Music Industry

25 years later, Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas is You” is bigger than ever

Feeling swamped by Mariah Carey this Christmas? It’s not your imagination.

According to BDSRadio Canada, her perrennial  seasonal hit “All I Want for Christmas is You” was played on North American radio stations 1,100 times last week. At least four stations (three of which are in Canada) spun the song more than sixty times. In seven days. That’s roughly once every two-and-a-half hours.

And that’s not all. The song was streamed 2.5 million times. It received 25.5 million views on YouTube. And another 2,100 people bought the song.

Combining all these metrics puts the song at #7 on Billboard’s Hot 100. This is the highest-ever chart position for the track.

Not bad for a song that was released 25 years ago.

And yes, she makes a TON of money from the song. How much? It’s hard to say, but it’s speculated that annual royalties from the song average around $650,000 just from the UK alone. Payments from North America must be a substantial multiple of that.

Want to know what other Christmas hits make every year? Go here.

Alan Cross

is an internationally known broadcaster, interviewer, writer, consultant, blogger and speaker. In his 40+ years in the music business, Alan has interviewed the biggest names in rock, from David Bowie and U2 to Pearl Jam and the Foo Fighters. He’s also known as a musicologist and documentarian through programs like The Ongoing History of New Music.

Alan Cross has 38019 posts and counting. See all posts by Alan Cross

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