Spotify is launching the “Songs of Summer Predictions” playlist with 30 songs to choose the summer hit of 2026. Users can choose their favorite using the voting function in the app.
And every year the search for the summer hit of the year greets you. Spotify takes a look into the crystal ball and creates the first shortlist for a potential summer soundtrack. Whether the prediction is right?
Summer sounds like a sprinkler system, a muffled bass from the JBL Go-Box and the fruitless sipping of cold drink residue through a straw. What also shouldn’t be missing: an ultimate summer anthem. One that’s sticky like spilling Calippo Cola – so that in ten years we’ll still hear the intro on the radio and be thrown back to that one summer. What was “Despacito” for 2017 and Shirin David’s “Belly Legs Butt” for 2024. It’s nothing less than the question: How will we remember the summer of 2026 in the future? Spotify is now sending the first candidates into the race and wants to know from its users which horse they are betting on.
The choice of the summer hit
Whether dance songs, Afrobeats, country or sadboy anthems – the 30 tracks in Spotify’s “Songs of Summer Predictions” playlist bridge the gap between a wide variety of tastes and genres. Spotify users should now cast their vote on which mood best embodies their summer. With a “vote” function in the Spotify app, one of the thirty pre-selected songs can be chosen as your personal summer hit directly in the playlist. The decision can then be shared on social media.
Has the streaming provider hired fortune tellers for this? Every year Spotify tries to predict – and help determine – the summer hit of the year: the pre-selection filters out top contenders. Does this mean that all the songs that didn’t make it into the 30 chosen ones no longer have a chance? The summer hit is actually an extremely organic affair. It is not fought for or determined – it just happens. Spotify is relying more on the interaction of its subscribers this year: they should vote – this makes the summer hit prediction more grassroots. But does this really require a vote? Isn’t just streaming your own catchy song to death a tick in the voting booth?
In the end, the collective catchy tune decides
Some creators on social media find that the preselection leaves a lot to be desired and that the actual song of the summer cannot be found there – for example Charli XCX’s “Spring Summer 2026”. Others are sure that the summer hit has been a done deal since April: “Midnight Sun” by Zara Larsson. So why vote when the queen has already been crowned?
Ultimately, summer hits are more about gut feeling than rational selection. Spotify can give tips through its playlist and also steer general tendencies somewhat. At the end of the summer, however, the collective earworm that crawls through the ear canals of the masses alone decides who really deserves the title of “Song of the Summer”.
