EarOne Airplay 2025: analysis of the annual radio ranking. The independent I LIKE IT Of ALPHA it is the most played song in a chart dominated by the majors.
For the few who don't know EarOne is the partner of the music and radio industry in Italy that monitors and classifies the songs broadcast on radio and TV, offering data and analytical tools.
Since its founding in 2008, it has introduced real-time rankings system Mediasender and reports for over 400 issuers.
alpha brings the independents to triumph
In 2025, a song released by an independent label will dominate radio airplay. A rarity, which makes the victory even more significant ALPHA with his I LIKE IT (feat. Manu Chao), published by Artist First: 55,921 passes, 148 radios monitored, first place overall for EarOne score.
A historic result, if you consider that an independent song hasn't closed the year at #1 since LP with Girls Go Wild in 2019.
The singer-songwriter, present for 8 weeks in the Top 10 EarOne, including 3 consecutive #1s, also closes the year as most broadcast independent artist on radio and TV, thanks also to The red thread.
The Top 10 earone is dominated by Italians
The top of the 2025 airplay ranking tells a more complex reality than is often simplified. In the head we find Alpha with I like itfollowed by two international songs: Abracadabra Of Lady Gaga And Messy Of Lola Young. A mixed podium, therefore, which captures well the balance – not always peaceful – between Italian music and foreign productions in the current radio panorama.
The international presence is in fact significant from the very first positions and remains constant throughout the Top 100, with artists such as Ed Sheeran, Doechii, Miley Cyrus, Alex Warren and many more permanently scheduled. However, this does not prevent Italian music from growing again overall: after 53% in 2022, 62% in 2023 and the drop to 48% in 2024, in 2025 the national share goes back to 59%a sign of a renewed centrality of the Italian repertoire in the radio schedule.
He stands out among the most featured artists in the charts Ollywith eight songs in the Top 100, followed by Achille Lauro with four. With three appearances each we find Cesare Cremonini, Marracash And Alphaconfirming a radio continuity that rewards already recognizable projects. On the female front, the most present artists are Elodie, Annalisa, Serena Brancale And Gaiaall capable of keeping multiple titles in rotation throughout the year.
According to the official breakdown, the Top 100 EarOne Airplay 2025 is composed for the 38.95% by male artists, for the 27.38% by women artists and for the 33.67% by groups or featuring. In the Top 10 there are several female artists present, including Lady Gaga (with two songs), Lola Young, Doechii And Miley Cyrustestifying to a strong female presence in the very top positions, even within a market that remains overall unbalanced.
On the industrial level, the dominance of the majors remains clear. In the perimeter of Top 100 Airplay 2025, Universal Music collects the 34.7% of the overall score, followed by Sony Music with the 29.1% And Warner Music with the 27.5%. Overall, the majors exceed the 91% of the total. Among the independents they stand out Sugar Music (2.4%), Third Brain (2%), Artist First (1.9%) ed Energy Production (1.3%), numbers that confirm how highly concentrated the radio space remains, while leaving margins – limited but real – for entities outside the large groups.
Gugliotta's intervention: radio exists, but it must be reinterpreted with data
In his editorial, the CEO of EarOne Maurizio Gugliotta highlights how the word “radio” no longer appears in global music industry reports, dominated by AI and streaming. But the radio continues to play a fundamental role as a human editorial space, capable of building familiarity and trust between song and listener over time.
The goal of EarOne it's just that: making radio readable and analyzable in the data age. On the radio issue in this particular historical moment, crushed between streaming, TikTok and live, and on the bad perception that emerging artists have of it, also due to the broadcasters, we will return with an in-depth analysis by our director, Maximilian LongoSaturday.
If you want to know the whole Top 100 EarOne 2025click on continue below.
