What was the top Song of Summer 2014?
No definitive song but an edgier sound emerged at CHR this summer. CHR didn’t net a song that epitomized the summer of 2014 but it did give rise to a new crop of edgier, rhythmic acts that offer a hint of where the format is heading. Five of the top six most-played CHR songs of the summer were from debut releases, including Iggy Azalea, whose high-velocity rap put her own “Fancy” in the summer’s top five and helped propel Ariana’s Grande’s “Problem” into the top three. “Fancy” was inescapable this summer, shooting to No. 1 at CHR, rhythmic and urban. “This was her summer more than anybody’s,” Radio Animal Media Consulting president Dom Theodore says. It was a big summer for crossovers as the top five most-played songs all went to No. 1 at other formats. Even as EDM continued to dominate CHR, smashes from Azalea, Rude! and Sam Smith helped slow the format’s tempo down with lower-BPM sounds. In sharp contrast to 2012, when pure pop ruled, this summer saw CHR move away from the musi