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Summer lends itself to a shared musical experience: people are outside more often, exposed to communal music and open-air listening. Before the 21st century, the song of the summer was widely heard throughout common spaces. People would hear the same songs on car radios blasting in traffic, in stores
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is the unofficial designation of the song that is dominant both culturally and commercially between the end of May and the beginning of
September in a given year, primarily in the United States. Although the idea of a song of the summer had been around for years, it became a common term in the 1990s.
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became fragmented as radio formats expanded and multiple avenues of music streaming became available, leading to wider musical choices but also making it more difficult for a single song to permeate popular culture. Ontario music writer Joel
Rubinoff says, "If a song can break through the din and
23:
By the early 2000s, achieving the label of "song of the summer" became a competition urged on by media outlets. In the 21st century, the growing fragmentation of musical sources has made it more difficult for a single song to become overwhelmingly pervasive.
43:, the song that "defines the season on the charts and in listeners' memories". The determination of the song of summer is achieved by popular consensus, but is often the song that ranks longest at top of the
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says "About this time look out for the summer song", in the days when songs were primarily distributed as sheet music, and cites as an example the hit song of the summer of 1923, which was "
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Achieving song of the summer became competitive in 2013 and 2014. Publications began publishing articles in June to label contenders and offer predictions. In 2013,
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76:, John Jurgensen proposed that the number of covers a song inspires can be an indicator of the song of the summer, pointing out more than 40,000 videos of
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The common characteristic of a song of the summer is that there is universal awareness: it is a song that people hear everywhere they go. It is a
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clamour of our fragmented selfie universe to connect on a universal level, we can, for an instant, feel like we're part of something bigger."
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Rubinoff, Joel (June 25, 2016). "Is Justin
Timberlake's single going to be everywhere? Or is "Song of the Summer" a thing of the past?".
589:
56:, Chris Richards describes the song of the summer as "that magical megahit capable of changing the nation's psychic temperature".
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Songs of the Summer chart was originally based on sales and radio play; streaming data was added to its calculations in 2012, and
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between June and
September. The song of the summer is a question open annually to public debate, not an objective description.
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178:(1966), had dominated their summers, but public attention to naming a song of the summer began in the 1990s. Music critic
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magazine's designation of song of the summer is based primarily on audio streams between the weekend after the June
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35:. The song of the summer can be so ubiquitous that many get sick of hearing it. It is the dominant song between
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describes the song of the summer as energetic, catchy songs that "rule their summer", such as 1989's "
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on popular music. Fragmented music experiences produce multiple contenders for song of the summer.
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started its Songs of the Summer chart in 2010, and published retroactive charts back to 1985. The
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declared that a true song of the summer had to be released in the summer, be easily turned into a
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reduced the opportunities of a shared musical experience. It also observed the impact of
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magazine noted the difficulty of identifying a song of the summer in 2020, when the
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Bruner, Raisa; Lang, Cady; Chow, Andrew R.; Berman, Judy (September 1, 2020).
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Richards, Chris (June 15, 2015). "Why the Song of the Summer still matters".
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The song of the summer is generally a high-energy song. Music journalist
590:"The Kid Laroi and Justin Bieber's 'Stay' Is 2021's Song of the Summer"
428:"Summer Jam: Ranking Every 'Song of the Summer' From the Past 20 Years"
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800:"What's the Song of the Summer for 2021? Here Are Our Predictions"
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545:"Trying to figure out what makes a hit radio song in the summer?"
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An examination of the history of the song of the summer in
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as "the runaway song of the summer". Huge hits, such as "
857:"What's 2020's Song of the Summer—If There Even Is One?"
616:"The surprising history of the "song of the summer""
398:"Song Of The Summer: Pop Radio's Bread and 'Butter'"
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and malls, at clubs and parties. The monoculture of
668:"When Did the 'Song of the Summer' Become a Thing?"
724:(August 17, 2014). "The Real Song of the Summer".
