It was the sixteenth countdown of the most popular songs of the year, as chosen by the listeners of Australian radio station, Triple J.

Coined as the "Hottest 200", the list was released online the day after the main countdown.

[1] Voting commenced on Boxing Day, 26 December 2008, and closed on 18 January 2009.

[4] Note: Australian artists For the first time since the 1991 countdown, on 27 January 2009, Richard Kingsmill published the #101–#200 list on his blog.

Triple J's Hottest 100 Volume 16 is the compilation featuring the best of the Top 100 voted tracks on two CDs.