Rolling Stone AU/NZ Unveils Future of Music 2025 List

Are you ready to meet this year's Future of Music?

In 2024, Rolling Stone AU/NZ launched its first-ever Future 25 list as part of Rolling Stone‘s worldwide Future of Music series. That debut lineup featured artists like Dom Dolla, Teen Jesus and the Jean Teasers, Royel Otis, and more.

This year, the Future 25 is back for its second edition - and once again, the Rolling Stone AU/NZ editorial team has spotlighted the artists shaping the future of music across Australia and Aotearoa.

These are the ones heading straight for the top. The ones you’ll be hearing a lot more from in 2025 and beyond.

From a globetrotting pop-rock band to a rising country star to Australia’s next big electronic export, this list covers it all.

Some are thriving in underground scenes; others are throwing genre definitions out the window entirely. They’re making noise both at home and abroad — some with millions of streams under their belt, others building loyal followings the old-fashioned way: one electric live show at a time.

This year’s list includes artists like Nick Ward, who supported Troye Sivan on tour; Persian-Kiwi powerhouse CHAII; and Kita Alexander, fresh off a run supporting Dua Lipa on her sold-out 'Radical Optimism' tour across Australia and New Zealand.

There’s no shortage of award-winners either. 2025 Rolling Stone Australia Awards Best New Artist nominees Mia Wray and Gut Health both feature, alongside Thelma Plum, who just took home Best Single.

Genre-wise? Expect everything from primal garage punk to gleaming electronica, modern country to genre-defying hybrids and everything in between.

Stay tuned as Rolling Stone AU/NZ rolls out exclusive interviews with all 25 featured artists over the next two weeks, only on the Future of Music 2025 microsite.

Check out the full ‘Future of Music 2025’ list here.

And don’t miss Rolling Stone US’s Future of Music 2025 list here.