Listened-To Songs In-Vehicle Global Q2 2025
Genre blending is the new normal
In Q1 2025, we called out genre blending as a dominant theme. In Q2, it now appears to be a trend for in-car listening. Every track on Xperi’s Top 10 Most Listened-To Songs In-Vehicle (U.S., U.K. and global) fuses at least two genres, whether it’s Kendrick Lamar and SZA’s “Luther,” Chappell Roan’s disco-pop anthem “Pink Pony Club,” or Ed Sheeran’s Middle Eastern-tinged “Azizam.”
Staying power: Five songs, five quarters and still climbing
Five songs have now held a top 10 spot on Xperi’s lists for five straight quarters:
- Teddy Swims’ soulful “Lose Control” (#10 U.S.)
- Sabrina Carpenter’s “Espresso” (#8 global)
- Shaboozey’s “Bar Song (Tipsy)” (#9 U.K.)
- Myles Smith’s “Stargazing” (#3 global)
- Benson Boone’s “Beautiful Things” (#10 global)
Meanwhile, “I Had Some Help” by Post Malone and Morgan Wallen, and “Die With a Smile” by Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars have each stuck around for at least three consecutive quarters, indicating they are becoming true in-vehicle listening staples.
Comeback tracks are driving new momentum
Q2 saw a wave of rediscovered tracks gain attention from in-vehicle listeners, driven by viral moments, standout performances and smart re-releases.
“Pink Pony Club” by Chappell Roan, originally released in 2020, made the top 10 on all three of Xperi’s lists. Her 2025 Coachella performance and Grammy win for Best New Artist helped create more awareness among new audiences, turning it into a road trip favorite.
“Anxiety” by Doechii is another standout. Originally uploaded to YouTube on Nov. 10, 2019, the track was re-recorded and officially released to streaming platforms on March 4, 2025, after going viral on TikTok. This, combined with Doechii’s 2025 Grammy win for Best Rap Album, helped the song land on both the U.S. and global top 10 lists of most-listened to songs in the car.
Together, these examples point to a new kind of hit — the comeback — where catalog tracks find a second life years after release, perhaps due to a well-timed performance, re-release or social media boost.
Songs that crossed every border
Q2 2025 wasn’t just about big names; it was about big reach. Five songs stood out for appearing in Xperi’s top 10 across the U.S., U.K. and global in-car listening lists. These tracks, “Stargazing,” “Bar Song (Tipsy),” “Pink Pony Club,” “Messy” and “Ordinary,” cut across borders.
Some of these artists had already been gaining traction in earlier quarters, like Myles Smith, whose “Stargazing” continues to perform across markets, and Shaboozey, whose blend of country and hip-hop has resonated globally. Others had true breakout moments in Q2. Alex Warren and Lola Young both landed in the top 10 across all three lists. According to Xperi’s data, drivers around the world are tuning in to these rising voices.
New songs rarely break through, but “Azizam” did
Only one song released in Q2, Ed Sheeran’s “Azizam,” cracked Xperi’s Top 10 Most Listened-To Songs In-Vehicle. That’s a rare feat, as most tracks that reach the top 10 tend to build momentum over time or carry over from an earlier quarter. It’s unusual for a brand-new release to break through so quickly, making “Azizam” a standout. In addition, trends of fewer high-profile new releases and strong audience loyalty are also contributing to top 10s’ stickiness.
Festivals + awards = List-topping power
Songs by Post Malone, Doechii, Shaboozey and Chappell Roan all saw boosts on Xperi’s lists in Q2, likely thanks to high-profile performances at Coachella and Stagecoach, and major award wins in 2025. That kind of visibility, onstage and online, continues to help shape what people are listening to in their cars.
More broadly, Q2 2025 highlights more of the same names in in-vehicle listening behavior. Last year’s Q2 lists featured frequent turnover — Q1 2024 favorites like Jack Harlow, Dua Lipa and Taylor Swift were replaced by artists Teddy Swims, Benson Boone and Sabrina Carpenter in Q2 2024. In contrast, this quarter saw fewer new entries and more songs holding steady across the U.S., U.K. and global top 10 lists. One exception was Kendrick Lamar and SZA’s “Luther,” which rose to a top 10 track across regions this quarter, which may be partly linked to their high-profile 2025 Super Bowl halftime performance.
Methodology
Top 10 list data was gathered from the DTS AutoStage Broadcaster Portal from April 1, 2025, to June 30, 2025, and represents data from over 10 million vehicles across 150 countries equipped with the DTS AutoStage platform.
The DTS AutoStage Broadcaster Portal provides radio broadcasters worldwide with analytics about where their audiences are listening, when they are listening, how long they are listening and the content they enjoy the most. Radio stations can access the DTS AutoStage Broadcaster Portal at no cost, whether they are broadcasting digitally or via analog by registering through the DTS AutoStage Broadcaster Portal.
