via All Access
The “holiday spirit” will soon blanket shopping malls, yards and airwaves across the UNITED STATES. NIELSEN MUSIC reports that holiday music is continuing to grow in popularity each year and hundreds of radio stations nationwide will soon make the annual switch to an all-CHRISTMAS format. Over the last few years, more than 500 stations have gone to holiday programming on or around THANKSGIVING.
Holiday music’s popularity is rooted in what many consider to be the classic era of the genre, the 1950s and 1960s; so you may be surprised to hear that NIELSEN’s 2017 Music 360 Report finds that more than a third (36%) of “holiday music fans” are Millennials… the largest of any generation. Gen X comprised 31% of holiday music fans, while “Boomers & Beyond” (55+) made up just 25% of the category.
The Top Played Holiday Songs on Radio in 2016
1 JOSE FELICIANO, Feliz Navidad – Spins: 35,223 – Year: 1970
2 BRENDA LEE, Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree – Spins 33,342 – Year: 1962
3 BURL IVES, A Holly Jolly Christmas – Spins: 32,629 – Year: 1965
4 BOBBY HELMS, Jingle Bell Rock – Spins: 32,245 – Year: 1962
5 MARIAH CAREY, All I Want For Christmas – Spins: 31,377 – Year: 1994
6 NAT KING COLE, The Christmas Song – Spins: 29,772 – Year: 1949
7 TRANS-SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA, Christmas Eve Sarajavo – Spins: 28,293 – Year: 1995
8 ANDY WILLIAMS, It’s the Most Wonderful Time… - Spins: 27,086 – Year: 1963
9 BING CROSBY, White Christmas – Spins: 24,113 – Year: 1944
10 JOHNNY MATHIS, It’s Beginning to Look A Lot… - Spins: 23,911 – Year: 1986