What Is The 2015 Song of the Summer?

Is OMI's "Cheerleader" the song of the summer? Radio consultant Sean Ross makes a case for it:

“Cheerleader” was perhaps the first time since “California Gurls” that a song remained a front-runner from Memorial Day to Labor Day, although there were a few negative whispers at the beginning (one PD told me that the women he played it for didn’t like it) and PDs who came up to me midsummer and admitted they didn’t like it at first.

It’s hard to come up with a more profound case for “Cheerleader” than the one made for it in May: “reggae + dance music = extra summer smash insurance in 2015.” But after “Blurred Lines” and “Fancy,” the song’s sweetness probably counts for something as well. You can also say that about “Shut Up and Dance” or “See You Again” after a glut of “Elastic Heart”-type midtempo harshness in the format.

I don't know. I just haven't heard this song much this summer. Maybe I didn't get out of the house much this summer? Yet I did travel quite a bit, and I just never heard it in the wild! What do you make of it?



Sean's other finalists included The Weeknd’s “Can’t Feel My Face” (which seems to have picked up steam later in the summer); Silento's “Watch Me (Whip/Ne Ne)” (which feels more like the next Gangnam Style/What Does the Fox Say/Harlem Shake novelty sensation than a song of summer); and Wiz Khalifa’s “See You Again,” which is leading Billboard's summer chart.

What say you?

Billboard Crowns The Song of the Summer 2013. And The Winner Is... (VIDEO)

Billboard has named "Blurred Lines," by Robin Thicke feat. T.I. and Pharrell, the song of the summer. Despite a valiant fight by Daft Punk's "Get Lucky" and Imagine Dragons' "Radioactive," Billboard says it wasn't even a contest:

"Lines" took hold of the top rank on the Billboard Hot 100 the week of June 22 for its first of 12 frames at No. 1. (It cedes the summit to Katy Perry's "Roar" this week.) It ties two other songs for the most weeks tallied at No. 1 on the Hot 100 encompassing charts covering Memorial Day through Labor Day: Mariah Carey's "We Belong Together," the top summer song of 2005, which collected 12 of its 14 total weeks on top in that span, and Brandy & Monica's "The Boy Is Mine," which notched 12 of its 13 weeks at No. 1 in the Songs of the Summer chart's tracking period in 1998.

"Lines" has dominated multiple charts over the summer. In addition to its Hot 100 reign, it set the record for the highest weekly audience (228.9 million, according to Nielsen BDS) in the 23-year history of Billboard's Radio Songs chart, passing Carey's "Belong" (212.2 million). It leads the list for a ninth frame this week. The song also scored the Hot 100's top Airplay Gainer award for a record 10 weeks.

Looks like it wasn't even close. In our unofficial Franklin Avenue poll, "Get Lucky" dominated:



At last week's FXX network launch party, Thicke himself performed to a pumped-up industry crowd, and of course, he saved the big hit for last. Here are two Vines I made of it:



And some Blurred Pics from the party:

What is REALLY the 2013 Song of the Summer?

MTV caught some flack on Sunday when the network's Video Music Awards let fans vote to proclaim the 2013 song of the summer. I assume millions of pre-teen girls texted their choice, because the winner was... "Best Song Ever" by One Direction. Wait, what's "Best Song Ever"? Exactly. It's not a song that dominated the airwaves and was inescapable this summer. I have no idea what it even sounds like.

No, this summer belonged to Pharrell. The hitmaker was behind the two leading contenders: Daft Punk's "Get Lucky" and Robin Thicke's "Blurred Lines." Daft Punk had the "song of the summer" title in the bag until July. "Get Lucky" was such a major crossover hit that you could hear it on alternative rock, top 40, hip-hop and hot AC radio stations. That's the mark of a dominant hit. But no so fast. Thicke's "Blurred Lines" isn't quite the crossover hit (you'll never hear it on KROQ), but it became so ubiquitous that it was impossible to escape.

So let's put it to the test. No ringers, no songs you've barely heard of. Let's pit the two contenders opposite each other. Franklin Avenue readers, as we head into Labor Day weekend, what was truly the "song of the summer"?

FRANKLIN AVENUE POLL: What's 2010's "Song of the Summer"?

This year's hunt to find the 2010 "Song of the Summer" feels like it was over before it ever began.

Unlike past years, when the debate over which song deserved "Song of Summer" honors ran into Labor Day, Katy Perry's "California Gurls" earned front-runner status from the beginning.

"Gurls," after all, hits all the proper hallmarks of a summer song: It's catchy, light and frothy, and everywhere. (I dare you to make it through the day without hearing Katy singing about her Daisy Duke/bikini combo somewhere.)

Most of the folks who pay close attention to the Song of the Summer competish seem to agree.

Radio consultant Sean Ross, who has extensively covered the Song of the Summer showdown for years, writes about the 2010 face-off here. And New York magazine's Vulture has been covering the competish as well.

Both Ross and Vulture have "Summer Gurls" on the brain: Ross has named it his "song of the week" for three out of the four weeks. Vulture called it "a saccharine confection we feared would be a problem from the moment it bubbled up," and believes it's the first unifying "Song of the Summer" since 2007's "Umbrella."

Buzzfeed, meanwhile, recently went one step further and compiled a list of the "Songs of Summer" for the past 70 years.

Last year, you picked the international smash "When Love Takes Over," by David Guetta and Kelly Rowlands, while I was partial to Madcon's "Beggin'."

Ross, meanwhile, chose "Boom Boom Pow" by the Black Eyed Peas; others picked "I Got a Feelin'" by, yes, those ever-present BEPs.

But that was last year. In 2010, is it a cakewalk for Ms. Perry? Or will another song suddenly surge ahead as we head into mid-summer? Take the poll below.