20 Releases I Listened To (A Lot!) This Year
Steven Wilson Wrapped!
Lots of people currently posting their 2025 Spotify Wrapped statistics and artists thanking their listeners for streaming their music, so I’d like to take a moment to thank everyone that actually bought a PHYSICAL COPY of any of my records this year. In fact a massive thumbs up to anyone that bought a physical copy of anyone’s record this year for helping to keep the art of the album alive.
I’m not naive enough to think that streaming isn’t the dominant platform for music listening in the 21st century by a huge margin, but I also believe the relationship between a listener and a physical piece of art is still a magical and special thing that will never be replaced by ones and zeros streaming off a server. So here is Steven Wrapped, 20 physical releases I listened to a lot this year (mostly things released or reissued in 2025, but not only):
Great post Steven! This time of year my social feeds start to fill up with Spotify Unwrapped, a marketing masterstroke where we do the advertising for them.
But here’s a thought: has having infinite music made it all feel a bit… valueless?
I used to think streaming was magic. Now I’m not so sure.
When everything is available all the time, nothing feels special.
I love my records. My CDs. My shelves.
I remember where I bought them, when, and who I was at the time.
Streaming doesn’t give you that.
And while we skim through playlists, artists earn £0.003 a stream… and now tracks under 1,000 plays a year get paid nothing.
Most musicians I know don’t stand a chance.
And now there’s AI-generated “music”, designed for playlists, not people.
No stories, no craft, no humanity.
Just frictionless background noise, pushing real musicians even further down the algorithm.
I’m not anti-streaming. I’m anti-exploitation.
If you want exciting, innovative music?
Support the artists directly.
Bandcamp. Merch. Gigs. Downloads.
It all matters. ❤️
Great post, Steven. I couldn’t agree with you more. Three vinyl albums that I bought in 2025 and listen to constantly are Porcupine Tree’s In Absentia, Deadwing and Fear of a Blank Planet. Admittedly, I do listen to a lot of Spotify, as well (incidentally, PT was my second most listened to artist and Fear of a Blank Planet was my most listened to track in 2025). However, I try to buy on vinyl the albums I like the most. I plan to add more PT and SW to my vinyl collection in 2026!