Why genre-bending music dominated the fitness charts
In this month’s Inside Music Curation, the FMG team looked back at the trends and surprises that shaped the year in workout music, and 2025 was anything but predictable.
Genre lines blurred. New artists broke through. Global influences surged. It was a year when Beyoncé topped the fitness charts with a country anthem, K-pop powered a viral movie moment, and R&B carved out space in high-energy playlists. With fewer blockbuster releases from the usual pop titans, there was room for bold experimentation and fresh voices.
“2025 was a very interesting year,” said Melissa, opening the episode. “I could almost just start the conversation by saying: what just happened?”
Here’s what the Feed.fm curation team saw, heard, and programmed.
Beyoncé hit number one with a country song
Beyoncé’s “Texas Hold ’Em” landed at the top of the Feed.fm fitness charts this year, rewriting expectations for what a number-one track could sound like. The track also topped the Billboard Hot 100. “It’s poppy enough for country fans and country enough for pop fans,” said Eric "Stens" Stensvaag. “It worked across a lot of our music and didn’t get high skip rates. It’s just a banger.”
Claire noted the broader shift happening across the country genre. “We’re seeing a lot more country artists getting mainstream play. Artists like Shaboozey or Miles Smith bring in this folky crossover energy,” she said. “And Beyoncé is her own force to be reckoned with. With something as catchy as this, it dominated both our pop programming and some niche genres too.”
With fewer headline releases from the usual superstar artists, 2025 gave space for more unexpected voices to shine.
K-pop, Netflix, and the rise of the unexpected anthem
If anyone predicted K-pop Demon Hunters would deliver a top fitness track, they deserve a trophy. “Golden” emerged as a left-field hit, one that Claire said had that rare crossover magic. “I’ve heard it at a football stadium and I’ve heard it on the radio. That kind of reach is what makes something stick.”
Mike admitted he was hesitant to program it at first, since much of it is in a different language. “But when 90 percent of the time you’ve got a fitness instructor talking over the music, it becomes more about energy and rhythm. This track delivers both.”
Beyond the song itself, this moment marked something bigger: the Americanization of the K-pop business model and a growing appetite for global pop sounds in U.S. fitness playlists.
Women in pop delivered again
Women continued to dominate the 2025 fitness charts, and the team wasn’t surprised. “When you look at who the main girlies are,” Claire said, “Sabrina Carpenter, Chappell Roan, Dua Lipa, Ariana Grande, Beyoncé, Taylor Swift… it’s undeniable that that is pop music. And that is the sound of today.”
Eric "Stens" Stensvaag echoed the impact this had on programming. He pointed out that the depth and diversity of their releases kept curators well supplied. “There is a huge variety in the pop music they make that can cover a lot of different programmatic needs. We’re not running out of amazing hits from Ariana Grande and Dua Lipa.”
He also highlighted how release strategies shaped the year. “Whether it’s Taylor Swift dropping the deluxe version a couple of days after the album or Tate McRae and even Sabrina Carpenter doing the same thing, there’s always more,” Stens said.
Hip-hop took a breather and still shaped the sound
“Hip-hop had a lull this year,” said Juan. “But saying that is also saying that hip-hop had quite an amazing year because it had Kendrick Lamar at the Super Bowl.” He pointed to standout singles like “Luther” from GNX, which carried momentum well into 2025. Still, major album releases were few and far between. “There’s been a reset,” he said. “What we might see next is something different.”
Cardi B’s latest release stood out for its experimentation. “She did a lot of really fun things,” Juan said. “There was Latin with ‘Bodega Baddies,’ some Afrobeat, even dancehall elements. She definitely got into her bag.”
And while pure hip-hop may have pulled back, its influence is still embedded in the sound of other genres. Claire noted that country music’s growth is tied directly to borrowing hip-hop rhythms. “It’s part of the crossover story,” she said.
Afrobeats is speeding up
Juan, who recently wrote about Afrobeats for Feed.fm, flagged the genre’s shift toward higher BPMs and broader crossover.
“In my research, I saw how much producers are designing for virality,” he said. “They’re thinking about how songs perform on streaming platforms from the jump.”
He also noted grime and house creeping into the mix. “We’re seeing more uptempo Afrobeats now. It’s not all just for stretch or cooldown. There are tracks that work in cardio zones too, they’ve got this crunchy, hybrid energy that blends perfectly.”
Want the full breakdown?
Check out the 2025 Year in Music Report to explore top artists, top tracks, and deeper insights into this year's fitness music trends.
📺 Subscribe now to tune in next month for another behind-the-scenes look into the world of music curation.
3 min