“What was the song of the summer? Here are nine candidates”

https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/music/story/2026-09-21/song-of-the-summer-olivia-rodrigo-karol-g

Doesn’t that prove the point, that there is no song of the summer if there are nine possibilities?

Furthermore, as you read this list, if you don’t find names you’ve never heard of, you’ll definitely find songs you’ve never listened to.

So what is going on here?

Old media hanging on to an old construct, believing we live in a world we no longer do.

Then there’s today’s news that Ella Langley’s “Choosin’ Texas” has been number one for 23 weeks, establishing a new record.

The last time I wrote about “Choosin’ Texas” I got e-mail from a person in the business who’d never heard the song.

I know most people at this point were not around in the days of the Beatles, but if you want to talk about true number ones, ubiquity…

Or even the era of MTV. Was there anybody who didn’t know the Police song “Every Breath You Take”?

Furthermore, the charts are for the recording industry, showing how out of touch the three majors are. They operate in very few genres, their dominance over listening and live are less than ever before.

What is going on here?

The nichification of the world.

Even more dramatically, in the streaming era worldwide hits have decreased, as streaming has become ubiquitous, it’s local repertoire that dominates.

So where does this leave us?

Sans metrics that matter. Other than the Spotify (and maybe YouTube) streams and tour grosses (and not every show is reported).

You can’t reach everybody and not everyone cares. What’s a poor boy to do, play in a rock and roll band?

Actually, that’d be a good idea, that’s relatively rare, but the economics are horrific.

More people are listening to more music, more genres of music, than ever before. There is no universality. We even see this in television, look at the number of views.

That’s what bothers me about “The Pitt”…believe me, it’s not that great, it’s not that innovative, it’s just another medical show. But it’s on HBO! And oldsters have not broken the habit of being attached to that outlet/model, so the media gloms on and… I mean I’ve got to ask you, how many people really watched all fifteen episodes of “The Pitt”?

Concomitantly, we can’t even agree on facts in the real news world. They rarely surface. Everyone is invested in their viewpoint and many are not curious outside this sphere.

This could change, but we’d need a complete rethink in music. Niches are okay, but universality is still achievable if…

There were other songs as catchy and basic as “Choosin’ Texas.” I mean if you like “Choosin’ Texas,” where do you go next? There’s nothing close to that caliber in mainstream country today.

That’s what Top 40 used to provide, what MTV used to provide, the best of the best, there was a competition, you could hear it all in one place. Today? Even the hits take a long time to climb the chart and triumph. That’s how much sludge there is in the system.

If we had more active people in the A&R world this would be better. Today, and for a long time, labels just see what comes over the transom. They don’t have a vision that they try to feed, a la Lou Pearlman and NSYNC and Backstreet Boys.

But the labels are myopic.

Meanwhile, everybody’s freaking out AI.

Just don’t tell me there’s a song of the summer. There is no such thing, and there hasn’t been for quite a while.