Formula for the ultimate summer song revealed: Popular tunes are energised and have just the right amount of 'danceability'

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Certain songs may forever remind you of summer romances, beach bars or sweaty clubs.

And now experts have revealed the formula for a creating a catchy summer song and which recent tunes follow the recipe for a chart-topping hit.

They found that a track needs specific levels of five attributes - tempo, ‘danceability,’ valence or happiness, ‘acousticness’ and energy.

Experts have revealed the formula to a creating a catchy summer song (shown in this diagram) and which recent tunes follow the recipe for a chart-topping hit

Holiday company First Choice joined forces with Spotify and its music intelligence agency The Echo Nest, based in Somerville, Massachusetts, to study the science behind the music.

Experts analysed the 150 most-streamed summer anthems from the past five years to uncover the trends and similarities between them.

The findings were compiled into a formula: Successful Summer Hit = Tempo + (Energy x 1.48) + (Danceability x 1.17) + (Acousticness x 0.17) + (Valence x 1.14).

This shows that a summer hit tends to sound more artificial than the average song, but slightly happier and energised, so people are more inclined to dance to it. 

The findings were compiled into a formula: Successful Summer Hit = Tempo + (Energy x 1.48) + (Danceability x 1.17) + (Acousticness x 0.17) + (Valence x 1.14). Another song that matches the forumla is Beyonce's Sweet Dreams. The songstress is pictured at the 57th annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles

Summer anthems tend to be upbeat and this energy represents the ‘intensity and powerful activity released throughout a track,’ shown by dynamic range, perceived loudness and timbre, or tone, the study said.

‘Danceability’ describes how suitable a track is for dancing to using a number of musical elements, including tempo, rhythm stability, beat strength, and overall regularity.

The experts measured the ‘acousticness’ of a track - whether it was created by a voice or traditional instruments, or electronic sounds that are synthesized or amplified.

‘Tracks with low acousticness include electric guitars, distortion, synthesizers, auto-tuned vocals, and drum machines, whereas songs with orchestral instruments, acoustic guitars, unaltered voice, and natural drum kits will have acousticness values closer to 1.0,’ the study said.

Valence describes the positivity of a track, so those with high valence sound the happiest.

Tested out against the most streamed summer anthems in Spotify’s library of 30 million songs, the formula perfectly matches some of the UK’s most recognisable summer tunes, including Katy Perry’s Last Friday Night, Beyonce’s Sweet Dreams and Jason Derulo’s Don’t Wanna Go Home.

It’s also been used to predict which songs we’ll have stuck in our heads this summer, because it’s been applied to some of the streaming site’s newest releases.

Using the formula, experts predict that Kygo’s Firestone, Robin Schulz’s Headlights and Jamie xx’s Loud Places should be floor fillers this summer.

‘Music is an enormously powerful prompt for the memory, and the right song has the power to instantly transport you back to a place in time,’ said Kevin Brown, of Spotify. 

Tested out against the most streamed summer anthems in Spotify’s library of 30 million songs, the formula perfectly matches some of the UK’s most recognisable summer tunes, including Katy Perry’s Last Friday Night. An image of the singer performing at the Pepsi Super Bowl Halftime Show is pictured

‘Summer hits can be the most powerful of all, as nothing takes us right back to a great summer holiday like the perfect summer song.

‘I look forward to finding out which hits from Summer 2015 will bring back amazing holiday memories in years to come.’

First Choice and Spotify are using the formula to power a new playlist generator which creates personalised summer soundtracks at the touch of a button. 

Luke Gaskins, Head of Music across First Choice resorts said: ‘Working with Spotify to identify what makes the ultimate summer track will help us shape the entertainment in our resorts and, with our new #SummerofMusic playlist generator, holidaymakers will be able to create the ultimate playlist for every stage of their holiday…from packing to poolside.’