Category: Music

J Balvin and Residente surprised fans by sharing a joint Instagram post on Wednesday (Dec. 31) that appears to symbolize reconciliation after their highly publicized feud since 2022. The rift stemmed from Residente’s “BZRP Music Sessions #49” with Argentine producer Bizarrap, a diss track aimed at Balvin that reached No. 22 on Billboard‘s Hot Latin Songs chart in 2022 and currently boasts over 203 million views.

The fallout between the two Latin icons was revisited last Friday (Dec. 26) as Balvin released his own collaboration with Bizarrap, “BZRP Music Sessions #62/66.”

In the photo shared on Instagram, the artists are seen chillin’ casually, smiling at the camera. The Colombian juggernaut sports a t-shirt and light blue denim jeans, while the Puerto Rican rapper wears a t-shirt and beige cargo pants.

“Given the immensity of things happening in the world, this is possibly one of the smallest. But in such a complex world, two people who don’t agree on everything being able to reconnect seems valuable to us,” Balvin captioned the post in Spanish.

He continued: “Months ago, we met up. We listened to each other. We understood each other. In the end, time is always right.”

The post immediately gained traction, going viral within minutes. Over 180K likes had been recorded just over 30 minutes after its publication, with fans and prominent figures in the Latin music industry flooding the comments section. Artists such as Arcángel, Yandel, Tito El Bambino, Jay Wheeler, J Alvarez, and Mau Montaner expressed support with applause emojis, affirming words, and gestures of admiration. Later, Bizarrap commented on IG, “Thank you for this, both of you.”

The moment follows Balvin’s involvement in Bizarrap’s highly anticipated “BZRP Music Sessions #62/66,” as he and the Argentine producer worked together for the first time. This session notably did not include any response to Residente’s 2022 diss track, with Balvin instead offering introspective lyrics reflecting on personal growth.

Neither artist has provided additional details about their reconciliation.

See their shared Instagram post here.

Bad Bunny is facing criticism from Mexico City’s National Institute of Anthropology and History after posting photos of himself touching a historical artifact.

On Dec. 17, the 31-year-old Puerto Rican superstar visited the museum and shared multiple photos on his Instagram Stories, including one showing his hand on a stele engraved with ancient insignia, according to TMZ.

On Saturday (Dec. 27), the museum confirmed on social media that Bad Bunny had indeed touched the artifact and clarified what happened during his visit.

“As is public knowledge, physical contact with archaeological goods is prohibited,” the museum wrote on X.

The statement added that museum staff were present during the visit and that the rapper removed his hand from the stele after being informed of the rules.

“The visit took place on Wednesday, December 17. Throughout the entire tour, the presence of MNA custody personnel was ensured,” the institute continued. “When the artist placed his hand on the stele, museum custody staff reiterated that the pieces could not be touched, to which the musician withdrew it.”

The visit coincided with the Mexican leg of Bad Bunny’s Debí Tirar Más Fotos tour, which ran at Estadio GNP Seguros in Mexico City from Dec. 10 to Dec. 21.

Looking ahead, Bad Bunny has a busy year. In addition to touring Latin America, Europe and Australia, the musician is scheduled to headline the Apple Music Super Bowl LX Halftime Show at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif., on Feb. 8.

“What I’m feeling goes beyond myself,” Bad Bunny said in a statement about the news. “It’s for those who came before me and ran countless yards so I could come in and score a touchdown… this is for my people, my culture and our history. Ve y dile a tu abuela, que seremos el HALFTIME SHOW DEL SUPER BOWL.”

One week before the Super Bowl, on Feb. 1, he is one of the leading nominees at the 68th annual Grammy Awards, where he is vying for album, record and song of the year.

LONDON — The United Kingdom’s recorded music market reported an 11th consecutive year of growth following success for local artists domestically and on the global stage.

In a report shared by the BPI (British Phonographic Institute), artists such as Olivia Dean, Lola Young, Sam Fender, Central Cee and more are credited as being crucial players in the market’s bumper 2025. Massive tours for Oasis, Coldplay and Ed Sheeran also saw sales for their back catalog soar as a result.

The newly-released figures show that music consumption across sales and streams increased by 4.9% annually over the past 12 months to reach a new high of 210.3 million albums (or their streamed equivalent) consumed, with 210.3 billion streams accumulated across the year. Streaming figures rose 5.5% year-on-year to make up 89.3% of consumption (2024 saw 88.8%), and sales of vinyl LPs increased for an 18th year in a row.

