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On The Table Read Magazine, “the best entertainment magazine in the UK“, research into Spotify streaming data has revealed the top earning Christmas song of the past 50 years!

Top Earning Christmas Song

As the festive season approaches, the air is filled with the melodies of cherished Christmas songs. These timeless tunes evoke memories of childhood, family gatherings, and the magic of the holiday season. But beyond their sentimental value, some Christmas songs have also amassed impressive financial returns, earning their composers and performers substantial royalties over the years.

Join us as we embark on a musical journey to uncover the top-earning Christmas songs of the last 50 years. These compositions have transcended their festive origins, becoming enduring financial successes that continue to generate revenue long after the holiday season ends.

Research conducted by CSGO gambling site CSGOLuck into Christmas songs released in the past 50 years determined the most streamed songs on Spotify and each song’s estimated earnings. The research also looked at the ‘playlist reach’ for each song, which examines how many user-created Spotify playlists include the song.

Christmas music provides a sense of nostalgia, tradition and memories, becoming a fundamental part of the holiday season.  

Social media once again has revealed its power, as you would expect more classic Christmas songs to rank within the top 10. Most of the songs in the ranking have been, to some extent, trending on TikTok or Instagram, resulting in a surge of streams. Despite that, seeing an even blend of modern-day and classic songs on everyone’s holiday playlist is great this year.

-a spokesperson for CSGOLuck
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Last Christmas

The study revealed that Wham!’s 1986 release, Last Christmas, is the most streamed Christmas song released in the past 50 years. The song has amassed a whopping 1.9 billion streams on Spotify alone, with this number expected to increase as we enter this year’s holiday season. The song alone has earned an estimated $15,356,729 in royalties from Spotify and has a playlist reach of 39 million. 

All I Want For Christmas Is You

Surprisingly, in second place is Mariah Carey’s All I Want for Christmas Is You. The 1994 Christmas classic has been played over 1.4 billion times on Spotify, which means the song has earned an estimated $11,854,972 in royalties. The song also has a playlist reach of 178 million. The song has recently landed Mariah Carey in some legal trouble, as she is being sued for $20 billion for alleged copyright infringement.   

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Santa Tell Me

The remaining songs within the top five were all released in the 2010s. In third place is Ariana Grande’s 2013 release, Santa Tell Me. The song has received over 849 million streams on Spotify and has earned an estimated $6,795,815 in royalties. The song has a playlist reach of 100 million. 

It’s Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas

Michael Bublé’s rendition of It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas is the fourth most streamed Christmas song. The song has been streamed over 820 million times on Spotify, earning an estimated $6,560,168. The song has a playlist reach of 93 million. The original version was performed by Bing Cosby and was released over 70 years ago; it has over 1 billion streams on Spotify alone.   

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Snowman

Sia’s Snowman from her 2017 Christmas album Everyday is Christmas ranks as the fifth most streamed Christmas song. The song has been streamed over 724 million times on Spotify, earning an estimated $5,799,889 in royalties. The song had a surge in popularity after trending on TikTok in November 2020, becoming a modern-day Christmas classic. TikTok has also popularized the trend of speeding up or slowing down tempos of trending songs, and Snowman has been released officially with both sped-up and slowed-down tempos. Both variants have been streamed over 24 million times and 11 million times, respectively.  

Mistletoe

The sixth most streamed Christmas song is Mistletoe by Justin Bieber. The song, which was released in 2011, has amassed over 639 million streams, an estimated $5,115,799 in royalties and has a playlist reach of 85 million.   

Feliz Navidad

José Feliciano ranks in seventh place with Feliz Navidad. The song has over 526 million streams and has earned an estimated $4,214,551 in royalties. The song also has a playlist reach of 26 million.  

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Top Ten

Rounding off the top ten is Kelly Clarkson in eighth place with Underneath the Christmas Tree, which has been streamed over 494 million times on Spotify; Michael Bublé ranks in the top ten again with Holly Jolly Christmas in ninth place, this song has been streamed over 483 million times; and in tenth place is John Lennon’s Happy Xmas (War is Over), which has been streamed 467 million times on Spotify.  

RankSongArtist Year Released Streams Estimated Royalties US ($)
1Last ChristmasWham! 19861,919,591,16015,356,729
2All I Want for Christmas Is You Mariah Carey 19941,481,871,43711,854,972
3Santa Tell MeAriana Grande 2013849,476,8756,795,815
4It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like ChristmasMichael Bublé 2011820,020,9446,560,168
5SnowmanSia 2017724,986,0835,799,889
6MistletoeJustin Bieber 2011639,474,8745,115,799
7Feliz NavidadJosé Feliciano 1970526,818,9014,214,551
8Underneath the TreeKelly Clarkson 2013494,094,1153,952,753
9Holly Jolly ChristmasMichael Bublé 2011483,865,9733,870,928
10Happy Xmas (War is Over)John Lennon 1971467,239,8743,737,919
11Driving home for ChristmasChris Rea 1986408,564,4863,268,516
12Wonderful ChristmastimePaul McCartney 1979374,434,3872,995,475
13HallelujahPentatonix 2016356,083,6692,848,669
14Merry Christmas EveryoneShakin’ Stevens 1985331,090,3182,648,723
15Fairytale of New YorkThe Pogues 1988326,441,9752,611,536
16Somewhere Only We KnownLily Allen 2013284,540,1712,276,321
17Have Yourself A Merry Little ChristmasSam Smith 2019269,790,2682,158,322
18Christmas LightsColdplay 2011263,525,8202,108,207
19My Only Wish (This Year)Britney Spears 2000247,096,1611,976,769
20Santa Claus Is Coming To TownThe Jackson 5 1970238,821,7261,910,574
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