Yesterday Spotify released a playlist of 15 tracks that are their picks for songs of the summer, an arbitrary delineation used to describe whichever song you like the most in June and hate the most in September. It is thus impossible to deem a “song of the summer” in advance—it’s something we perceive blearily during its reign and only know conclusively in the colder months, as its earworms haunt us, inspiring immediate revulsion the second it flips on the radio. In order to create their list, Spotify formed a brain trust of “its genre and trend experts,” as well as perused its own data and “factored in buzz on social media.” All of which begs the question: Where the fuck is Carly Rae Jepsen’s new single, “Cut To The Feeling”? Have they not been on the internet in the past two weeks? Do they have a pulse? Will they be issuing a retraction and formal apology in the days to come?
It’s unclear. Here’s what they did go with:
Your mileage will vary here. The Selena Gomez, DJ Khaled, and Lil Uzi Vert tracks are all a lot of fun, but no one really thinks these Future or Kendrick cuts are going to go on to be synonymous with barbecues in this era of American pop culture, and also fuck Imagine Dragons. Other songs, like those by Shawn Mendes and Katy Perry, are not exactly great, but are the sort of innocuous “good time” pop that could very well go on to ubiquity as the months wear on.
Stranger things have happened—like, for example, Spotify somehow not including Carly Rae Jepsen on this list.