Topline
Alex Warren’s chart-topping ballad “Ordinary” is this summer’s most popular song by the numbers, but critics and music fans have lamented that this summer seemed to have few breakout hits as the charts were led by slower songs and holdovers from 2024.
Alex Warren’s song “Ordinary” is this summer’s most-streamed hit. (Photo by Lyvans Boolaky/WireImage)
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Key Facts
“Ordinary” was the most-streamed song this summer on Spotify, the streaming service said Wednesday, and it also ranks No. 1 on Billboard’s Songs of the Summer chart, which is updated weekly based on the summer’s best-performing songs considering sales, streaming and radio data.
But music critics have noted few new songs made a dent in the charts this summer: Of the top 10 on Billboard’s Songs of the Summer chart, only five were released this year as some 2024 smashes, like Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars’ “Die with a Smile” and Kendrick Lamar and SZA’s “Luther,” continue to dominate.
This summer’s hits also seem to lack the upbeat energy of 2024’s summer smashes like Sabrina Carpenter’s “Espresso” or Shaboozey’s “A Bar Song (Tipsy)”—behind “Ordinary,” the next three songs on Billboard’s summer chart are all Morgan Wallen country ballads.
Critics’ lists declaring this year’s songs of the summer have largely skipped the chart-toppers, as lists from both the New York Times and the Guardian have almost zero overlap with either Spotify’s picks or the Billboard chart.
Why Are Critics Saying There May Not Be A Song Of The Summer?
Critics have lamented the lack of breakout hits this year. On an episode of Slate’s Culture Gabfest podcast, Slate writer and music critic Chris Molanphy called the options for this year’s song of the summer “hazy” and “boring,” calling 2024 a much better summer for hit songs. “There are two problems with this year’s song of summer competition,” Molanphy said, stating one is “some of the songs that were competing last year are still on the damn chart.” The other problem, Molanphy said, is that “there is actually a very clear victor for song of the summer, it’s just kind of a snooze of a song,” referring to “Ordinary.” NPR music writer Stephen Thompson wrote earlier this month “Ordinary” is the song of the summer “based on raw chart numbers, but it’s hardly a windows-down beach banger like, say, ‘Espresso.’” Thompson said many of this year’s summer song contenders feel “so stale,” blaming streaming algorithms and radio airplay for making hit songs stick around the top of the charts for “what feels like an eternity,” referring to hits like “Die With a Smile” and “Luther.” The Guardian music writer Sam Wolfson suggested there is no song of the summer this year, noting new releases from artists like Justin Bieber, The Weeknd and Miley Cyrus didn’t produce any smash hits. Wolfson noted Carpenter’s 2025 song “Manchild,” which hit No. 1 this summer, couldn’t recreate the huge success of her 2024 smash hits “Espresso” and “Please Please Please.”
What Have Critics Picked As The Song Of The Summer?
While acknowledging there “might not be a clear ‘Espresso’ this season,” The Guardian journalists picked songs including PinkPantheress’s TikTok-viral song “Illegal,” Haim’s “Relationships” and Addison Rae’s “Headphones On” as deserving of the song of the summer title. The New York Times consulted 10 “tastemakers,” ranging from actor Jeff Goldblum to New York mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani, to compile a songs of the summer list. The Times list, including picks ranging from Bieber’s “Daisies” to Laufey’s “Lover Girl,” didn’t overlap at all with the top summer songs according to the Billboard charts. British music publication NME also selected songs from Haim and PinkPantheress alongside “Gnarly” by the buzzy pop group Katseye and “Catch These Fists” by the Grammy-winning group Wet Leg.
Big Number
Around 940 million. That’s how many streams Warren’s “Ordinary” has on Spotify.
Surprising Fact
Last year, all but one of the top 10 songs on Billboard’s 2024 Songs of the Summer chart were released that year, including hits like Carpenter’s “Espresso,” Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us” and Morgan Wallen and Post Malone’s “I Had Some Help.” In 2025, only half of the top 10 on Billboard’s Songs of the Summer chart were actually released this year.
Further Reading
Do we have a song of the summer this year? (NPR)
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/conormurray/2025/08/27/summer-songs-ordinary-tops-charts-but-critics-question-whether-theres-a-song-of-the-summer-this-year/
