Christmas royalties explained: how holiday music generates seasonal revenues each year

Picture this. 

It’s December. You’re decorating your tree with a Christmas playlist playing on Spotify. You go shopping for gifts and the stores are looping holiday songs. You drive home while Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas” is playing on the radio. You turn on the TV and holiday ads feature the same evergreen titles.

Have you ever wondered how this translates into royalties (i.e. earnings) for the songwriters, producers, performing artists, record labels and publishers behind those songs?

Read this article to explore the factors that make Christmas songs’ earnings peak every year, and why this seasonality has increased interest in Christmas royalties as an investable asset. 

Why is Christmas repertoire one of the clearest examples of seasonality in royalties?

Christmas repertoire is one of the clearest examples of structured seasonality across recorded music and compositions. Demand concentrates in a short, recurring window that typically builds from late November and peaks in December.

According to Luminate, in the United States, holiday music reaches up to 10% of total U.S. on-demand audio streaming (ODA) during its peak week near Christmas, as of 2024.

From an economic perspective, investors' interest in Christmas royalties is linked to both the scale and the recurring nature of this seasonal demand. From a catalogue perspective, over time, the seasonality creates a recurrent annual pattern that can be assessed across multiple years.

Which channels are driving the spike in royalties for Christmas songs every year?

December is the month when Christmas songs take over almost every space: radio, streaming playlists, films, advertising, and background music in shops, bars and restaurants are all in sync with the season.

But which of these channels actually contributes the most to the increase in performance observed by the music rights holders of Christmas songs?

In the next sections, we will look at them one by one.

How do Spotify playlists amplify Christmas streaming royalties?

Among the key drivers behind the seasonality of Christmas songs’ royalties, streaming plays a central role, and playlists are one of its most powerful mechanisms. 

By simply typing “Christmas” in the Spotify search bar and filtering by “Playlists”, you may notice that editorial playlists such as “Christmas Hits” (7.7 million saves),  “Christmas Classics” (3.5 million saves) or “R&B Christmas” can range from millions of saves to hundreds of thousands, depending on the playlist.

From family gatherings to shops, bars and restaurants, these playlists can run for hours every day across thousands of homes and venues worldwide. This increases repeated plays of Christmas tracks at scale.

One family or one shop is marginal. Hundreds of thousands of families and venues doing this simultaneously becomes a meaningful seasonal engine for both master and publishing royalties, as each play can generate income for both the sound recording and the underlying composition’s rights holders.

Navigate to our article “How do streaming platforms distribute royalties to music rights holders?” to discover more. 

How does radio airplay amplify the seasonal peak of Christmas royalties?

Think about it: between November and December, a good part of radio programming shifts toward high-frequency rotation of evergreen Christmas titles, from Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You” to Michael Bublé’s “Holly Jolly Christmas”.

This increased airplay can drive a seasonal lift in public performance royalties for songwriters and publishers, usually collected by local Performing Rights Organisations (PROs) such as BMI and ASCAP in the US or SACEM, SIAE, GEMA and BumaStemra in Europe.

In many countries, radio can also contribute to neighbouring rights income linked to the sound recording. In the US, for instance, this is more relevant for non-interactive digital radio (such as SiriusXM or Pandora) rather than traditional AM/FM broadcasts.

Moreover, beyond direct broadcast-related earnings, radio often acts as a catalyst for streaming. Audience reactivation through broadcast can translate into additional listening at home and in cars, reinforcing the broader seasonal performance observed across channels.

Do TV shows, movies, and advertising influence the earnings of Christmas songs? (Spoiler: yes!)

From commercials on TV and YouTube to the use of music in movies, TV shows and online series, the holiday season often triggers renewed demand for evergreen Christmas titles.

When a brand or production wants to use a specific composition and recording in audio-visual content, they typically need two permissions: a synchronization license for the composition (publishing rights) and a master use license for the recording (master rights). These fees are often grouped under the broader umbrella of “sync”.

This helps explain why certain classics keep resurfacing year after year across films, TV, and advertising. According to website FiveThirtyEight, as further cited by Forbes, “Jingle Bells” is the song that appeared the most on movie soundtracks, appearing in 373 movies since 1857. “Auld Lang Syne” is listed in 295 movie soundtracks, placing it second, while “Silent Night” comes third with 254.

When is the Christmas royalties peak reflected on royalty statements?

One last point to keep in mind when talking about Christmas royalties is reporting timing. 

The listening peak happens in late November and December, but the related earnings rarely appear immediately in royalty statements. Most royalty distributors and collecting societies report and pay royalties with a lag, often around three to six months, and in some cases longer depending on the source, territory, and type of royalty. 

This means that if you hold shares in a music catalogues that feature Christmas royalties, part of the Christmas uplift may show up in Q4 or H2 statements, which can be paid between 3 to 6 months later than in December itself, and occasionally can roll into later reporting cycles. 

This delay is a normal feature of royalty accounting, and it is worth considering when tracking the seasonality of Christmas catalogues over time.

In conclusion, why do Christmas songs peak so strongly in December?

By December, Christmas songs are everywhere, and that matters economically. The same titles move across playlists, radio, shops, family gatherings, TV shows, movies, and holiday campaigns in a concentrated seasonal pattern of holiday music consumption. 

When multiple listening behaviours reinforce each other in the same weeks, the royalty effect becomes much stronger than any single channel could create alone. That is why the Christmas repertoire remains one of the most clear examples of how traditions can translate into seasonality in the royalties generated year after year.

On the ANote Music platform, Christmas songs (and not only) can also be part of your portfolio, rather than only featuring in your Spotify playlists. The seasonal effects discussed in this article can be observed in catalogues where Christmas titles play a central role in performance, such as the Christmas & Singles – Destiny’s Child Manager Catalogue.

Curious to explore titles on our platform that may also fit your holiday season playlists? Discover our dedicated ANote Spotify Christmas Playlist. Hit play while you navigate the platform, share it with your friends, or simply discover the songs that may also be part of your portfolio.

* Disclaimer: Historical data does not guarantee future returns and should not be considered financial advice. Like all financial opportunities, music royalties carry risk. Catalogue performance can vary, and there are no guaranteed returns. Always review historical data and platform information carefully.