Holiday music charts stuck in the past as Mariah Carey’s classic dominates the season

Holiday music charts continue to be dominated by Mariah Carey’s All I Want for Christmas Is You, a 1994 hit that still tops the Billboard Holiday 100 each season. Beyond a few exceptions such as Michael Bublé, the upper reaches of the Holiday 100 are crowded with 20th‑century classics, prompting renewed questions about whether there is space for a genuinely new Christmas song to become a seasonal staple.

Billboard has adjusted its criteria in recent years to reduce stagnation, but the seasonal revivals of evergreen tracks on streaming platforms keep old favorites in heavy rotation. On Spotify, for example, Christmas Hits and Christmas Classics comprise playlists with millions of saves, created by editors using algorithmic data and user trends. The result is that classic tunes reappear year after year, maintaining a dominant presence on the Holiday 100 even as new releases come and go.

Industry observers note that the revenue from Christmas music supports record labels; Billboard has reported that Christmas music generates more than $170 million in annual revenue. The holiday music calendar runs from the day after Halloween, when radio stations begin playing festive tunes, through Christmas. The tradition has deep roots in American radio history, dating back to the 1930s, when households began gathering to hear seasonal programming, and it evolved through the war years before expanding to Internet and satellite channels in the 21st century.

Despite efforts by artists such as Sia, Lizzo and Gwen Stefani to craft modern Christmas anthems, Ariana Grande and Kelly Clarkson stand out as the only acts with staying power in the Holiday 100 in recent years. Grande’s Santa Tell Me (2014) reflects a contemporary urban-pop sensibility, while Clarkson’s Underneath the Tree (2013) channels the lush, 1960s pop textures associated with Phil Spector. Pentatonix, who surged to the top of holiday music in 2022, has also surpassed many older acts, and Justin Bieber’s Mistletoe remains a durable entry after more than a decade.

A crucial factor in these dynamics is the power of fandom. Dedicated fan bases—Arianators, Beliebers, Pentaholics and Kellebrities—have driven streams, playlist saves and year-end visibility, enabling new holiday songs to rack up revenue even if they don’t generate the same widespread cultural penetration as a Carey classic. Xavier Jernigan, Spotify’s head of cultural partnerships, described the idea in a 2018 Rolling Stone interview: “If you create a Christmas classic and people love it, you will always be relevant.” The takeaway is that the road to a new Christmas staple often hinges less on mass-market immediacy and more on sustained engagement from a devoted fanbase.

Experts say the current climate makes it difficult for a new song to capture a generation the way Carey did in the 1990s, when a combination of radio airplay, physical sales and growing music video culture helped propel a timeless tune into cultural ubiquity. The streaming era has intensified fragmentation: listeners can curate highly personalized holiday soundtracks, and the same old favorites ride again on seasonally timed playlists. Yet the Time analysis behind these observations notes that nostalgia is not an immutable barrier; repetition can breed liking, and new Christmas songs may gain traction as audiences age into new listening habits and as pop culture moments align with fresh holiday releases.

Looking ahead, music executives still acknowledge a paradox: new Christmas classics could emerge, but they would need to cut through a landscape dominated by evergreen favorites and a year-end rush of playlist activity. The odds of any single song dethroning a cultural phenomenon like All I Want for Christmas Is You remain slim, but not zero. As new generations of listeners form their own holiday memories, there remains a pathway for a fresh track to become part of the seasonal repertoire—whether through a viral moment, a powerful artist’s star power, or a cleverly crafted blend of nostalgia and novelty. Until then, the holiday season appears likely to continue rotating around a core set of timeless favorites.