A Final Word on the Song of the Summer Nonsense

While I (and others) maintain that there was no proper Song of the Summer in 2015, that hasn’t stopped people from doing some deep dive analyses to name one–especially when clients like Google are involved. I received this email from MPRM Communications in LA which, I assume, has Google on its roster. Note the absence of radio or any competing stream music services.

First, an executive summary:

Google Trends: Fetty Wap – “Trap Queen”
Google Play: Wiz Khalifa – “See You Again” (feat. Charlie Puth)
YouTube: Silentó – “Watch Me” (Whip / Nae Nae)

Google Trends

Top 10 Music artists in top searches on Google from the U.S. between Memorial Day and Labor Day:

1. Fetty Wap – Trap Queen
2. Taylor Swift – Bad Blood
3. OMI – Cheerleader
4. The Weeknd – The Hills
5. Rachel Platten – Fight Song
6. Bruno Mars – Uptown Funk
7. David Guetta – Hey Mama
8. T-Wayne – Nasty Freestyle
9. Ed Sheeran – Photograph
10. Jessie J – Flashlight

Google Play

Top 10 streamed songs on Google Play Music from the U.S. between Memorial Day and Labor Day:

1. Wiz Khalifa – See You Again (feat. Charlie Puth)
2. Fetty Wap – Trap Queen
3. The Weeknd – Earned It (Fifty Shades Of Grey) (From The “Fifty Shades Of Grey” Soundtrack)
4. WALK THE MOON – Shut Up and Dance
5. Ed Sheeran – Thinking Out Loud
6. Flo Rida – GDFR (feat. Sage The Gemini & Lookas)
7. OMI – Cheerleader (Felix Jaehn Remix Radio Edit)
8. Skrillex & Diplo – Where Are Ü Now (with Justin Bieber)
9. The Weeknd – Can’t Feel My Face
10. The Weeknd – The Hills

YouTube

Top 10 streamed songs, including official video and claimed versions, from the U.S. between Memorial Day and Labor Day and is made of combined views from the US from both official music videos and fan uploads. See below the list for additional key insights from YouTube:

1. Silentó – Watch Me (Whip / Nae Nae)
2. Fetty Wap – Trap Queen
3. Wiz Khalifa – See You Again (feat. Charlie Puth) – Universal Pictures Film Music
4. Taylor Swift – Bad Blood
5. OMI – Cheerleader – Felix Jaehn Remix Radio Edit
6. The Weeknd – The Hills
7. Mark Ronson – Uptown Funk ft. Bruno Mars
8. T-Wayne – Nasty Freestyle
9. Omarion – Post To Be (feat. Chris Brown & Jhene Aiko)
10. Fetty Wap – My Way (feat. Monty)

*Additional key insights from YouTube:

• “Watch Me” turning into a dance craze on YouTube propelled it to #1.
• One song from 2012 makes the Top 20 Summer Hits Worldwide (#17) and it’s the atypical, anti-summer song: a slow, touching adult-rock ballad.

• Over half of the Top 20 Summer Hits in U..S. are hip-hop.