Have you ever heard of “Summer Songs”? – Nationwide

Summer: Weather, activity, emotions, and music combine to create memories, for better or worse.

For example, I am still caused by the instant heat by Asia. Asia was big during the summer of 1982. Even today, enough notes are enough to regain the pain of college. Something from Green Day's Dookie will soon carry me to the summer of 1994. You're probably thinking that your own personal singing summer has passed.

There is another level of this. Each year, one or two songs released in May or June rise to a level of universal ubiquitousness in the middle of summer. It is an earworm that is infectious with measles. It's an inevitable hit for anyone. If you haven't heard, you've heard it well enough to at least be imprinted in your brain. You may not like singing, but it's everywhere. Resistance is useless and, eventually, its existence is related to certain months of the calendar.

It wasn't long ago that we knew most of the popular songs of the moment, including songs we disliked. The summer song was very powerful.

There is a part of the music industry (and therefore the general public) and is obsessed with declaring someone who has official summer songs (yes, they capitalize it). Of course, it's all marketing bumhu, an opportunity to cover the stream of acts like priorities, so it blows up the charts and creates even more hype. For example, last year was about Sabrina Carpenter's espresso fighting Benson Boone's beautiful things. In 2023 we pointed out the vampire Olivia Rodrigo. A year ago it was like Harry Styles.

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I might be wrong, but I don't remember the songs of the summer obsession music industry that existed before 2010. This appears to be a product of the streaming era. This is the effect of bringing us back to an age where songs were hits, songs we need to know, and when there was a universal consensus about which songs were defined.

But things are different today. We no longer live in a monoculture where everyone is constantly exposed to the same thing. Our attention is, well, all entertainment is segmented, stratified, separated, and the second entertainment is split. We listen to what we want, when we want, wherever we are, and just happen to be on any device.

Midia, a music business analytics company, suggests it is very close to what is called “peak fragmentation.” The concept of radio stations waiting worriedly to perform your favorite hits along with thousands of other listeners is a thing of the past.

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The reason I nurture this is because we are here in mid-July and there doesn't seem to be a strong song from the Summer 2025 candidates. Ah, certainly, Billboard has a summer chart song (the number one position is currently being held by Alex Warren's normal), but I'm not thinking if I've ever heard of it – I work in the radio and music industry! You can't hum any of the top five either. Sighs from Morgan Warren and Tate McRae, Morgan Warren, and just in case, Kendrick Lamar and Luther from SZA, and Morgan Warren, whom I have in question*.

Certainly, I'm probably a problem. But if you dig deeper, it may be because of the music. According to Chartmetric, another music business data analytics company, there were significantly fewer breakout hits this year (23-49), less than half of the hits I saw at this point in 2024.

Plus, there is no 2025 album by Charli XCX that has the cultural influence that Brat made last year. Smart Money was on the concept album of Beautiful Things, Miley Cyrus this summer, but so far it's cricket. Lord's virgins don't seem to have much momentum at least yet. rock? According to Billboard Canada, the best chart album in the country is waiting for it as I write this – Rumors by Fleetwood Mac No. 18 (1977).

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What this is linked is what constitutes the “hit” of this day and age. The song might work out on Spotify's Top 50, but it's Flounder on the radio. It may appear in important playlists, but cannot be translated for use on Instagram and Tiktok. Big movies come with one or two Hello songs that don't travel beyond closing credits. In 2025, cross-media pollination will not be as strong.

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But here's the biggest problem. The streaming music service offers access to over 200 million songs in the library. All of these are available to users only a few times on their mobile phones. Modern artists don't just compete with their peers to attract attention. They compete with the greatest songs ever. These songs may not be new, but they certainly are new to young people during their adult life.

And the price? Free or very close to it.

Of course, there is still time for the summer 2025 singing. As Kate Bush ran up the hill, he listened to 2022 and reached the peak of the hill in August. Tiktok, who will explode in the next four weeks, may be pregnant. But just because something is crazy in Tiktok doesn't mean you're landing on the radar of someone who isn't using the platform. Nor will you reach number one on Spotify Top 50. True Summer Songs need to transcend all platforms at the same time.

Music has always been periodic, so perhaps this is just one of the occasional droughts. Or maybe we are entering an era where not enough people are latching the same song at the same time. Do people care about “hits” like they used to be? Does this mean that the new things there can't create strong emotional connections? Does much of pop music today sound the same? Are artist images as strong and relevant as before? With so many music available, is it possible for music consumers to create connections with individual artists?

It's a truly strange time. Meanwhile, no matter how much you want to soundtrack, enjoy your summer.

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