Spotify predicts Songs Of Summer 2023, shares trending topics

Spotify has released its annual Songs of the Summer predictions along with a new Summer Heat Map and a list of summer musical trends.  

There are about 32 million user-generated summer playlists on Spotify.

Spotify’s predictions are based on streaming numbers, current trajectory, and future forecasting from Spotify’s global curation team. The data only reflects listening in the Northern Hemisphere unless otherwise noted.

SPOTIFY’S GLOBAL SONGS OF SUMMER PREDICTIONS

• “4EVA (feat. Pharrell Williams)” by KAYTRAMINÉ, Aminé
• “All My Life (feat. J.Cole)” by Lil Durk, J. Cole
• “Baby Don’t Hurt Me” by David Guetta, Anne-Marie, Coi Leray
• “Calm Down (with Selena Gomez)” by Rema, Selena Gomez
• “Cruel Summer” by Taylor Swift
• “Cupid – Twin Ver.” by FIFTY FIFTY
• “Dance The Night (From Barbie The Album)“ by Dua Lipa
• “Ella Baila Sola” by Eslabon Armado, Peso Pluma
• “Fast Car” by Luke Combs 
• “Favorite Song” by Toosii
• “Last Night” by Morgan Wallen
• “Miracle (with Ellie Goulding)” by Calvin Harris, Ellie Goulding
• “Moonlight” by Kali Uchis
• “Not Strong Enough” by boygenius
• “Peaches & Eggplants (feat. 21 Savage)” by Young Nudy, 21 Savage 
• “Rhyme Dust” by MK, Dom Dolla
• “Unavailable (feat. Musa Keys)” by Davido
• “VAGABUNDO” by Sebastian Yatra, Manuel Turizo, Beéle
• “What It Is (Solo Version)” by Doechii
• “WHERE SHE GOES” by Bad Bunny

SPOTIFY’S SUMMER STREAMING TRENDS

• It’s a Cruel Summer: 
  • When it comes to the most-streamed song with “summer” in the title, Taylor Swift’s “Cruel Summer” takes the cake with more than 96M+ streams between April 1 and May 30, 2023. Runners-up include “Summertime Sadness” by Lana Del Rey, “Summer” by Calvin Harris and “Summer of ‘69” by Bryan Adams.  
• Come on, Barbie! 
  • There are over 500,000 “Barbie” and “barbiecore” user-generated playlists on Spotify – with playlist creation spiking nearly 270% on May 26 after the Barbie film trailer was released. 
  • Some of the top tracks added to these “Barbie” playlists include “Barbie Girl” by Aqua; “Toxic” by Britney Spears; “Wannabe” by Spice Girls; “Oops!…I Did It Again” by Britney Spears; “Barbie Tingz” by Nicki Minaj; “California Gurls” by Katy Perry and Snoop Dogg; and “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” by Cyndi Lauper.  
• Calling all Coastal Cowgirls: 
  • Over the last three months, we’ve seen a nearly 2,000% increase in the creation of user generated “coastal cowgirl” playlists on Spotify – featuring laidback, sun-soaked sounds from artists like Zach Bryan, Kacey Musgraves, Taylor Swift, Fleetwood Mac, Leon Bridges, The Chicks, Miley Cyrus and John Mayer.  
• Let’s hit the courts: 
  • As the pickleball frenzy picks up around the world, we’ve seen a 205%+ increase in “pickleball” playlist streams in May 2023 compared to May 2022. 
  • Popular tracks include: “Don’t Stop Believin’” by Journey, “September” by Earth, Wind & Fire, “Sweet Home Alabama” by Lynyrd Skynyrd, and “Eye of the Tiger” by Survivor. 
• The Little Mermaid makes a big splash: 
  • Following the May 26 premiere of the film, global streams of The Little Mermaid’s soundtracks (both original and new) saw a nearly 230% spike in daily average streams. 
  • Standouts included Halle’s new rendition of “Part of Your World” and “For The First Time”, Awkwafina and Daveed Diggs’ “The Scuttlebutt”, and Jonah Hauer-King’s “Wild Uncharted Waters.”

Bruce Houghton is the Founder and Editor of Hypebot, a Senior Advisor at Bandsintown, President of the Skyline Artists Agency, and a Berklee College Of Music professor.