Inside the Business of Christmas Music: Why Holiday Songs Never Die | Billboard On the Record

Christmas music may only dominate a few weeks a year, but its impact on the music business lasts for decades. Guy Moot, CEO and co-chair of Warner Chappell Music, and Carianne Marshall, COO and co-chair, join host Kristin Robinson on Billboard On the Record to break down why holiday songs are some of the most valuable assets in any music catalog, why writing a timeless Christmas hit is so difficult and how industry traditions around holiday albums have shifted from mandatory releases to strategic singles. They discuss the evolution from cover culture to artist-driven branding, the role of songwriter camps, and why evergreen holiday songs often travel further than the places they were written. From December chart freezes to the renewed push for trusted brands and long-term fan connection, this conversation explores how Christmas music continues to shape careers, catalogs and the modern music economy.

Love what you hear? Follow Billboard On the Record on Instagram, Apple Podcasts, Spotify and YouTube @billboard so you never miss an episode.

Billboard On the Record is a podcast in partnership with SickBird Productions. 

Kristin Robinson:

Holiday records make over $177 million a year in the U.S. Not bad for a genre that comes and goes from the Billboard charts after about a month of listening. This unique seasonal genre of music has become big business, especially in our era of music streaming, where you don’t even have to buy a holiday hit in order to play it at your next Christmas party. To dive into the business of Christmas music, I’m joined today by two of the most powerful executives in music publishing, Guy Moot and Carianne Marshall, the CEO and COO of Warner Chappell. Welcome back to On the Record, a music business podcast from Billboard and SickBird Productions. As always, I’m your host, Kristin Robinson, and today on the show, we are diving into the business behind your favorite holiday hits. We all know the classics, your “Jingle Bell Rock,” your “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree,” “All I Want for Christmas Is You.” These songs are not just culturally relevant, but they make a ton of money in royalties year after year after year, even though most of them came out decades ago. For many, it’s seen as the ultimate evergreen hit, pun intended, but it’s not easy to mint a new holiday hit in 2025. According to Lumenate, much of the royalties from Christmas music go to a relatively small number of hit songs. The money and the listenership is more concentrated with the top Christmas hits than it typically is in other genres. For example, in 2023 the top 50 holiday recordings accounted for 35% of all holiday streaming. Compare that to the top 50 pop tracks, which only accounted for 12% of all pop streaming. So it’s clear that basically, Christmas music is go big or go home. 

Keep watching for more!