2025 16th ANNUAL COLORADO PLAYLIST FAN & LISTENER POLL (PLS READ FIRST)

Welcome to the 16th Colorado Playlist Fan & Listener Poll

Every year I take in or track hundreds of releases and debut roughly 200 new, current-year songs on the show.

This year’s nominees were drawn from more than 400 EP, LP, and single (SP) releases that received at least one spin from at least one of the community/public radio stations I survey weekly—combined with Spotify play data and the results of the Monday Morning Music Meeting.

Stations surveyed include: KAFM (Grand Junction), KBUT (Crested Butte), KDNK (Carbondale), KDUR (Durango), KFFR (Winter Park), KJAC / 105.5 The Colorado Sound (Greeley), KLZR (Westcliff), KOTO (Telluride), KRFC (Fort Collins), KRZA (Alamosa), KSJD (Cortez), KSUT (Ignacio), KVNF (Paonia), and KVOQ / Indie 102.3 (Denver). Spin data (except KJAC and KVOQ) from Spinitron.

What gets airplay at these stations often differs significantly from what trends on Spotify and other streaming platforms. Genres like EDM, metal, and rap dominate streaming, while radio spins tend to reflect a different mix. For that reason, radio airplay carried more weight than Spotify data when narrowing the list to this year’s nominees.

I can tell what these stations favor by studying their weekly spins. What I don’t know is what you think. That’s where this poll comes in. I’ve pulled all the data, crunched the numbers, and compared notes with colleagues to shape a list of the year’s top contenders—now it’s your turn.

Please LISTEN before you VOTE, and please DON’T vote just because the artist is a friend or family member.

Polls close at 12AM, December 20, 2025.

The “winners” will be featured on the year-end Best of the Colorado Playlist show airing Dec 27, 2025 – Jan 2, 2026, with final results published Dec 29, 2025.

FAVORITE ALBUMS & SINGLE RELEASE

• FAVORITE ALBUM (LP/EP) OF THE YEAR
• FAVORITE ALBUM: AMERICANA
• FAVORITE ALBUM: EDM
• FAVORITE ALBUM: INDIE/ALTERNATIVE
• FAVORITE ALBUM: FUNK/JAZZ/HIPHOP/SOUL
• FAVORITE ALBUM: POP
• FAVORITE ALBUM: ROCK
• FAVORITE ALBUM: DEBUT BY AN EMERGING ACT
• FAVORITE SINGLE RELEASE (SP) OF THE YEAR

FAVORITE SONGS OF THE YEAR

• FAVORITE SONG OF THE YEAR
• FAVORITE SONG: AMERICANA
• FAVORITE SONG: DEBUT BY AN EMERGING ACT
• FAVORITE SONG: EDM
• FAVORITE SONG: FUNK/JAZZ/HIPHOP/SOUL
• FAVORITE SONG: POP
• FAVOROTE SONG: ROCK

FAVORITE VOCAL PERFORMANCES & VIDEO

• FAVORITE VOCAL PERFORMANCE: DUO or GROUP
• FAVORITE VOCAL PERFORMANCE: HE/HIS/MALE
• FAVORITE VOCAL PERFORMANCE: SHE/HER/FEMALE
• FAVORITE VIDEOS OF THE YEAR

PLEASE HELP SUPPORT THE COLORADO PLAYLIST