A live performance from Jess Glynne, whose ‘Hold My Hand’ has topped the 2025 TikTok Songs of the Summer list. Photo Credit: Cal Holman
Catalog tracks are continuing to find new listeners on TikTok, where the 2025 “Songs of the Summer” have an average release year of 2011.
That average comes from the global Songs of the Summer list, though the ByteDance-owned platform also disclosed the top-performing music in the U.S. as well as the U.K.
Regarding the “top-performing” descriptor, TikTok said it’d based the rankings “on creations and video views over the summer 2025 period.”
Diving into the worldwide list, then, Jess Glynne’s “Hold My Hand” (2015) claimed the uppermost spot, followed by the Black Eyed Peas’ “Rock That Body” (2009), “Dame Un Grrr” by Fantomel and Kate Linn (2025), Jeezy’s “Soul Survivor” (2005), and Connie Francis’ “Pretty Little Baby” (1962), respectively.
In order, rounding out the list’s latter half are Mila J’s “My Main” (2014), El Alfa’s “Suave” (2018), Moliy’s “Shake It to the Max (Fly)” (2024), PinkPantheress’ “Illegal” (2025), and Kesha’s “Your Love Is My Drug” (2010).
Interestingly, each of those tracks released either during 2024-25 or over five years ago. And without seventh-ranked “Suave”, the five-year minimum would jump to a decade.
Shifting to the U.S. Songs of the Summer, “Hold My Hand” once again ranked first, with “Soul Survivor” climbing to second, “Rock That Body” slipping to third, Radiohead’s “Let Down” taking fourth, and Pluto’s “Whim Whamiee” (2025) rounding out the top five.
“Pretty Little Baby” secured the sixth spot on the U.S. list, which, given the presence of Taylor Swift’s seventh-ranked “You Belong With Me” (2008), seemingly accounts for efforts from particularly well-known artists.
Although that might appear obvious, logic suggests that TikTok-powered promo campaigns (like for Miley Cyrus’ newest album) could potentially propel high-profile releases towards all sorts of consumption records.
But at least based on the available info, viral trends are even more effective at driving organic in-app results and then broader commercial trends.
Meanwhile, “Hold My Hand” also topped the U.K.’s Songs of the Summer list. The latter largely features the same top-five works as its U.S. counterpart – albeit in a different order and with “Whim Whamiee” swapping out for “Tyrant” (2024) by Beyoncé and Dolly Parton.
Unsurprisingly, TikTok took the opportunity to tout its perceived music-discovery capabilities, with global head of music business development Tracy Gardner indicating “that any artist, from anywhere in the world, can find an audience on TikTok.”
Evidently, these capabilities aren’t confined to specific songs or artists themselves; Tomorrowland 2025 content is said to have made a significant splash on the app, where a music-centered global ad campaign kicked off late last month.
