American singer and songwriter Mariah Carey has been raking in over $6 million annually from her timeless holiday hit, “All I Want for Christmas Is You.” The song’s success is attributed to the surge in streaming, a dominant force in today’s music market.
In 2021 alone, Carey’s festive anthem generated a staggering $6.16 million in master recording and publishing revenue. This was fueled by 94,000 downloads and an impressive 823 million streams. The song’s master recording revenue is estimated to have contributed around $1.55 million to Carey’s earnings, while her share of the publishing revenue, as one of the song’s writers, would be approximately $830,000.
The success of “All I Want for Christmas Is You” also translates to substantial earnings for Carey’s label, Sony Music, with an estimated $2.95 million from the song’s 2021 performance.
In comparison, Brenda Lee’s “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree,” which finally secured the top spot on the Hot 100 in 2023 after years of playing second fiddle to Carey, generated about $4 million in revenue in 2022. Billboard projects that Lee’s song is poised to be even more profitable in the future, given its impressive performance in 2023.
Mariah Carey’s annual Christmas dominance faced a temporary challenge in 2023 when Brenda Lee’s “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” secured the number one spot on the Billboard Hot 100, breaking chart records in the process. Despite this, Carey’s enduring holiday anthem continues to be a revenue powerhouse.
Streaming revenues across the industry reached $13.36 billion in 2022, a significant increase from $1.57 billion in 2015, underlining the growing influence of streaming platforms in the music business. Carey’s sustained success with her Christmas hit serves as a testament to the enduring popularity and profitability of festive classics in the digital age.
