It’s Spotify Wrapped day, and the TDA team has been discussing our ‘listening age’ after the streaming giant rolled out the new feature in its annual data drop.

Spotify said it compared users’ taste in music “to others’ in [their] age group, looking at the release years of the tracks you listen to most,” to determine their listening age.

Despite being born in the 90s, I (apparently) have the listening habits of a 70-year-old.

The sting of ageing several decades in the blink of an eye felt slightly less lonely when I found out there are at least five of us in the office. The TDA Spotify Septuagenarian Club is now taking applications from prospective members.

You can read my full Spotify Wrapped breakdown in today’s 2-minute section, but there’s plenty to get into before then. Let’s go!

“This video is evil and disgusting. Do not ever involve me or my music to benefit your inhumane agenda.”
Sabrina Carpenter has criticised the Trump Administration for using her song Juno in a social media video of immigration raids. The singer condemned the video, which was posted to the White House’s X account.

$AU2.2 billion
How much Prada paid to acquire Versace (1.25€) after regulators approved the deal between the rival Milan fashion houses this week.

Oprah is back in Australia for the first time in 10 years for a national speaking tour. The former talk-show legend was out and about in Bondi on Wednesday, where she visited Bills for a serving of their famous ricotta hotcakes. After sharing the local foodie favourite with her 22.4 million Instagram followers, Oprah was so impressed she went back for seconds on Thursday. “Thank you, Hugh Jackman, for the suggestion,” she posted.

Salvador Plasencia will spend 30 months behind bars for selling ketamine to the late ‘Friends’ actor.

Perry died from a drug overdose in his Los Angeles home in October 2023.

Five people were charged over Perry’s death. Plasencia, who has surrendered his medical license, is the first to be sentenced.

Here’s the latest.

Perry was best known for playing Chandler Bing in the TV series ‘Friends’.

In his memoir ‘Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing’, Perry spoke openly about his drug addiction and detailed his use of medical ketamine to treat depression and anxiety.

Perry died on 28 October 2023 after he was found unresponsive in a hot tub at his home.

An autopsy found Perry had as much ketamine in his body as an anaesthetist would use to put someone under for surgery.

Plasencia is one of five people who were charged in relation to Perry’s death in August 2024.

All five members of the group pleaded guilty to drug charges.

Prosecutors found Plasencia administered ketamine to Perry “multiple times” at the actor’s home, as well as in a carpark in the backseat of Perry’s car.

They argued that “rather than do what was best for Mr. Perry... [Plasencia] sought to exploit Perry’s medical vulnerability for profit.”

Court documents show that in a text exchange, Plasencia said “I wonder how much this moron will pay” for the drugs.

Plasencia gave 20 vials and multiple tablets of ketamine to Perry and his assistant from 30 September to 12 October 2023, “knowing... [they] were not for a legitimate medical purpose.”

However, prosecutors said: “Plasencia did not provide the ketamine that caused [Perry’s] death.”

Plasencia faces two-and-a-half years in prison, and will pay a $US5,600 ($AU8,485) fine. In September 2025, he surrendered his medical license.

The other group members will be sentenced later this year and early next year.

Reporting by Emily Donohoe.

Win a Double Pass to Kylie Christmas on Sydney Harbour!

Kylie Christmas is turning 10, and she’s wants you to spin around the harbour in style. Her special edition Kylie Christmas (Fully Wrapped) drops Dec 5, with four new tracks including the Amazon Original XMAS.

To celebrate, Warner and Amazon Music are throwing the ultimate yacht party onboard YOT Viva on Tuesday, Dec 9. Expect three hours of food, drinks, festive vibes, and exclusive prizes. 

To enter: follow Kylie on Amazon Music and save XMAS via the link below. But hurry - competition closes tomorrow!

Unless you’ve been off social media today, you’ve probably seen that it’s Spotify Wrapped day — a yearly tradition where the platform shares insights with its millions of users about their listening habits.

