'Song of the Summer' Is Probably Already Out

So what will the song of the summer be for 2015? It's only early May, but as Walt Hickey at FiveThirtyEight writes, radio listeners have probably already heard it. Going back to 1985, about 72% of the top summer songs came out in May or earlier. But more significantly, that trend has accelerated in the last decade, when "song of the summer" became "a thing," writes Hickey. That is, record companies are now trying to create a winner rather than having one emerge more organically. His evidence? Since 2005, eight of the 10 top summer songs debuted in April or earlier.

"What this really means is that it's a good time to get used to the top songs on streaming or radio right now, because you may be hearing them all summer," writes Hickey. (Click for his full post.)