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How Much Do Bands Make From Christmas Songs?

How Much Do Bands Make From Christmas Songs?

How much can a band actually make from just one song? A lot, it turns out.

Dominic Smithers

Dominic Smithers

Christmas - that special time of year where families get together, share presents and eat and unholy amount of food.

It's also a time where supermarkets, department stores - and sadly, offices - blast out some of the biggest festive one hit wonders of the past 40 years - for an entire month.

An entire month.

But as the songs slowly wear you down in the weeks leading up to December 25, have you ever wondered how much the likes of Noddy Holder and Mariah Carey make every year from their festive tunes?

No? Well it's an absolute fortune.

Let's see the scores on the doors.

Wham! - 'Last Christmas' (1984)

Boasting one of the greatest music videos every to make it to film, 'Last Christmas' is a certified Yuletide classic.

Who doesn't love seeing George Michael with his blonde bouffant, sashaying his way down the Alpine slopes while singing about passive aggressive heartache?

It's what Christmas is about.

Following George Michael's tragic death in 2016, reports claimed there was a spike in sales of the record and according to The Performing Royalties Service (PRS), Last Christmas was the third most-played Christmas song on UK radio between 2012 and 2016.

Wham! sold more than two million copies of 'Last Christmas'.
PA

It almost reached number 1 for the first time ever last year - but was pipped to the post by Ed Sheeran's Perfect. How this happened I will never truly understand.

But with more than two million records sold since it was released, the royalties add up to around £470,000 per year.

According to prezzybox.com, which calculates band royalties in real time, the song has already made £399,000 in 2018.

Slade - 'Merry Xmas Everybody' (1973)

If you go a year without hearing the dulcet Brummie tones of the band's shaggy-haired singer as he screams 'It's Christmassssss!', then you really haven't celebrated it properly.

Just as band member Jim Lea once said: 'It looks as if it's never going to go away'.

And with the band reportedly making £1m a year in 2016 - twice its estimated value just a year earlier - from it, we're pretty sure the band is keen for it to stay that way.

Speaking to the BBC in 2009, Holder said: "To me, it doesn't date - it seems to me as if it sounded as though it was recorded yesterday.

Slade continues to rake in the cash more than 40 years since their Christmas banger was released.
PA

"It is definitely a pension plan, yes. It was never designed to be that way but it has taken on a life of its own, definitely... It's been used for adverts, it's been used in movies, it's been used for all sorts of things."

Prezzybox claims the band has made around £169,000 this year so far. Not bad. Also, Noel Gallagher's cover is top notch.

Wizzard - 'I Wish It Could Be Christmas Every Day' (1973)

Despite being pipped to the number one spot by glam rivals Slade, Wizzard still rake in a heap of cash for their sparkly smash hit.

PRS said it was the fifth most-played Christmas song on UK radio between 2012 and 2016, leaving the bearded band with a tidy £180,000 per year from the song.

When asked about the money he makes, singer Roy Wood told the BBC: "I'd rather rely on that than the modern day pension."

And though it's a fair bit of cash to make from just one piece of music, Wood said he doesn't get it straight away.

He added: "You don't get it at Christmas. You have to wait until they work it all out so I'm usually broke at Christmas!"

According to Prezzybox, Wizzard has made over £182,000 this year.

Mariah Carey - 'All I Want For Christmas' (1994)

Mariah Carey IS Christmas. The American diva makes an absolute packet from the iconic song, pulling in an estimated £376,000 from the song every single year.

And if Prezzybox's calculations are to be believed, she's already smashed that total this year, having already made £627,000 .

But it's not just the UK that loves the 90s classic, it's a global hit, with reports the song has made an eye-watering $50 million (£39.3m) worldwide.

So we're not surprised that this is all Mariah wants for Christmas.

The Pogues & Kirsty MacColl - 'Fairytale Of New York' (1987)

Allegedly the result of a bet between Shane McGowan and Elvis Costello that the Pogues couldn't write a Christmas tune that wasn't sentimental, 'Fairytale of New York' has gone on to become one of, if not the most recognisable festive song ever written.

And though every year the song raises questions over its controversial lyrics, with more than 1.2 million copies sold, it's a definite crowd-pleaser, as well as a money-spinner for the band make around £400,000 a year from it.

However, if you take Prezzybox.com's figures, the whisky-sodden ballad has already earned more than £683,000 for the band this year.

Ed Sheeran covered it too. Can't he just leave things alone?

Boney M - Mary's Boy Child/Oh My Lord (1978)

Taking a different approach to Holder and Wham, Boney M smashed through the charts in 1978 with their religious banger.

But despite being one of the biggest selling Christmas songs of all time - shifting more than a million copies in the UK alone - it's been a bittersweet experience for the quartet.

Speaking to the Guardian in 2011, lead singer Liz Mitchell said: "If I was to spend time working out what the record company got - and those in that team of people around us - compared to the band, I would lose my mind. I get maybe a seventh of 1 per cent." And when you consider it sold around 1.2 million copies, those other people are having a very nice Christmas indeed.

Ouch.

The Darkness - Christmas Time (Don't Let the Bells End) (2003)

Whereas the likes of Noddy and Mariah have been laughing all the way to the bank, the same cannot be said for Justin Hawkins' band, which hasn't seen the money continue to roll in as they expected it would 15 years ago.

At the time, the song was a smash hit for The Darkness, making £1 million in December alone. And Hawkins says he took full advantage of his newfound wealth, splashing the cash on some of the finest Colombian marching powder money could buy.

The Darkness don't make as much money from their Christmas hit, anymore.
PA

But despite selling thousands of records and being played on a loop for an entire month, Hawkins revealed to the Sun that since then, the money has dried up.

He said: "You don't make as much from that as you might imagine.

"If we'd released it in the 1980s, we could have made an awful lot of money. It does sneak back into the charts a lot - especially now they are structured around streaming, but you don't see much cash from that."

Featured Image Credit: PA

Topics: UK News, Music, UK Entertainment