Alongside the personal stats, Spotify also released data on what Australians listened to most this year.

Discussion about this national data has largely focused on one thing: the absence of Australian artists from the top of those lists.

So, what’s going on?

Global music and podcast streaming platform Spotify has around 281 million paid subscribers worldwide, including some 13 million Aussie listeners.

Every year, Spotify Wrapped shows listeners a breakdown of their favourite artists, songs, podcasts, albums, and music genres from the year.

With more than 19.8 billion streams for the year, Bad Bunny was crowned the top global artist for 2025.

The latest data round-up shows no local acts among Australia’s most listened-to artists, tracks, and albums. In fact, our favourite music in 2025 was almost entirely dominated by North American performers.

The top artists streamed by Australian listeners in 2025 were Taylor Swift, followed by Drake, Morgan Wallen, The Weeknd and Billie Eilish.

Australians’ most listened to songs this year were "Ordinary" by Alex Warren, "That's So True" by Gracie Abrams, "BIRDS OF A FEATHER" by Billie Eilish, "Back to Friends" by Sombr, and “APT” by Bruno Mars and ROSÉ. 

Along with its list of Australia’s most listened-to artists and songs overall, Spotify has also crunched the numbers when it comes to the top local artists.

The Wiggles came in at number one. They were followed by The Kid LAROI, AC/DC, Hilltop Hoods and Tame Impala.

The top local song for 2025 was “Riptide” by Vance Joy, which was released in 2013. A closer look at the top local songs shows none of them are new releases from 2025.

That trend is reflected in the most listened to local albums of the year as well, with two records from the 80s making the top five: Back in Black by AC/DC and Kick from INXS.

TDA worked with Creative Australia for its report on music discovery and engagement earlier this year.

The findings, published in June, show 98% of us discover music through streaming platforms, while 66% find it through social media. However, the report found that discovery tends to skew heavily towards international artists.

While more than a third of Australians actively seek out Australian music, just 8% of the 10,000 top-streamed artists in Australia were homegrown.

66% of respondents said they wanted to discover more Australian music, but they weren't sure where to find it. Nearly half said they would even pay for a streaming platform dedicated to Australian music.

Many musicians have longstanding complaints about how Spotify pays its artists and its discoverability algorithms. Some Australian artists have even left the platform in recent months.

King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, one of Australia's most successful exports, removed their entire catalogue in July in protest of Spotify’s CEO and co-founder, who has been criticised over his investments in a defence company that manufactures AI military technology.

Australian musician David Bridie also left the platform in July, citing several reasons. In a piece for The Guardian about his decision, Bridie said, “Spotify pays artists between $0.003 and $0.005 per stream,” which he called “insulting and completely unsustainable.”

“[This] leads to a situation where only the independently wealthy can create music… assuming [they] are able to fight off the AI-generated music currently crowding onto the streaming platforms,” Bridie wrote.

“The removal of my works won’t make any significant dent in the company’s profits. It won’t change my earnings much either, but I can no longer be complicit.”

Spotify Head of Music ANZ Ben Watts said Australian music “is achieving remarkable momentum of its own.”

Watts acknowledged the enormous reach global artists have in all markets, but he said there’s been a “healthy mix of both homegrown and international music connecting with local audiences” in 2025.

“Spotify recognises that it has a key role to play in supporting Australia’s music ecosystem,” he said.

“In 2024 alone, we paid over AU$300 million to Australian rightsholders, with more than half going to independent artists and labels.”

Despite the current challenges and uncertainty, local artists continue to impress on the world stage.

Australian dance music has seen huge growth in 2025, with streams increasing by more than 409 million compared to last year, according to Spotify.

Australian trio Rüfüs Du Sol recently set a new record for the highest-selling electronic tour of all time, after selling 750,000 headline tickets this year.

They’re one of three Aussie acts nominated for a Grammy at the 2026 ceremony, along with Amyl and the Sniffers and Tame Impala.