In the Official Charts Company’s end of year lists for 2025, U.K. artists feature prominently throughout. The Official Albums Chart’s best-selling album of 2025 was Taylor Swift’s The Life of a Showgirl, and releases from British artists Ed Sheeran, Oasis, Sam Fender and Olivia Dean also appear in the top 10. 

On the Official Singles Chart, Lola Young’s “Messy” finishes as the second-biggest song of the year, and Olivia Dean’s “Man I Need” ends the year at No. 9. Alex Warren’s “Ordinary” – which ruled the Official Singles Chart for 13 weeks – takes the top spot of the year-end chart.

The vinyl revival continued in 2025 with the market growing 13.3% year-on-year to 7.6 million, compared to 9.1% annual growth in 2024. Six of the ten biggest-selling vinyl titles of the year were released in the last two years, led by Swift’s The Life Of A Showgirl, which shifted over 147,000 units, the most vinyl LPs sold of a release in a calendar year since the Official Charts Company launched in 1994. 

Physical releases as a whole – across vinyl LPs, CDs, cassettes and more – saw a 1.4% rise year-on-year, the second consecutive year of growth after 19 years of decline. Sales from physical formats played a crucial role in landing a No. 1 on the Official Albums Chart, with 34 of the 43 overall chart-topping LPs doing so with a majority of physical sales in their opening week. Playboi Carti’s Music was the only album to hit the top spot with no physical formats available.

Twenty-seven albums by U.K. artists topped the Official Albums Chart in 2025 with a number of acts doing so more than once. Recent Billboard U.K. cover star Yungblud scored two chart-toppers with Idols and One More Time, a collaborative EP with Aerosmith, as did Ed Sheeran with – +-=÷x (Tour Collection) and Play, and Elton John with greatest hits collection Diamonds and Brandi Carlile collaboration Who Believes in Angels? 

U.K. artists also performed strongly in the nominations for the 2026 Grammys. Olivia Dean and Lola Young appear in the best new artist category, and contemporary acts such as Wet Leg, FKA twigs, FLO, Fred again.., PinkPantheress, Skepta, Sleep Token, Yungblud will compete in their respective genre fields.

Commenting on a positive year for British music and its breakthrough artists, the BPI’s CEO Dr. Jo Twist, BPI CEO, said, “2025 saw UK talent break through domestically and globally, an impressive feat given more acts than ever are vying for audience attention. From Olivia Dean and Lola Young to Sleep Token and Sam Fender, new British talent are now chart-topping sensations at home and are making their presence felt in key markets around the world, while the likes of Ed Sheeran continue to reinforce their icon status. This is testament to the diverse, exceptional talent that exists throughout the UK, and to the vital role labels play in supporting artists to long-term success.”

Twist continued, “This impact should be a powerful reminder that British music is a global headline act, and one of the crown jewels of the UK’s creative industries. Ensuring its success should be high on the Government’s agenda in 2026. We need the commitment of policy makers, the continued protection of the UK’s gold-standard copyright framework, and a business environment which supports direct licensing between music and tech companies in order for labels to continue to discover, nurture and promote the global stars of tomorrow.”

This may have been the biggest year ever for Christmas music, at least going by the charts. Holiday songs took the top 24 positions on the Billboard Hot 100 for the chart week dated Jan. 3, compared to a previous-record top 16 last year. Seasonal hits also accounted for 46 of the chart’s top 50, the top 13 spots on the Billboard Global 200 and a record seven albums in the top 10 of the Billboard 200. Santa got some help from the fact that the charts’ tracking week in question ended on Christmas Day, but the boom is very real.

Who’s getting the big gifts, though? Compared to other genres, a relatively small number of recordings, and an even smaller number of songs, account for a great deal of holiday music streaming, which seems to be fueled more by playlists, according to several music executives. The popularity of hits by artists that don’t have a ton of name recognition suggests the importance of DSP-curated playlists. “Jingle Bell Rock,” No. 3 on the Hot 100 for the week, is a Christmas classic, but it’s hard to imagine that many Americans know Bobby Helms sings it — let alone consider themselves serious fans. 

Nostalgia matters, too. In 2019, Billboard took an in-depth look at Christmas music toward the beginning of its streaming-fueled boom and found that that the most popular versions of Christmas songs are the iconic ones that listeners remember; dozens of artists have covered “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” but Gene Autry’s 1949 version is the most popular. Is it old-fashioned compared to some other versions? That seems to be part of its appeal.

