How much do Christmas songs earn in royalties?
Unwrapping the staggering earnings of holiday hits, a recent report reveals how much artists are expected to earn from their festive songs.
A gift that keeps on giving
For musicians and songwriters, crafting a Christmas hit is like striking gold. These festive tunes not only ignite the festive spirit every December, but also generate consistent revenue year after year.
The allure of festive hits is so strong as countless artists aim to create the next timeless classic, with Sabrina Carpenter seemingly being the latest pop artist to hop on the trend with her increasingly popular holiday EP “Fruitcake”.
With Mariah Carey’s “All I Want For Christmas Is You” recently becoming the first holiday song to hit 2 billion streams on Spotify, the question arises: how much do these songs actually earn in royalties?
Top-earning Christmas songs of 2024
According to a recent report, the top 20 most popular Christmas songs on Spotify could earn up to $88 million in streaming royalties by December 27th. Here are the top 10 and their predicted earnings:
1. $7.34 million (over 1.83 billion streams).
2. $5.9 million (over 1.47 billion streams).
3. $5.35 million (over 1.33 billion streams).
4. $4.61 million (over 1.15 billion streams).
5. $3.71 million (over 929,000 streams).
6. $3.62 million (over 905,000 streams).
7. $3.61 million (over 904,000 streams).
8. $3.54 million (over 886,000 streams).
9. $3.19 million (over 798,000 streams).
10. $3.15 million (over 789,000 streams).
Whilst these numbers indicate the lucrative earning potential of holiday hits, we must be reminded that streaming royalties only form part of the equation. Christmas songs also generate income through physical sales, advertising, TV shows and films, and cover versions.
George Howard, Associate Professor of Music Business and Management at Berklee College of Music
Putting it into perspective
Despite highlighting the immense earnings of festive classics, these figures must be taken with a pinch of salt. Firstly, these are just estimates based on Spotify’s streaming data, with the popularity of the top 10 songs likely differing across platforms. As the data is estimated, the figures also differ between reports.
In fact, determining how much a song earns per stream is no simple task. Most streaming platforms utilise a pro-rata payment model, allocating total monthly revenue between artists based on their number of streams in that period. Other factors include:
- Listener tier: Whether the listener is a paying subscriber or on an ad-supported free account.
- Location: Different countries have varying payout rates.
- Total streams: Total monthly streams on the platform impact the allocation between artists.
- Platform agreements: Deals between streaming services and record labels influence payouts.
On top of this, the amount actually received by the artist is impacted by whether they are signed or not. Independent artists can often retain a higher percentage of their payout from streaming platforms, whereas label-signed artists may only receive 5% to 50% of the payout depending on their contract.
For independent artists, platforms like RouteNote empower independent artists to take control of their earnings. By choosing RouteNote’s premium plan, artists retain 100% of their streaming revenue, bypassing any cuts taken by labels and keeping more of what they’ve earned.
Your festive hit awaits
Creating a Christmas classic may not be easy, but the potential revenues are undeniable. Whether it’s streaming royalties, licensing deals, or cover versions, holiday hits are a gift that keeps on giving. If you’re planning to release your own festive masterpiece, I can certainly see why.