The 2016 Triple J Hottest 100 was announced on Australia Day, 26 January 2017. It is the 24th countdown of the most popular songs of the year, as chosen by the listeners of Australian radio station Triple J.

2016's countdown broke several Hottest 100 records, including number of votes (over 2.25 million), number of songs by Australian acts both in the whole list (66 out of the 100) and at its top (all of the top four),^[1] and longest absence between countdowns (16 years for Paul Kelly). With the first-place win of Australian producer Flume for "Never Be like You", 2016 marks a record-breaking fourth consecutive annual countdown in which the number-one track was by an Australian act, after Vance Joy in 2013, Chet Faker in 2014, and The Rubens in 2015. Flume became the first electronic dance music producer to top the countdown.

Background

Triple J's Hottest 100 lets members of the public vote online for their top ten songs of the year, with these votes used to identify the year's 100 most popular songs. Any song that premiered between December 2015 and November 2016 was eligible for 2016's Hottest 100. Triple J published a list of 1,909 eligible songs on their 2016 Voting List.^[2] Voting commenced on 12 December 2016, as announced by Dr Karl Kruszelnicki in a nature mockumentary depicting a live music event. The short film featured cameo appearances from many musicians,^[3] along with Dr Karl doing a shoey.^[4][5]

Several artists and presenters made their Hottest 100 votes public.^[6][7][8][9] The artists most often voted for by Triple J presenters were: D.D Dumbo; Kanye West; Julia Jacklin, who was not ultimately featured in the countdown; and A.B. Original, who are vocal critics of Australia Day (in 2016, Triple J announced a review of the countdown's date in response to criticism from the group and others).^[10][11] On 12 December, bookmakers Sportsbet.com.au and William Hill placed Flume's "Never Be like You" as the song most likely to take out first place by a significant margin, with a Sportsbet representative stating that they have "never seen such a short favourite at this stage".

Voting closed on 23 January 2017. By 25 January, the day before the countdown, bookmakers and media reports identified Flume's "Never Be like You" and Amy Shark's "Adore" as the clear frontrunners for first place.^[12][13][14]

Full list

Artists with multiple entries

Five entries

• Violent Soho (14, 53, 69, 73, 92)

Four entries

• Flume (1, 8, 37, 95)

Three entries

• Catfish and the Bottlemen (19, 57, 77)
• Safia (26, 85, 89)
• The Avalanches (28, 75, 91)
• Sticky Fingers (29, 36, 51)
• Glass Animals (38, 63, 98)
• The Amity Affliction (65, 67, 76)

Two entries

• Tash Sultana (3, 32)
• Hilltop Hoods (4, 49)
• Montaigne (once solo and once with Hilltop Hoods) (4, 25)
• Childish Gambino (5, 88)
• DMA's (6, 39)
• Illy (7, 23)
• Vera Blue (once solo and once with Illy) (7, 78)
• The Weeknd (10, 41)
• Daft Punk (twice with The Weeknd) (10, 41)
• Nick Littlemore (once with Pnau and once with Empire of the Sun) (11, 93)
• A.B. Original (16, 45)
• Dan Sultan (twice with A.B. Original) (16, 45)
• Kanye West (22, 72)
• Rüfüs (30, 55)
• Drake (31, 99)
• Dune Rats (33, 34)
• Broods (42, 71)
• D.D Dumbo (44, 47)
• Frank Ocean (59, 84)
• Dope Lemon (62, 87)

Countries represented

• Australia – 66^[1]
• United States – 21
• United Kingdom – 12
• Canada – 5
• Sweden – 3
• France – 2
• Germany – 2
• New Zealand – 2
• Barbados – 1
• Denmark – 1
• Nigeria – 1