That makes the holiday chart relatively stable compared to some others. In 2018, the top five holiday tracks, in order, were Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You,” Helms’ “Jingle Bell Rock,” Andy Williams’ “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year,” Brenda Lee’s “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” and Burl Ives’ “Have a Holly Jolly Christmas.” Seven years later, the top of the Hot 100 chart dated Jan. 3 didn’t look all that different: Carey’s hit came in at No. 1, followed by “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” and “Jingle Bell Rock,” then Wham!’s “Last Christmas” (No. 8 in 2018) and Ariana Grande’s “Santa Tell Me.” The other songs didn’t fall far: Williams’ hit was No. 9 and Ives’ was No. 12. 

Big Christmas songs are evergreens — pun intended — that bring in money every year. In Carey’s case, her holiday hit redefined her career — it didn’t hit No. 1 on the Hot 100 until December 2019, but it has been No. 1 for a record 22 weeks since then. (I think it will be the most popular song of the 21st century.) That makes the competition for new hits intense. So far, though, the holiday charts are dominated by songs written before Carey released “All I Want for Christmas” in 1994. “Santa Tell Me,” which came out in 2014 and has peaked at higher chart positions over the past few years, is one obvious exception; another is Kelly Clarkson’s 2013 “Underneath the Tree,” which was No. 8 on the Jan. 3 chart. Michael Bublé’s 2011 Christmas album accounts for two songs in the top 50: “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas” at No. 13 (just ahead of Perry Como’s iconic version at No. 18) and “Holly Jolly Christmas” at No. 33 (behind Ives’ version at No. 12). Other exceptions toward the top of the chart include Jonas Brothers’ “Like It’s Christmas” at No. 27, Justin Bieber’s “Mistletoe” at No. 29 and the Clarkson and Grande duet “Santa, Can’t You Hear Me” at No. 31. In a few years, these songs could be considered classics. 

The most prominent Christmas artist is Bing Crosby, who has three songs in the top 50: The 1947 version of “White Christmas” at No. 16, “Mele Kalikimaka (Merry Christmas)” at No. 49 and “I’ll Be Home for Christmas” at No. 50. (His estate made a partnership agreement with Primary Wave in 2021.) Other estates with holiday hits include those of Nat “King” Cole, who has “The Christmas Song (Merry Christmas to You)” at No. 6 and “Deck the Halls” at No. 20; Dean Martin (“Let it Snow! Let it Snow! Let it Snow” at No. 7 and “Baby it’s Cold Outside” at No. 35); Andy Williams (“The Most Wonderful Time” and “Happy Holiday / The Holiday Season” at No. 42); Gene Autry (“Here Comes Santa Claus [Right Down Santa Claus Lane]” at No. 22 and “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” at No. 30); the Vince Guaraldi Trio (two “Peanuts” themes at No. 23 and No. 47) and The Jackson 5 (“Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town” at No. 43 and “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus” at No. 4). Active artists with multiple Hot 100 Christmas hits include Bublé; Grande and Clarkson, due to their duet; Darlene Love, with “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)” at No. 14 and “Winter Wonderland” at No. 40; and Gwen Stefani, with “You Make It Feel Like Christmas” at No. 46 and “Shake the Snow Globe” at No. 55. 

The success of artists with multiple hits is also reflected on the Billboard 200. Crosby’s Christmas collection comes in at No. 2 on the chart dated Jan. 3. The top 10 is rounded out by Bublé’s Christmas at No. 3, Cole’s The Christmas Song at No. 4, the Phil Spector Christmas album at No. 5, the Charlie Brown Christmas special soundtrack at No. 7, Carey’s Merry Christmas at No. 8 and a collection of Frank Sinatra’s holiday music at No. 9. 

The Global 200 has a few interesting differences. The top five songs are the same as the Hot 100 and even fall in the same order except that “Last Christmas” is No. 1. The rest of the chart isn’t so different, although Sia’s “Snowman” comes in at No. 13, as opposed to No. 41 in the U.S., and it has some songs that didn’t make the Hot 100 in the U.S., most prominently “Merry Christmas Everyone” by Shakin’ Stevens at No. 25, the Band-Aid benefit song “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” at No. 30, “Driving Home for Christmas” by Chris Rea at No. 33 and “Step into Christmas” by Elton John at No. 35. Surprisingly, at a time when more global hits are in other languages, nearly all of the Christmas songs on the Global 200 are in English. At a time when it’s harder than ever to have a hit that appeals to a wide range of listeners, holiday music seems to be one of the few things that unites different audiences.