As summer comes to a close, it is always fun to stop and think about all the memories from the season. Every year there are new experiences to reminisce about—but almost every summer, there is a song that was your anthem for the season.
The summer music scene has artists of every genre competing for that No. 1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100. Whether an artist is trying to make a comeback like Justin Timberlake, or continue their musical hierarchy like Jay-Z, the summer brings out the best in artists.
Sophomore Journalism major Anika Reed noticed that the radio showcased music from all different genres.
“ ‘Wagon Wheel’ by Darius Rucker was huge in the beginning of the summer, but then songs like ‘Ho Hey’ by The Lumineers and ‘Blurred Lines’ by Robin Thicke were huge hits too,” Reed said.
People have differing tastes in music, so radio stations must play music to reach a large audience. However, the songs that are top-rated often are played every single hour leading some to just turn off the music.
“’‘Mirrors’ by Justin Timberlake and ‘Get Lucky’ by Daft Punk and Pharrell were definitely overplayed. I couldn’t listen to the radio anymore because I loved those songs too much to get tired of them,” Reed said.
Just because one person gets tired of hearing a song, however, does not mean that someone has to stop listening to it. Junior Music major Lauren Arel chose ‘Mirrors’ as her top choice, even though it is overplayed on the airwaves.
Arel did not necessarily like hearing the same types of musical styles being used in the majority of the songs that she heard on the radio.
“I think that the songs on the radio are very similar (similar lyrics, similar beats and styles)…” Arel said. “Every channel you switched to was playing the same song as the last.”
The songs that are repeated on station after station are most likely the top-rated songs, however. On August 16, Billboard released an article that lists the 27 songs that have spent at least 10 weeks at No. 1 on the Hot 100.
‘Blurred Lines’ by Robin Thicke (feat. Pharrell and T.I.) just passed that milestone. The last song to master that feat was ‘We Found Love’ by Rihanna (feat. Calvin Harris).
While Thicke’s summer hit may not have been your summer favorite, it is evident that at least one song is already breaking records. It looks like 2014 has some big shoes to fill. The big question for 2014 is, who will create the next radio jam?
For now, here are the songs I could not stop listening to this summer!
5. ‘Treasure’ by Bruno Mars
4. ‘Radioactive’ by Imagine Dragons
3. ‘Take Back the Night’ by Justin Timberlake
2. ‘Blurred Lines’ by Robin Thicke (feat. Pharrell feat. T.I.)
1. ‘Crooked Smile’ J. Cole (feat. TLC)
Tell HerCampus what your summer favorites were right in the comments!!