Post by jo on Dec 6, 2022 17:25:39 GMT -5
From the NYTimes --
ARTS AND IDEAS
The Christmas music game
Holiday music has long been a big business. Back in 2018, Billboard estimated it to be worth $177 million a year in the U.S. alone. But streaming has supercharged it.
In the week leading up to Christmas last year, holiday songs accounted for 10 percent of all music streams in the U.S. And on Christmas Eve, Amazon’s Alexa smart speakers received 35 million voice requests around the world for seasonal music.
This week, streaming helped send Mariah Carey’s 28-year-old “All I Want for Christmas Is You” to No. 2 on Billboard’s Hot 100 singles chart, topped only by Taylor Swift’s latest, “Anti-Hero.” “Getting on key algorithmic stations is really everything,” said Andrew Woloz of the music company Concord. Carey’s smash has appeared on TikTok 12 million times and racked up more than 1.2 billion streams on Spotify.
In an interview with my colleague Ben Sisario, David Foster, a golden-touch producer who has worked on hit Christmas albums, relayed three rules of the Christmas music game.
No. 1: The public prefers the old classics and isn’t too interested in new songs.
No. 2: Singers shouldn’t wander too far from the melody.
No. 3: “You can’t be too corny at Christmas. You totally get a free pass.”
The Christmas music game
Holiday music has long been a big business. Back in 2018, Billboard estimated it to be worth $177 million a year in the U.S. alone. But streaming has supercharged it.
In the week leading up to Christmas last year, holiday songs accounted for 10 percent of all music streams in the U.S. And on Christmas Eve, Amazon’s Alexa smart speakers received 35 million voice requests around the world for seasonal music.
This week, streaming helped send Mariah Carey’s 28-year-old “All I Want for Christmas Is You” to No. 2 on Billboard’s Hot 100 singles chart, topped only by Taylor Swift’s latest, “Anti-Hero.” “Getting on key algorithmic stations is really everything,” said Andrew Woloz of the music company Concord. Carey’s smash has appeared on TikTok 12 million times and racked up more than 1.2 billion streams on Spotify.
In an interview with my colleague Ben Sisario, David Foster, a golden-touch producer who has worked on hit Christmas albums, relayed three rules of the Christmas music game.
No. 1: The public prefers the old classics and isn’t too interested in new songs.
No. 2: Singers shouldn’t wander too far from the melody.
No. 3: “You can’t be too corny at Christmas. You totally get a free pass.”