The Biggest Christmas Cover Songs and Who Owns Them
It’s not Christmas without hearing your festive favourites blasted on repeat – but who wrote the original version and who owns the composition?
1. White Christmas by Irving Berlin (1942)
Although ‘White Christmas’ was always originally sung by Bing Crosby, it was written for the musical film ‘Holiday Inn’ in 1942 by the composer Irving Berlin. It is the best selling physical single of all time with 50 million sales, and has been covered countless times.
Our Favourite Covers?
- Michael Buble (feat. Shania Twain) in 2011.
- The Beach Boys in 1964.
- Lady Gaga in 2011.
Who Owns The Composition?
The composition is owned by ‘The Irving Berlin Music Company’ which looks after the songs licences and sheet music with publishing administration by Concord Music.
2. Santa Claus Is Comin’ To Town by J. Fred Coots & Haven Gillespie (1934)
First recorded by Harry Reser (a famous banjo player of the 1920s) and his band, it was quickly picked up and covered by the comedian Eddie Cantor on his popular radio show in 1934. After this, it reached number one in the sheet music charts with over 500,000 copies of sheet music being sold within the year.
Our Favourite Covers?
- The Pointer Sisters in 1987.
- Jackson Five in 1970.
- Dolly Parton in 1990.
Who Owns The Composition?
As Mr Coots passed away in 2007, the family and heirs of the composition terminated the 1981 Publishing Agreement that Coots had in place with EMI. They now retain full copyright ownership that is set to expire in 2029 with publishing administration mostly controlled by SOLAR Music Rights Management.
3. Sleigh Ride by Leroy Anderson (1948)
Performed by The Boston Pops, Sleigh Ride was originally an orchestral piece with lyrics first being added to the song in 1950 by Mitchell Parish. According to the Performance Rights Organisation ASCAP, Sleigh Ride is consistently ranked as the most popular piece of Christmas music in the USA with it last being number one in 2021.
Our Favourite Covers?
- The Ronettes in 1963.
- Sufjan Stevens in 2012.
- Ella Fitzgerald in 1960.
Who Owns The Composition?
Leroy Anderson founded his own Music Publisher and Company to look after his copyright called Woodbury Music Company in 1961. They are members of ASCAP, the National Music Publishers Association and the National Association of Music Merchants.
4. Winter Wonderland by Felix Bernard and Richard B. Smith (1934)
Starting off as a poem by Richard Smith, it was written whilst Smith was being treated for tuberculosis and watching children playing in the snow from his window. He later showed the poem to his friend Felix Bernard who created the composition – sadly Smith passed away at the age of 34 in 1934 before he was able to see the song’s success. Winter Wonderland rose to fame with its performance by Richard Himber and Joey Nash.
Our Favourite Covers?
- Dean Martin in 1966.
- Aretha Franklin in 1964.
- Leona Lewis in 2013.
Who Owns The Composition?
The song was originally published by Bregman, Cocco and Conn who were American composers of popular music and music publishers that formed in 1937. The firm was sold in 1967 to 20th Century Fox for $4.5 million. The publishing is now administered by EMI Feist Catalog, Inc who are a subsidiary of Universal Music.
Have you written any original Christmas songs?
The Christmas holiday is a period that is built from tradition, and because of this, we all love to listen to the same Christmas songs every year over the season.
All of these Christmas songs were made famous by the artists who covered them, and they will continue to generate compositional royalties for all the families of these composers until the copyright runs out.
Could your Christmas song be the next Christmas hit? Make sure to sign up to RouteNote Publishing so your worldwide compositional royalties are being looked after when your festive tune takes off!