Here's everything you need to know about the Hottest 100 - triple j

Friends, gather round. It's that's special time of year again. Voting is open, beads of sweat are forming over finalising shortlists and hopes are high for our faves to poll well. Welcome to Hottest 100 season.

If it's your first time voting (hello! great to have you with us!) or you need a reminder on everything Hottest 100, we've pulled together all the info and important dates to chuck in your diary/calendar/phone.

Wait, what is the Hottest 100?

Glad you asked! The Hottest 100 is triple j's annual poll of all YOUR favourite tracks of the past year. It's where YOU get to tell us what made it to your playlists in 2024.

Hundreds of thousands of you hand-pick up to 10 songs that you obsessed over across the last 12 months. The only rule is that the song has to have been released between December 1, 2023 and November 30, 2024. 

When is the Hottest 100 on?

To kick things off and set the musical democracy vibes, Double J will be jumping in their time machine on and taking it back to 2004 to relive that epic countdown on Friday 24 January.

The official big day is Saturday 25 January! Tune in to triple j as we count down the 100 most voted-for tracks from midday. Chuck a party, go to the pub, blast it through a speaker at the beach — it's a summer tradition!

Then on Monday 27 January, we'll be back again to count down the tracks that clocked in from 200 to 101 from 10am. The ones that just missed the big list, but we love them just as much.

Here's what to pop in your shared calendar with the group chat:

Voting opens - 8am AEDT, Tuesday 10 DecemberVoting closes - 5pm AEDT, Monday 20 JanuaryDouble J replays Hottest 100 of 2004 - 12pm local time, Friday 24 JanuaryHottest 100 of 2024 - 12pm AEDT,  Saturday 25 JanuaryHottest 200-101 of 2024 - 10am local time, Monday 27 JanuaryHow does voting work? When can I vote??

Voting is officially open now! No more waiting at the gates, you can go and vote right this moment if you're ready.

If you need a little more time to ponder, whittle and refine, you've got until 5pm AEDT on Monday 20 January to get your votes in.

But how do you vote? Great question!

Head to the triple j website or the triple j app and follow the signs to the Hottest 100 voting page.

You'll be able to trawl through heaps of songs released over the last 12 months to add to your list. If one of your top tracks isn't there, don't worry - you can submit songs manually! Just make sure it was released between December 1 2023 and November 30 2024.

You can vote for a maximum on 10 tracks. But if you can't pick a full 10, that's ok too! If it's five tracks you hyperfixated on or just one (1) song you couldn't stop rinsing, we're ok with that.

A brand new feature we've introduced this year is AUTO VOTING. If you're cool with it and want to opt in, we will submit your top 10 votes for you if you forget to lock them in by the time voting closes. All you have to do is toggle the 'Submit my votes' option on.

There have been thousands of lost votes in years gone by, so we want to make sure you get your say. (Don't worry, you can opt out of this feature if you want).

Where's the Golden Ticket this year?

triple j got a new look this year and we decided it's time for a refresh of our ultimate prize, too. 

Introducing - the Hottest Ticket.

This year, you could win a double pass to every triple j-supported festival and tour for a whole year. 

That's not all! You'll also win VIP tickets to Laneway Festival, featuring sets from Charli xcx, Bicep, Clairo, Joey Valence & Brae and heaps more!

All you have to do to enter is tell us in 25 words or less what promise you'll make to win this year's Hottest Ticket. The bigger, bolder, braver, the better.

After the countdown, we'll get some big talkers on air to see if you can commit to you promise and in return, you could be crowned the winner of the Hottest Ticket.