The most popular tracks among Russians during the New Year holidays are named

VK Music analyzed users' listening on New Year's Eve and during the January holidays and named the most popular tracks, artists, and audio formats. The study included data for the period from December 31 to January 11 inclusive. The results were reviewed on January 19 by Izvestia.

Following the results of the holidays, the track "Bank" performed by ICEGERGERT and Zivert became the absolute leader in the number of auditions for all age groups. The composition took the first place among both the young audience and listeners over the age of 25.

Rap and hip-hop genres were noticeably dominant among users under the age of 25. Among the most sought-after tracks were NOBODY by Aarne, Toxi$ and Big Baby Tape, "Chinchillas" by the LSP group, as well as "Zhiganskaya" performed by Jakone and Killiana. The January release of "On the Contrary" by Miyagi & Endgame, a 2025 streaming band, continues to gain popularity, which remains in the top 5 of the youth chart.

The audience over the age of 25 was more likely to choose pop hits and holiday-themed songs during the New Year holidays. Among the leaders are "New Year's Eve" from Betsy and Ded M, "Silhouette" by Vanya Dmitrienko and Anya Peresild from the movie "Alice in Wonderland", as well as the viral track "Tell me, Snow Maiden" from the AI project Sasha Komovich.

"On December 31, 2025, 18 New Year's tracks hit the top of the VK Music chart at once, including: Betsy, Ded M — "New Year's Eve", "New Year's Eve" from the Dilijans group, "It's Snowing" by Gluck and the new single "Frost" from the experimental duo Vanya Dmitrienko and Yanix. The song "New Year's Eve" from the band "Disco Accident" has traditionally become a musical phenomenon, which returned to the chart a week before the New Year and was in the top 5 from December 30 to January 2," the social network VKontakte says.

The sections "Audiobooks" and "Podcasts" aroused a special interest of users during the holidays. The most popular were the final volume of the mystical fantasy "Kanashibari", the series "Empyrean" by Rebecca Yarros — "The Fourth Wing", "Iron Flame" and "Onyx Storm" released in 2025, as well as the audio novel "The Point of View of the Omniscient Reader". The podcasts included Artemy Lebedev's "The Most Honest News", the true-edge project "Here's the Deal", the psychological podcast "You are Important" and the educational format "Minaev Live".

Based on the results of the analysis, the editors of VK Music also formed two thematic playlists — "Born in XXI: New Year's top" and "Born in XX: New Year's top", reflecting the musical preferences of different generations during the festive period.

On January 4, Science X magazine reported that listening to music while driving has different effects on motorists' behavior and does not always bring the expected effect. Studies have shown that drivers with music on are more likely to encounter simulated emergency situations, less accurately observe the speed limit and the distance to other cars. At the same time, the effect of music on lane keeping and reaction speed turned out to be contradictory. In addition, musical accompaniment increases the level of psychoemotional arousal and cognitive load, which may cause the driver to experience additional stress.

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