What's the 2026 song of the summer? It depends who you ask.

Every year between Memorial Day and Labor Day, a song emerges as the anthem of the summer. It used to be obvious: In 2017 it was "Despacito," in 2012 it was "Call Me Maybe" and in 1996 it was "Macarena" — all major season-defining hits inescapable across radio stations and personal playlists.

As the algorithms on streaming services and social media sites increasingly personalize our listening habits, though, no one can really agree on what the one true song of this summer is.

Let's start by dissecting the most popular songs of the summer on each platform.

Spotify wouldn't pinpoint just one song of the summer. Instead, its editors selected five "by weighing streaming data, cultural impact and their own editorial expertise." The songs were Ella Langley's "Choosin' Texas," Sam Fender and Olivia Dean's "Rein Me In," Shakira and Burna Boy's "Dai Dai," Yung Miami's "Spend Dat" and Ariana Grande's "Hate That I Made You Love Me."

One of my favorite platforms for vibe-checking the state of music is Touchtunes, an app that lets you pay to select which song plays at a venue, like a virtual jukebox. Langley's "Choosin' Texas" dominated its song of the summer list. In fact, she's all over it. Here's the full top 10, as shared with Yahoo:

Top Frontline Venue Plays (released less than 18 months ago)

BigXthaPlug (feat. Ella Langley) - "Hell at Night"

Billboard, which considers data across streaming platforms, sales and radio, also had "Choosin' Texas" in the top spot. It makes sense: The song has shattered just about every possible record in the last few months . At this point, it's hard to imagine any other song ending the year bigger.

TikTok did things a little differently, picking a song of the summer that took us back in time. The platform didn't share its methodology for determining its list of top songs, but it made a compelling case for putting Katy Perry's 2010 hit "The One That Got Away" in the top spot, pointing out that it's been used in 42 million videos, which have generated over 55 billion views.

If the hard data puts Langley's biggest hit on top, then that's technically our answer. But there are a lot of outspoken non-country listeners out there who don't feel like that song represents the vibe of summer at all.

"The way I can't even hum the melody.. nothing. Who even plays this song?" one X user wrote of "Choosin' Texas." Any time that song breaks another record, which is frequently, a chorus of confused pop music fans appears on social media , asking, "What is this and why haven't I heard it?" Other commenters advocated for other songs to reign supreme — something by Drake, Olivia Rodrigo or Taylor Swift, who all have new music out. All popular, but none the top dog.

For the record, since 2023, many country (or at least twangy) songs have dominated the summer months. Morgan Wallen is a mainstay — "Last Night" claimed 2023 , then "I Had Some Help (feat. Post Malone)" took 2024 . "What I Want (feat. Tate McRae)" came in second place in 2025, behind Alex Warren's "Ordinary," one of many popular secular praise music songs .

When I asked music enthusiasts at Coachella in April for their too-early song of the summer predictions, several of them told me they were sick of country's dominance. Alas, it continues with someone other than Wallen on top.

The reason there are so many mini songs of summer may be simple: Monoculture is dead . One massive song no longer unites us. If you don't like country music, you never have to hear it. So many of us are living in echo chambers calibrated by algorithms to fit our specific tastes and, you know, sometimes influenced by advertising .

We may never be able to agree on a song of summer again. Instead, we'll have our own individual top tracks to reflect on. That's fun … but what's going to get people on the dance floor at summer weddings or singing along at barbecues? Bruno Mars, perhaps .