214:streams in 2013. The first song of the summer on
190:. The bracket-style tournament was later used by
237:satirized the song of the summer competition on
878:Every song of the summer from the past 46 years
788:"These are the songs that'll rule this summer"
186:competition for song of the summer of 1999 in
159:", selling a million copies in three months.
693:"MTV Reveals VMA Song of the Summer Nominees"
8:
748:"What Will the 2021 Song of the Summer Be?"
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318:Waterloo Region Record (Kitchener, Ontario)
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473:"Is it worth having the top summer song?"
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162:In 1979, a Canadian newspaper described "
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292:MTV Video Music Award for Song of Summer
198:for its "Song of the Summer" category.
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775:"What will be the song of the summer?"
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588:Mayfield, Geoff (September 9, 2021).
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447:"We Deserve a Better Song of Summer"
346:Wood, Mikael (September 22, 2016).
666:Molanphy, Chris (August 9, 2013).
648:Edmonton Journal (Alberta, Canada)
564:"What makes the 'song of summer'?"
495:Richards, Chris (August 1, 2016).
426:McDermott, Maeve (June 23, 2017).
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811:Moraski, Lauren (June 20, 2017).
543:Philpot, Robert (June 20, 1999).
432:Statesman Journal (Salem, Oregon)
368:Jurgensen, John (July 25, 2013).
149:notes that a 1910 article in the
549:Fort Worth Star-Telegram (Texas)
497:"2016 has no song of the summer"
445:Dobbins, Amanda (July 8, 2014).
813:"The Best Summer Songs of 2017"
773:Hare, Breeanna (June 4, 2010).
614:Edwards, Phil (June 15, 2016).
514:Udovitch, Mim (June 26, 1995).
645:"And song of the summer is..."
477:Asbury Park Press (New Jersey)
471:Dinges, Gary (July 27, 2020).
1:
643:Dekel, Jon (July 30, 2014).
562:Kot, Greg (June 19, 2014).
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247:Shared musical experience
374:The Wall Street Journal
157:Yes, We Have No Bananas
73:The Wall Street Journal
370:"Song of the Summer?"
352:The Los Angeles Times
908:Musical terminology
834:The Washington Post
501:The Washington Post
176:the Lovin' Spoonful
101:Livin' la Vida Loca
53:The Washington Post
516:"That summer song"
269:and the isolation
240:The Colbert Report
196:Video Music Awards
188:The New York Times
172:Summer in the City
20:Song of the summer
786:Wang, Steffanee.
779:CNN Entertainment
699:. August 13, 2018
520:New York Magazine
271:social distancing
267:COVID-19 pandemic
61:New York Magazine
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37:Memorial Day
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402:InsideRadio
113:Las Ketchup
27:Description
913:Song forms
887:Categories
842:1688363571
734:1553596716
326:1799323497
298:References
287:Summer hit
228:Snoop Dogg
224:Katy Perry
216:Billboard'
180:Ann Powers
164:My Sharona
107:, 2002's "
99:, 1999's "
16:Music term
758:March 25,
752:Pitchfork
703:March 25,
677:March 25,
625:March 25,
599:March 25,
573:March 25,
525:March 25,
456:March 25,
408:March 25,
379:March 25,
208:Billboard
203:Billboard
168:The Knack
82:Get Lucky
78:Daft Punk
59:In 1995,
41:Labor Day
838:ProQuest
817:HuffPost
730:ProQuest
322:ProQuest
281:See also
89:Greg Kot
697:Variety
594:Variety
451:Vulture
212:YouTube
139:History
133:equinox
128:Variety
93:Lambada
45:Hot 100
893:Summer
840:
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324:
275:TikTok
65:slogan
792:Nylon
672:Slate
222:" by
174:" by
166:" by
119:" by
111:" by
103:" by
97:Kaoma
95:" by
861:Time
804:Time
760:2022
705:2022
679:2022
627:2022
601:2022
575:2022
527:2022
458:2022
410:2022
381:2022
262:Time
226:and
80:'s "
39:and
620:Vox
568:BBC
230:.
194:'s
192:MTV
146:Vox
121:Psy
70:In
50:In
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