The summer is officially over, and the internet consensus is that there were no defining hits of the season. The lack of a true “song of the summer” in 2025 begs the question – Is the music being released not made for mass audience consumption, or is a shift in the industry making it unlikely for a single song to take over?
When you search for a list of the biggest songs of the summer, you will find Alex Warren’s “Ordinary” at the top of almost every single one, which is not surprising considering it is one of the biggest hits of the year. However, having any emotional ballad crowned song of the summer just feels wrong. In general, a classic summer hit needs to be uptempo, have infectious hooks and relatable lyrical themes that anyone can sing along to.
Last year, we had “Espresso” by Sabrina Carpenter, “I Had Some Help” by Post Malone featuring Morgan Wallen, and “Good Luck, Babe!” by Chappell Roan, to name a few. Those were such huge hits that they are not only loved by active music fans but also instantly recognizable by the more passive listeners, also known as the general public. Charli XCX, who many would consider a niche artist, claimed the season with “Brat Summer,” named after the success of her electronic pop album, Brat.
Carpenter and Wallen indeed appear in the top 10 of Billboard’s summer songs chart this year with “Manchild” and “What I Want” (featuring Tate McRae), respectively. While they both achieved chart success and strong streaming numbers, neither has found a universal audience like their hits did a year ago. Other songs in the chart’s top 10, such as “Die With A Smile” by Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars, “luther” by Kendrick Lamar and SZA, and “Pink Pony Club” by Chappell Roan, weren’t even released this year.
Unfortunately, the timing of some strong contenders, such as Lady Gaga’s “Abracadabra” and Tate McRae’s “Sports car,” as well as their accompanying albums, did not line up to peak during the summer. In fact, if you listen to recent releases from Zara Larsson, Addison Rae, or Justin Bieber, you’ll find other fitting candidates that have nonetheless achieved success. Somehow, though, none actually gained enough attention to become part of the season’s cultural zeitgeist.
In the past, labels held a lot more power in dictating the success of a song. Now, with social media, that has changed. Since the pandemic, specifically, TikTok has played a major role in how artists can achieve virality online, as seen with Lil Nas X’s “Old Town Road” and Doja Cat’s “Say So,” for instance. Consequently, over the past six years, labels have recognized the app’s influence and have pressured even their more established signees to promote their music on the platform in hopes of generating a trend. In that way, both multiplatinum and upcoming artists are on a level playing field where anyone can have their moment.
Although it is a positive change for helping unknown artists break through, it also challenges labels in finding a way for their artists to reach the general public. Lizzo, for instance, posted a video on TikTok earlier this month sharing her thoughts on the subject as a Grammy-winning artist who has had multiple hits and is now struggling to capture widespread attention with her new music. The singer-rapper blames social media’s algorithm as the main reason why artists can’t connect to mass audiences like they used to. In the viral video, she said:
“This industry used to be based on serving the masses, basically like serving your song out to certain channels and certain radio stations. The internet space wasn’t so congested. There was a clear channel back in the day for major artists to put the music out and serve the masses. Now you have to serve your people.”
It was by catering to their own “people,” meaning their fanbase, that artists like Charli XCX succeeded with “Brat Summer” and Taylor Swift continues to break records with every release, even decades into her career.
While it is exciting to see unknown acts cut through the noise and become superstars before our own eyes with the help of the internet, there must be more than one main powerful tool that dictates music culture. As labels scramble to find an effective new way to push their artists’ music into the mainstream in this new age, we might have to resort to our own personally picked songs of the summer in the meantime.
