2016 Summer of Songs
Songs of the summer can gain popularity through the radio, or streaming on spotify.
What does Sir Mix-a-Lot’s “Baby Got Back”, Beyonce’s “Crazy in Love”, and Carly Rae Jepson’s “Call Me Maybe” all have in common? They were all “songs of the summer” the year each was released.
During the summer months, Billboard Magazine keeps a music chart for the entire length of summer to see which songs are the most popular. Artists specifically release certain songs during the summer because they tend to reach a larger audience, as many people are on vacation during these warmer months. Take OMI for example, his hit “Cheerleader” topped the summer 2015 charts and skyrocketed his career.
For this summer, MDO asked some students and faculty around Madison High School to identify the song of the summer. “Can’t Stop the Feeling!” by Justin Timberlake and “Ride” by Twenty One Pilots are some favorites of the group with one student explaining their reasoning as, “it is bomb”. Most students reasoning behind their choices were simply that they liked the song or heard it on the radio frequently. In Forbes’ article, “What Makes For A Perfect Song Of The Summer?”, Hugh McIntyre analyzes what components go into making a great song for the summer. The article explained that a song of the summer needs to have “radio-friendliness”, this is explained as, “in keeping with what’s happening in music now, and that it’s the sort of thing that everyone can listen to, from teenagers who just started driving to parents with younger children in the car,”. Even though everyone has different music preferences, songs that tend to play on the radio a lot are more likely to become the song of the summer. Some of the other songs mentioned were surely all over the radio, including, “Closer” by the Chainsmokers featuring Halsey, “Cheap Thrills” by Sia, and “One Dance” by Drake. Perhaps it is because each of these songs have a driving beat that could make them fun to listen to.
The song that is chosen for song of the summer joins the prestigious list, including, but not limited too: “The Boy is Mine” by Brandy & Monica (1998), “Genie in a Bottle” by Christina Aguilera (1999), “Bent” by Matchbox Twenty (2000), and “U Remind Me” by Usher (2001).
Comment below what you think the song of the summer for 2016 was!
Complete list of the top 10 songs of the summer for 1958 to now!
For Forbes article: