What Happened to the Song of the Summer?

Summer's association with relaxation and freedom, dating back to childhood summer breaks, creates distinct soundtracks for seasonal activities like road trips and pool parties. People naturally attach songs to these deeply rooted experiences and feel nostalgia for music heard during those moments.

Algorithmic curation has fragmented musical consumption, meaning there is no longer a single headline song of the summer as there was decades ago. Ella Langley's chart dominance exemplifies a song that is statistically the song of the summer but remains unknown to many listeners due to this individualized experience.

The concept traces back to the early 1900s when people bought sheet music for songs like "In the Good Old Summertime." The post-WWII invention of the teenager with leisure time and spending money led to the Beach Boys era. The 1960s produced iconic summer anthems like "Dancing in the Street."

Around 2016, major publications declared the song of the summer dead, coinciding with what Jia Tolentino described as the final gasp of monoculture. As algorithms began steering listeners in different directions, the shared reality of a single inescapable summer song ended.

Ella Langley's "Choosin' Texas" is an outlier as a sad, pure country breakup song that has spent 20 weeks at the top of the Billboard charts. A female solo country artist achieving this with a breakup song co-written with Miranda Lambert is unprecedented.

A listener praised Yung Miami's "Spend Dat" for its irreverent scamming theme resonating with economic struggles.

RAYE's song "Joy" increases running speed and delivers a message of hope.

A Puerto Rico song reportedly AI-generated by songwriter Bill Steitler gave him summertime vibes and is stuck in his head.

He can detect a synthetic quality in AI instruments, comparing it to the difference between sugar and diet sweetener.

The death of monoculture is a positive development, as niche genres can now thrive without gatekeepers.

Listeners no longer need to agree on one inescapable song, allowing diverse tastes to coexist alongside chart dominators.