After sweeping the writer rankings for the Hot 100 and Top Radio Airplay songs by rating No. 1 on each charts in all 4 quarters, it’s no shock that Sony Music Publishing is available in because the No. 1-ranked writer for each these charts for the complete 12 months, because of a 28.33% market share for the Hot 100 and an excellent higher 29.85% exhibiting for Radio Airplay.
Probably the principle purpose Sony ranked as the highest writer for the 12 months in 2025 is that it had stakes in 70 or extra songs on each of the charts for 3 of the 12 months’s 4 quarters. Its finest exhibiting got here within the second quarter, when it had a share in 75 songs on the Hot 100 chart and 73 songs in that quarter’s Radio Airplay chart. Moreover, that quarter was certainly one of two quarters — with the opposite being the third quarter — during which it topped the 30% market share marker for each charts. In the third quarter, it snared 30.90% for Radio Airplay and 33.88% for the Hot 100 — with the latter being the only highest market share efficiency Sony attained through the 12 months.
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With regard to the writer rankings, amongst Sony’s top-performing songs through the 12 months have been Leon Thomas’ “Mutt,” Alex Warren’s “Ordinary,” and Kendrick Lamar & SZA’s “Luther.” Other components boosting Sony’s stellar year-long efficiency embody having the highest songwriter for each the Top Radio Airplay and Hot 100 charts within the third quarter and in addition coming in with the highest songwriter on the fourth quarter’s Radio Airplay chart on its roster: Shane “sombr” Boose.
Also through the 12 months, Sony absorbed an enormous chunk of the Hipgnosis music catalog when it struck a cope with Blackstone and have become its administrator. Blackstone acquired the beforehand publicly-traded Hipgnosis Songs Fund in mid-2024, merged it with its privately owned Hipgnosis Songs Capital, after which rebranded these catalogs as Recognition Music in March 2025. Blackstone subsequently offered the Hipgnosis Songs Group administration platform and a few publishing property to Sony in June 2025 and made that firm its most important publishing administration accomplice.
While Sony’s eight proportion level unfold within the Hot 100 rankings and 7 proportion level unfold within the Radio Airplay rankings present it could have been the No. 1 writer for 2025 with its personal music catalog alone, the addition of the Hipgnosis catalog boosted its total proportion to realize that lofty unfold. Indeed, in 2024, Hipgnosis made the highest 10 writer rankings for each the Hot 100 and Radio Airplay charts in each quarter, with its market share starting from 1.59% (on the Hot 100 rating within the first quarter of that 12 months) to 4.36% (on the Radio Airplay rating within the second quarter). In the primary quarter of 2025, Recognition boasted a 1.83% share on the primary quarter’s Hot 100 tally.
Coming in because the second-ranked music writer for the complete 12 months for each the Hot 100 and the Radio Airplay charts is Warner Chappell Music, which was the one different music writer in addition to Sony to surpass the 20% market share milestone on each charts. Its finest exhibiting in 2025 was on the Radio Airplay chart, the place it garnered 22.50% for the complete 12 months, whereas it produced a 20.29% exhibiting on the Hot 100 chart. Moreover, Warner Chappell managed to realize higher than the 20% market share marker in seven of its eight alternatives through the 12 months, solely failing to achieve that threshold on the Hot 100 chart within the fourth quarter, when it had a 16.92% share. Its finest exhibiting got here within the third quarter, when it had a 22.32% share on the Hot 100 chart and a 23.67% share on the Radio Airplay chart.
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Warner Chappell’s high songs through the 12 months included “Die With A Smile” by Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars, Alex Warren’s “Ordinary,” and “Doechii’s “Anxiety.” Meanwhile, it was the top-ranked writer on Country Airplay, ending the 12 months with 31.02% — greater than 4 proportion factors greater than its closest rival, Sony, which garnered 26.76% on that chart in 2025.
Coming in because the No. 3 ranked writer final 12 months on each the Hot 100 and the Radio Airplay charts was Universal Music Publishing Group (UMPG), which garnered a 19.38% market share for the Hot 100 and 15.81% for Radio Airplay. UMPG’s finest exhibiting through the 12 months got here within the first quarter, when it tallied a 25.04% market share on the Hot 100 chart, sufficient to make it the No. 2 ranked writer on the tally. Its high songs through the 12 months included Taylor Swift’s “The Fate Of Ophelia,” Justin Bieber’s “Daisies,” Shaboozey’s “Good News,” and HUNTR/X: EJAE, Audrey Nuna & REI AMI’s “Golden.” Moreover, a UMPG songwriter — specifically Drake — was named the highest songwriter on each the Hot 100 charts and Top Radio Airplay charts within the second quarter, whereas within the first quarter Kendrick Lamar was the highest songwriter on the Hot 100 and Taylor Swift was the highest songwriter on the Hot 100 chart within the fourth quarter — a distinction she shared with two of her co-writers.
Kobalt, the No. 4 ranked writer on each the Hot 100 and Radio Airplay charts in 2025, was the one different writer to realize a double-digit proportion market share for the 12 months, ending with 11.9% on the previous chart and 10.22% on the latter. Its finest efficiency in 2025 got here within the final quarter of the 12 months, when it completed because the No. 2 writer on the Hot 100 with a 21.43% share. Its high songs through the 12 months included “Die With A Smile” by Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars, “Doechii’s “Anxiety,” Shaboozey’s “Good News,” and Morgan Wallen’s “What I Want” that includes Tate McRae.
While BMG is often the No. 5 ranked writer and maintained its maintain on that place for the complete 12 months, it bucked its conventional rating within the third quarter, when it hit No. 4 on the Hot 100 rating with a 12.75% share. Its high songs through the 12 months included Shaboozey’s “Good News,” Kendrick Lamar & SZA’s “Luther,” HUNTR/X: EJAE, Audrey Nuna & REI AMI’s “Golden,” and “Die With A Smile” by Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars. Overall, BMG scored 5.61% market share on the Radio Airplay chart and 6.91% on the Hot 100 for the 12 months.
Three publishers seem within the second half of the Top 10 publishers rankings on each charts: Pulse, Position and Concord. The latter loved the most effective efficiency, coming in at No. 6 on the Radio Airplay rating and at No. 7 on the Hot 100 with a market share of 1.71% and 1.14%, respectively. What’s extra, its individually operated joint-venture with Pulse completed at No. 8 on the Radio Airplay rating with a 1.13% share and at No. 10 on the Hot 100 rating with 0.64%, simply beating out the No. 11-slotted peer music’s 0.63% exhibiting on the Hot 100.
If Concord and Pulse’s market share was consolidated, it could have been the No. 6 writer on the Hot 100 rating with 1.78%. However, its mixed 2.84% in Radio Airplay market share would nonetheless go away it within the No. 6 spot on that rating.
As for the opposite writer to make each charts, Position Music was boosted by having three songs from the Benson Boone catalog, all its top-performing tunes final 12 months: “Sorry I’m Here for Someone Else,” “Beautiful Things” and “Mystical Magical.” It completed at No. 8 on the Hot 100 and No. 9 on Radio Airplay for the 12 months.
Rounding out the Top 10 writer rankings on the Hot 100 was St. Nicholas Music, which got here in No. 6 based mostly solely on its fourth quarter exhibiting, when the Christmas songs of the late Johnny Marks made their annual revisit on the charts; and Reservoir, which ranked at No. 9 because of a robust efficiency within the first quarter when its high music was Sabrina Carpenter’s “Espresso.”
On the Radio Airplay rating, Big Machine Music got here in at No. 7 with 1.17% for the 12 months, because of its robust third quarter efficiency with a 1.75% tally, when Russell Dickerson’s “Happen To Me” was its high music; and Spirit Music Group, which ranks No. 10 with a 1.07% share when its numerous catalogs are consolidated — simply beating out the No. 11-ranked Me Gusta Music with a 1.06% share.
METHODOLOGY
In order to give you an annual writer rating, Billboard added collectively the Hot 100 level totals for every writer for every of the 4 quarters, then divided every writer’s level complete by the Hot 100 level totals for all 4 quarters mixed, to give you every writer’s market share for the 12 months. Billboard did the identical for the radio airplay rankings, including up every writer’s music detections for the 12 months for the highest 100 songs in every quarter after which dividing their respective totals by the overall play detections for the Top 100 songs from all 4 quarters.
To decide the highest 10 publishers on the Top Radio Airplay chart, proportion calculations have been based mostly upon the general high 100 detecting songs electronically monitored by Mediabase (which offers information to Luminate for Billboard’s airplay charts) at: 3,066 U.S. radio stations within the first quarter and second quarters; 3,133 stations within the third quarter; and 3022 stations within the fourth quarter. Monitoring was accomplished 24 hours a day, seven days every week for every of the successive 4 calendar quarters for the 12 months starting Jan. 1 via Dec. 31, 2025.
To decide the highest 10 publishers on Hot 100 Songs, proportion calculations have been based mostly upon the highest 100 songs for every quarter as ranked by Billboard Hot 100 factors calculated from digital gross sales, streaming and radio airplay detections tracked by Mediabase (which offers information to Luminate for Billboard’s airplay charts) through the respective durations of: Dec. 27, 2024 to March 27, 2025, reflecting the chart dates of Jan. 11 to April 5; March 28 to June 26, reflecting the chart dates of April 12 via July 5; June 27, 2025, to Oct. 4, 2025, reflecting the chart dates of July 12, 2025 via Oct. 4, 2025; and Sept. 25 to Dec. 25, 2025, reflecting the chart dates of Oct. 11, 2025, to Jan. 3, 2026. Publisher data for musical works on each charts has been recognized by the Harry Fox Agency. A “publisher” is outlined as an administrator, copyright proprietor and/or controlling occasion.
