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Mariah Carey's "All I Want For Christmas Is You" gets bigger and bigger every year.
Here's how the song became a growing force:
Here's how the song became a growing force:
First, some recent accolades for “All I Want For Christmas Is You”
• topped the Billboard Hot 100, again
• hit 1 billion streams on Spotify
• is now certified Diamond
This is clockwork.
• topped the Billboard Hot 100, again
• hit 1 billion streams on Spotify
• is now certified Diamond
This is clockwork.
The song has been popular since it dropped in 1994, but it reached new heights in recent years for a few reasons.
First, streaming.
It shifted the music industry to a consumption model. This impacts all songs, but it's a huge benefit for seasonal music.
People don’t listen all year round, but when they want it they play it ALL THE TIME, especially on streaming playlists.
It shifted the music industry to a consumption model. This impacts all songs, but it's a huge benefit for seasonal music.
People don’t listen all year round, but when they want it they play it ALL THE TIME, especially on streaming playlists.
The Billboard charts are highly dependent on streaming, so it's easier for seasonal tracks to reach the same heights ever year.
This was much harder in the CD era.
This was much harder in the CD era.
But "All I Want For Christmas" popularity growth has outpaced the streaming’s growth.
2017: 210M streams (Spotify had 70M subscribers)
2021: 1B streams (Spotify has 175M subs)
Spotify grew 2.5x since 2017 while Mariah's song's streams grew 5x!
2017: 210M streams (Spotify had 70M subscribers)
2021: 1B streams (Spotify has 175M subs)
Spotify grew 2.5x since 2017 while Mariah's song's streams grew 5x!
That leads to the second reason: Mariah has put in work.
In 2010, Mariah dropped her 2nd Xmas album, Merry Christmas II You.
It sparked a decade of her maximizing the holiday with collabs, features, products and more:
In 2010, Mariah dropped her 2nd Xmas album, Merry Christmas II You.
It sparked a decade of her maximizing the holiday with collabs, features, products and more:
All I Want For Christmas Is You is its own universe:
• orig song
• collab w/ Justin Bieber
• other collabs w/ Ariana Grande, Jennifer Hudson
• music videos
• cookies
• kids book
• animated film
• Amazon Prime doc
• Apple TV special
• McDonald’s items
• Xmas residency
• orig song
• collab w/ Justin Bieber
• other collabs w/ Ariana Grande, Jennifer Hudson
• music videos
• cookies
• kids book
• animated film
• Amazon Prime doc
• Apple TV special
• McDonald’s items
• Xmas residency
Third, the song's popularity has become a meme that Mariah has been pushing too.
Once Halloween passes, Mariah posts her "IT'S TIIIIIIME" on socials and fans get excited.
Once Halloween passes, Mariah posts her "IT'S TIIIIIIME" on socials and fans get excited.
Mariah can lean into the memes because she's still with us!
Most Christmas carols so old, and most of that artists are long gone.
Most Christmas carols so old, and most of that artists are long gone.
And since streaming gives fans more control on what can top the charts, Mariah's fans power the song to reach #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for the first time in 2019.
In 2017, the song had earned over $60M in royalties.
But that doesn't include all the other business activities she's done since, plus 800M more streams on Spotify alone!
But that doesn't include all the other business activities she's done since, plus 800M more streams on Spotify alone!
When I asked this question last month, "All I Want For Christmas Is You" was the most popular answer, by far.
If you’re interested in Mariah's story, you gotta read her memoir.
I read it earlier this year. Highly recommend.
I read it earlier this year. Highly recommend.
Hope you enjoyed the breakdown on the machine that is Mariah Carey's Christmas operation.
Follow me @RuncieDan for more breakdowns on music.
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Follow me @RuncieDan for more breakdowns on music.
Each week I write about these topics in Trapital, my free weekly newsletter. Sign up here:
trapital.co/newsletter
