Sound the klaxons, alert the group chats, and prepare your stan accounts for battle. The nominations for the 2025 Dork Readers’ Poll - the single most important, scientifically rigorous cultural barometer on earth - are officially in. After our open submissions period - during which you, Dear Reader, proved once again that democracy is only as stable as the fandom with the fastest Wi-Fi - we now have the full list of finalists across all eight categories. And frankly? It’s chaos in the most beautiful way.
Some artists surged so far ahead in the nominations that they were practically carried into the room on a velvet chaise. CMAT leads the pack with four award nominations (Artist of the Year, Album of the Year, Track of the Year and Best Live Act), confirming once again that the Venn diagram of “entertaining”, “brilliant”, and “iconic” is just a circle with her face in the middle.
Close behind with multiple nominations Djo, Wolf Alice, Turnstile, James Marriott, Hayley Williams, Twenty One Pilots, Geese, Louis Tomlinson, Pulp, and 5 Seconds of Summer, all of whom now find themselves in the strangely high-pressure position of hoping an online fan poll will secure their legacy. The stakes? Astronomical. The objectivity? Nonexistent. The drama? Delicious.
Meanwhile, in the Breakthrough and Hype categories, the new generation came out swinging. Addison Rae, Antony Szmierek, Chloe Qisha, Cliffords, Florence Road, Keo and Westside Cowboy each racked up nods in those early-career categories, making it clear that 2025’s emerging class is less “promising newcomer” and more “give us the headline slots already”.
But enough teasing. Here are your 2025 Dork Readers’ Poll Award finalists.
ALBUM OF THE YEAR
Addison Rae – ‘Addison’CMAT – ‘Euro Country’Djo – ‘The Crux’Geese – ‘Getting Killed’Hayley Williams – ‘Ego Death at a Bachelorette Party’Inhaler – ‘Open Wide’James Marriott – ‘Don’t Tell The Dog’Turnstile – ‘Never Enough’Twenty One Pilots – ‘Breach’Wolf Alice – ‘The Clearing’ARTIST OF THE YEAR
CMATDjoGeeseHayley WilliamsJames MarriottOlivia DeanSam FenderTurnstileTwenty One PilotsWolf AliceBEST COMEBACK
5 Seconds of SummerLewis CapaldiLily AllenOasisPulpBEST LIVE ACT
CMATFontaines D.C.James MarriottKneecapTurnstileBREAKTHROUGH ACT
Addison RaeAlessi RoseAntony SzmierekPanic ShackWellyHYPE AWARD
Chloe QishaCliffordsFlorence RoadKeoWestside CowboyMOST ANTICIPATED ALBUM FOR 2026Charli XCXHarry StylesLouis TomlinsonOlivia RodrigoThe 1975TRACK OF THE YEAR
5 Seconds of Summer – ‘Not OK’CMAT – ‘Take A Sexy Picture of Me’Confidence Man & Jade – ‘Gossip’Djo – ‘Basic Being Basic’Lorde – ‘What Was That’Louis Tomlinson – ‘Lemonade’PinkPantheress – ‘Illegal’Pulp – ‘Spike Island’Role Model – ‘Sally, When The Wine Runs Out’Wolf Alice – ‘The Sofa’With voting now open for Phase Two, it’s up to you to decide who wins these extremely serious, highly scientific, definitely impartial awards. You can vote once per day at
dorkreaderspoll.com, because nothing says “fair and reasonable process” like the ability to repeatedly vote for the same artist until your conscience gives out.
The winners - as determined by
the most powerful force in music: the fans - will be revealed before the end of the year on
readdork.com.
Good luck to everyone involved. And by “good luck”, we mean: may the most dedicated fanbase win.
