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Could Taylor Swift have the song of summer?

Patrick Ryan  |  Paste BN

It's open season for this year's song-of-summer hopefuls.

The annual "contest" to see which infectious tune will define the sunny months ahead is already underway, but so far, no song is an odds-on favorite. While past title-holders such as Iggy Azalea (Fancy) and Carly Rae Jepsen (Call Me Maybe) were clear front-runners from the get-go, "it's not always obvious," says Billboard charts co-director Gary Trust, noting the showdown between Robin Thicke's Blurred Lines and Daft Punk's Get Lucky in 2013. "This just seems like a year where it's not absolutely clear-cut," and with so many factors that define a summertime smash, "it's a fun little competition to see what's No. 1. It's a mix of what's already out there and the surprise element, that's why I think we all follow it."

Before you place your bets, consider these five candidates leading the pack:

See You Again, Wiz Khalifa feat. Charlie Puth

  • No. 1 peak on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart
  • 2.9 million downloads sold, according to Nielsen SoundScan
  • 525 million YouTube views
  • 221 million Spotify streams
  • 7.7 million Shazams

Why it could win: The emotional Furious 7 anthem (a tribute to late actor Paul Walker) has already spent nine weeks at the Hot 100's summit, interrupted only by Taylor Swift's Bad Blood the week following the Billboard Music Awards. Could it keep its engines running through the season, or might it have peaked too early? "It still has a comfortable lead on Bad Blood on the weekly Hot 100 for now," Trust says. "Even though it's a slow rap ballad and not what you'd typically associate with a fun, uptempo summer track, the numbers are proving it's certainly going to be way up there — if not No. 1 — for the summer."

Bad Blood, Taylor Swift feat. Kendrick Lamar

  • No. 1 peak on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart
  • 1.5 million downloads sold, according to Nielsen SoundScan
  • 229 million YouTube views
  • 665,000 Shazams

Why it could win: There's no artist more pervasive than Taylor Swift right now. After debuting her much-hyped, star-studded Bad Blood music video at the Billboard awards last month, the Kendrick Lamar remix became her third No. 1 single off mega-hit album 1989 (joining Shake it Off and Blank Space). Its arrival at the start of the season bodes well for its song-of-summer chances, Trust says. "Airplay is really catching up to its early sales and streaming, so there's a very good chance that if See You Again starts to come down, Bad Blood is waiting to go back to No.1 and have a good chunk of the summer" in the top spot.

Cheerleader (Felix Jaehn remix), OMI

  • No. 7 peak on the Hot 100
  • 641,000 downloads sold
  • 136 million YouTube views
  • 247 million Spotify streams
  • 241,000 Shazams

Why it could win: You may just be getting to know Jamaican singer OMI, but people across the globe have been singing along to this remix by German producer Felix Jaehn for a while. Like Clean Bandit's Rather Be, which was a hit in Europe months before crossing over stateside last summer, Cheerleader reached No. 1 on Shazam's global chart without any U.S. airplay, says Peter Szabo, head of music for the song-identification app. It's "got the reggae vibe, which really allows it to be a song-of-summer contender, but its reaction in other countries has made us really confident it'll be a huge song in the U.S. as well."

Want to Want Me, Jason Derulo

  • No. 5 peak on the Hot 100
  • 1.2 million downloads sold
  • 60 million YouTube views
  • 111 million Spotify streams
  • 4.7 million Shazams

Why it could win: The '80s are alive and well on top-40 radio, with Walk the Moon imploring you to Shut Up and Dance and Jason Derulo crooning his latest, Want to Want Me. Although the R&B singer's new album, Everything is 4, debuted to a disappointing 22,000 copies sold its first week, according to Nielsen SoundScan, the singles-driven hitmaker has notched his 14th Hot 100 hit in Want to Want Me. Since its release this spring, "it's shot up the chart and sales have been solid, and continue to grow each week," says Marissa Morris, iHeartMedia's vice president of artist relations. "It has a strong melody and hook, and that '80s pop sound really seems to be coming back in pop music."

Lean On, Major Lazer and DJ Snake feat. MØ

  • No. 20 peak on the Hot 100
  • 384,000 downloads sold
  • 175 million YouTube views
  • 197 million Spotify streams
  • 8 million Shazams

Why it could win: Every race needs a dark horse, and Lean Onmight be it in this year's song-of-summer contest. While its chart peak and sales haven't yet matched those of other dance hits such as David Guetta's Hey Mama, Jack Ü's Where Are Ü Now or DJ Snake and AlunaGeorge's You Know You Like It, the feel-good song handily laps those singles on streaming, with more YouTube views for its music video than the other three combined. Lean On has "been at the top of our charts for a little while," Szabo says (now the fourth most popular song on Shazam). "The way it was produced with a little EDM and a little bit of hip-hop really seems to be resonating with our audience."

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