The Summer Buzz: Cicadas And Mariah Carey

Kelefa Sanneh of the New York Times is suggesting that this year’s song of the summer is Mariah Carey’s sublime ballad ‘We Belong Together’, not Rihanna’s ‘Pon de Replay’ or Gwen Stefani’s ‘Hollaback Girl’. Why? Just look at the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Sanneh writes, “After last week, when Attorney General Eliot Spitzer of New York got Sony BMG Music Entertainment to pay a fine of $10 million for improper promotional practices, listeners may be especially skeptical of songs that monopolize radio the way Ms. Carey’s song has. But as she can attest, money and fame are not enough to prevent a big star from releasing a big flop. Even the cleverest promotional campaign is not enough to persuade the country’s radio stations to play a single song a quarter of a million times in three months. And this summer, everyone seems to be singing her song.” Read more.